MOWMT: Playing with Point of View by Roxanne Troup
March 4, 2025
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Point of view (POV) is the lens with which we tell a story. But choosing the right point of view can be a challenge. Occasionally, we get it right the first time. But for most of us (or at least, most of our stories), it requires deep thinking, research, and a little bit of trial and error (a.k.a. revision). But doesn’t mastering every element of storytelling require such?
If you think back to your elementary school days, you’ll remember there are three main types of POV.
First Person
This POV tells a story through the eyes of our main/central character. It’s characterized with the words I, me, or we, and often sounds as if the MC is in constant dialog mode. It works well for stories that need to create an immediate connection or intimate experience for the reader, or that rely on knowing a character’s internal motivation/thought processes to work. It’s not as common in the picture book format, but can be incredibly effective when done well.
Favorite Mentor Texts to Study
Owl Moon by Jane Yolen and John Schoenherr: This classic picture book uses a first person POV to share a new experience with the reader. This POV is responsible for the intimate feel of the narrative and the quiet, internal voice of the character. Similarly, Watercress by Andrea Wang and Jason Chin allows the narrator to speak of the truth of her experience without clunky dialog or needing to be reprimanded for “bad behavior.”
The Bear Ate Your Sandwich by Julia Sarcone-Roach: This fun picture book uses first person POV to create an unreliable narrator and create the humor (read “punch line”) necessary for this story to work.
Reaching for the Stars: A Mission to Space by Roxanne Troup and Amanda Lenz: My own book relies on a first person POV to create a forward-looking narrative that shows kids that space exploration isn't just history—it's happening right now with NASA’s new Artemis program.
Second Person
This POV speaks directly to it audience, making the reader a participant or character in the story. It is often characterized by the word you but can also appear without pronouns. This POV made its kidlit “debut” (not officially, but it definitely rose in prominence) with the Choose Your Own Adventure titles of the 1980s before morphing into the picture book market with the classic, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond. It works well for concept books (both fiction and nonfiction), “how to” stories, and SEL titles. And can really boost a story’s humor or voice when done well.
Favorite Mentor Texts to Study
Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut by Derrick Barnes and Gordon C. James: A study in voice, the second person POV of this picture book allows readers to become the main character and experience the black-boy joy of getting a fresh haircut for themselves.
Caring for Your Lion by Tammi Sauer and Troy Cummings: By using second person POV (and a next-level character) for this fun “how-to” picture book, Sauer was able to up the humor without sacrificing the story’s relatability.
Beautiful Oops! by Barney Saltzberg: The POV in this concept book encourages readers to imagine the “oops” pictured were made by their own hands. Note: the characteristic you, signifying the second person point of view, doesn’t appear until the last page.
Third Person
This POV is by far the most flexible and common point of view used in picture books. It is characterized by the pronouns he, she, and they which creates a bit of distance between the story and reader. This allows the narrator to shift perspective during a story to convey more information to the reader, dive into more difficult topics, or more complicated storylines.
Favorite Mentor Texts to Study
A Tiny Brown Monkey on the Big Blue Earth by Tory Christie and Luciana Navarro Powell: By choosing a third-person POV for this story about habitats, Christie allowed the illustrator to play with perspective and also give readers a simple lesson in geography.
Niko Draws a Feeling by Bob Raczka and Simon Shin: The POV of this story offers readers a bit of safety (distance) from feeling misunderstood or lonely and the frustration that comes with trying to express those emotions to others.
A Stone Sat Still by Brendan Wenzel: The narrow focus of this nonfiction picture book uses the broadest POV to showcase all the things a stone can be though it does not move or change in an ever-changing world.
What’s your favorite point of view to work with or read?
Please answer Roxanne's question in the comment section of this post to be considered for a free critique!
Award-winning author, Roxanne Troup, writes picture books that inspire wonder and celebrate family. With a background in education, she also writes engaging nonfiction for all ages. Roxanne lives in the mountains of Colorado and enjoys hiking with her family, gazing at stars, and exploring our amazing world through stories. She loves visiting schools to water seeds of literacy—and occasionally remembers to water the plants in her container garden. Find her online at www.roxannetroup.com
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As a primarily PB writer, I usually write in 3rd person, but I have a few that worked better in first. My first stab at a chapter book was also in 1st person. Thanks for sharing examples!
ROXANNE: THANK YOU for all the GREAT examples of different POVS to study and learn from. I think each story tells the writer what kind of voice it should be written in. I recently read the suggestion to write separate drafts of our stories using a different POV, in order to see which way tells the story best. I think this is a GREAT way to allow the story to dictate how it wishes to be told. I personally like to write with the intimacy of first person, as well as really drawing the reader RIGHT INTO the story itself by using second person.
Great post, Roxanne, on POV! I love your explanations as well as the texts associated with them.
While I love 1st person POV because it gives my MC freedom to tell his or her story, I like 2nd person POV even better. I like how the narrator can fill in those areas that the illustrations and the characters can't.
I'll be sharing Roxanne's post at our chapter critique meeting in May when I review all the posts from StoryStorm, NFFEST and MOWMT. I also bought "Reaching for the Stars: A Mission to Space".
Thanks for the post and list of mentor texts for each POV. That's always helpful when working on a manuscript and playing around with POV to determine which one is the right one. I write primarily in third and first person, maybe in third person a bit more by a slight margin. I follow Roxanne on X.
Good reminder. This allows the narrator to shift perspective during a story to convey more information to the reader, dive into more difficult topics, or more complicated storylines.