As I’ve worked with current and aspiring authors and fellow writers at The KidLit Lab, I’ve realized that many people are not sure of the difference between passive and active voice, and which to use when writing a children’s picture book. If you’re an English Grammar nerd, perhaps you can skip this note. But for the rest of us, push those glasses up your nose and let’s dig in—consider this your Active/Passive Voice 101.

What is Active Voice?

First off: What is active voice? Active voice is building a sentence so the subject is doing the action. In passive voice, the action is doing something to the subject.

I know, that sounds a little complicated. In KidLit speak for when you are writing children’s books:

• Active Voice: Is if your characters (or objects) are doing the action themselves.
• Passive Voice: Is if something is being done to your characters (or objects).

Let’s cut to the examples:

• Passive: The stuffie was carried to the car by Anna.
• Active: Anna carried her stuffie to the car.
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• Passive: The tree was cut down by the logger.
• Active: The logger cut down the tree.
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• Passive: The bone was hidden by the dog in the backyard.
• Active: The dog hid his bone in the backyard.

👉 Which sounds better to you? I hope you say active voice! Typically passive voice can make the writing sound less clear—and it adds more to your precious word count in a book. Active voice is more specific, brings immediacy and action to your story, and generally uses less words. By putting the character in charge of the action, we give our young readers something to cling to and build from.

Here are some words to keep on your “WAIT I’M USING PASSIVE VOICE” radar: was, is, are, am, be, been, was, would. These words don’t always indicate passive voice, but they’re good flags to check.

Now, there might be times when passive voice is the most appropriate voice for your children’s book. Perhaps you want to use it in dialogue to reflect the way a character speaks, or to convey a certain emotion, or to downplay the importance of something. And sometimes, it really is the only way to say what you want to say, so don’t be afraid of it! But I promise you, one pass back through your writing to ask, “Is this the voice I want to use here?” will do wonders as you work toward your final draft.

Even better? Your reader will be better off for it.

If you want to learn more on this topic, be sure to check out The KidLit Lab’s Manuscript Masterclass where we teach you how to write a children’s picture book, diving deep into editing and polishing up your manuscript so it’s ready for publication!