What do you think about Picture Books?

My highly talented friend, A.M Page, released a picture book this year (Misty and Luna - check it out), and has subsequently inspired me to do some picture booking of my own. Because I'm not an artist, I'm just writing the story and hoping to find an agent who wants to represent me. If not, I will go the self-publishing route, as per usual (and find an artist on my own).

Because picture books are only a few hundred words, you need to have a few that are good to go when looking for an agent. I'm going to give you a quick update on where my ideas stand.

🦒Giraffes CAN Talk!

This is the story that started it all. Kids like to talk about the sounds animals make. We all know that dogs go "woof" and cats go "meow," but what about giraffes?

Big brother John insists that they don't make any sound at all, but his younger siblings are open to hearing what Grandma has to say on the matter. Soon, the whole house is filled with giraffey noises.

So, what sounds do giraffes make? Look out for my book, which one or another I hope to publish in 2024. (Or, you know, Google it, if you want to be boring 😝).

This manuscript is the most polished and complete of my slowly expanding picture book collection.

🐙Octopus House

Octopi are highly intelligent. They can do all sorts of unexpected things, like create and use tools and solve puzzles.

In this book, four children of varying ages learn about octopuses by comparing their own device use and screen time activities to the skills that our eight-legged friends have. It is a story to teach everyone the benefits of responsible device use (parents included!).

This one needs some attention before it will be ready for anyone to read, so who knows how the story will evolve?

🦏🦒Rhino and Giraffe

Rhinos have terrible eyesight, and giraffes have great eyesight--what if they worked together to solve a problem? That's the idea behind this story, which is still very much in the planning stages.

Some more research into each animal is needed to build out the story a bit more, but the idea has been rolling around in my head for awhile and I think I can make something of it.

❓And. . .what else?

It's obvious from the above that I am most interested in writing about animals in a way that is fun but also educational. However, once I have that out of my system, there are some other broad categories that my mind keeps coming back to:

• Colors: For example, what do colors mean in different cultures, why different people ahve different favorite colors, etc. A picture book that comes to mind often when thinking about color-related stories is The Day the Crayons Quit.
• Emotions: Emotions are a pretty big deal when you're little and inexperienced at handling them. Books that help children name their emotions and manage them in healthy ways have always grabbed my attention. My Angry Robot is a book that comes to mind in this category.
• Loss and Grief: It isn't fair, but children experience their own fair share of loss and grief, whether it be a grandparent, a pet, or someone/something else. As someone who is in the process of qualifying as a foster parent, I know that some losses that children experience can be very confusing and far less clear cut than the death of a loved one. The Stork Didn't Bring You was gifted to me by a friend, and I think that books like this are important tools in 'unusual' families.

Wish me luck in my picture book journey!