In this interview, Jon-Erik discusses how the uniqueness of each of his children helped inspire his new picture book, The Language of Birds, his advice for other writers, and more.

Name: Jon-Erik Lappano     
Literary agent: Emily Van Beek / Estelle Laure,  Folio Jr.
Book title: The Language of Birds
Publisher: Random House Studio
Release date: December 16, 2025
Genre/category: Picture Book
Previous titles: Tokyo Digs a Garden, Maggie’s Treasure, Song for the Snow, Martin and the River
Elevator pitch: The Language of Birds is a story about a quiet, socially anxious girl named Mira who has always had a special connection with birds, but who finds people to be a more confusing kind of animal. When a new boy named Jad comes to school, Mira notices that he connects with trees the way she does birds, and with a little help from her feathered friends, they begin to form a friendship.

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What prompted you to write this book?

The seed of the idea for this book came from observing the differences in our three children, in the unique and beautiful ways that each of them interact with the world around them, with other people, and with the natural world. There are so many ways of communication that we learn growing up—not all of them human—and there are forms of connection that transcend words. Some young hearts and minds develop as quieter, or more introspective, and perhaps more open to engaging in those hidden languages in nature that many of us haven’t attuned to, focused more on aligning to social norms as we grow. With this story, I wanted to speak to those people who might see and experience the world in a different sort of way. Mira is unabashedly herself, and by embracing her different nature, by watching and listening with care, creativity and attention, she finds a meaningful connection.

Birds have also always been fascinating to me, and watching the wild birds outside our window is a favorite family pastime. Birds are such beautiful indicators of a thriving and healthy ecosystem; they are guides and helpers and sources of inspiration. One of our daughters used to coo with surprising skill to the pigeons and doves in the city parks as a baby. Another was desperate to learn the language of birds, and spent hours sitting outside under our feeders, speaking in screeches and chirps to the starlings, hoping to befriend them. She once even caught a wild bluejay in her hands that had flown into our house, which inspired one of the scenes in the book.

How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?

Going from the initial idea to the first draft happened in one exhilarating late-night writing session. However, from that first draft to pitching took about a month, going through a few rounds of early stage editing and revising. I have my wonderful literary agents, Emily Van Beek and Estelle Laure, to thank for taking that mess of a first draft and giving feedback that helped me find the heart of the story. Once we pitched it, we were thrilled to get an offer from Random House Studio, and from there it took about two and a half years to publish, which I have found to be the usual timeline for picture books. Illustrators need to take time, too, especially the talented ones. I was absolutely thrilled when we learned that Zach Manbeck would illustrate this story. His art is absolutely luminous and just perfect for the story. 

Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?

The publishing process for this book was seamless and smooth—it was a joy to work with Random House Studio and to collaborate with Zach on this title. No real surprises, just a supportive, imaginative team who has been lovely to engage with, from the editorial process, to publicity, to opening friendly emails of excitement and encouragement along the way!

Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?

I am learning more and more to trust in my voice as a writer, while embracing the feedback of early readers and editors I trust. This is my fifth published work, and by far it was the most collaborative. The initial draft wasn’t really working, but I couldn’t put my finger on why. Giving it over to my agents for feedback was a pivotal moment. Their insightful feedback helped me simplify the story while zeroing in on the relationship between Mira, Jad, and the birds, and everything just clicked into place.

What do you hope readers will get out of your book?

I hope readers—young and old—will see themselves reflected in this story, and that they gain a reminder to embrace their differences. I also hope they let their gaze linger a little while longer on the birds outside their window, wondering what lessons they might have to teach them. 

If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?

Here is a lesson I’m trying to share with myself these days. Persist. Be irrational in your persistence. Rejection, in its various forms, is a guaranteed companion along the writer’s journey. (A somewhat harsh companion I don’t remember inviting, by the way.) Drafts will dwindle in desktop purgatory. Manuscripts will melt into mediocrity. Ideas will hit the page and then hit a wall. But persist. Be stubborn in your persistence. Keep writing. And rewriting. And rewriting. Oh, and I guess, at some point, try to get a good night’s sleep.

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In this interview, Brigette discusses writing her nighttime picture book, Whooo Is Still Awake?, the added effort of simplistic writing, and more.

Name: Brigette Barrager
Literary agent: Jennifer Laughran at Andrea Brown Literary
Book title: Whooo Is Still Awake?
Publisher: Random House Studio
Release date: December 9, 2025
Genre/category: Picture Book
Previous titles: Twelve Dancing Princesses, Vlad the Rad, Welcome Flower Child
Elevator pitch: Flip the script on bedtime and see who stays up all night! Two owls venture out into the moonlit sky to discover WHOOO else is still awake when the stars are out and we’re all in our beds. 

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What prompted you to write this book?

I had twins in 2021, and since then I’ve read innumerable books to them at bedtime. I noticed that the ones we returned to over and over were those that had a harmonious, soothing rhyme scheme and visual simplicity that was charming to both tired kid and tired parent. Titles like Goodnight Moon and Each Peach Pear Plum became our favorites. The page turns are quick, so no one loses focus. Reading the words aloud becomes like a lullaby. I wanted to create a story with that tranquil quality, that also made a nod to my twins (thus the two owls). 

How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?

I first had the idea to do a nighttime book in 2023, and luckily my editor at Random House Studio (the wonderful Maria Modugno) loved the idea as much as I did. 

Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?

This one came together quickly, in terms of the text and sketches. I revised the text several times to make sure it was easy to read aloud. You’d think because there are so few words that it would be easy—but really, when there’s less text you have to make sure that what is there is as clear and strong as it can be. Paradoxically, simplicity requires great effort! We also went through many, many, MANY rounds of proofs though. The dark colors are difficult to reproduce on paper! The first rounds were far too dark—you could barely see the characters. After much trial and error, we ended up with a beautiful result. I’m so happy with how it turned out.

Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?

I was surprised to learn that many people don’t know much about possums! I’m familiar with them as they’re common in Southern California, and we used to see them in our yard and even in our garage snacking on cat food. They sometimes hang from their tails (not as often as in cartoons) and they DO really carry their babies on their backs! I don’t know of any other animal that does that. I received notes about whether these things were accurate or not. 

What do you hope readers will get out of your book?

I hope that readers will be engaged by the simplicity and easy reading of Whooo, and that they’ll return to it over and over at bedtime. It’s meant to be a fun, quick, melodious read. I hope other parents of twins will appreciate my twin-coded owls, too. 

If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?

Take inspiration from your experiences. Pay attention to what grabs you, and what engages your audience. Let your taste guide your creative process. 

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Every day, my inbox has submissions labeled as picture book projects that are actually written in short story form and aren’t suited to today’s picture book market. There isn’t a simple and clear way to define the difference, but this article is presented in hopes that writers who want to publish a children’s picture book will be helped. 

I will be using excerpts of actual submissions, changing specifics to protect identity, but keeping features like sentence construction, general vocabulary, etc. to illustrate the points. 

What I’m presenting are generalities. There are certainly exceptions, and not all agents and editors would agree with everything I’m pointing out about features that, as I’m reading submissions, say “short story!” So, what are these features? 

1. There’s a different kind of flow to sentences in a short story.
2. The writing is in a loosely conversational style.
3. It lacks the “chiseled and polished” quality of most contemporary picture book texts.
4. The word count is on the long side.
5. Sentences are constructed differently than in picture book texts and tend to be longer.
6. Time is a specific element in the story, with events taking place over a longer span than in picture book texts.
7. Past tense is more commonly used.
8. The story isn’t reliant upon illustrations. Or, the narrative seems to call for “transcription” of the words into illustration, rather than allowing space for an illustrator to create a visual narrative that brings the story to life but also adds new elements.
9. It may include more characters or plot elements than a picture book can support.

Let’s look at some examples. 

One morning, Tayler was helping Mom cook a delicious breakfast of fried fritters. Tayler enjoyed cooking with Mom. She told colorful stories about her old neighborhood of Queens in New York. Tayler learned Mom’s cooking tricks and was the first to taste her exquisite meals. And Tayler adored tasting fresh fried fritters. 

The above example, like others in this article, would be helped by editing. But word trims and edits alone would not change the fact that we’re not in picture book territory. The tone is conversational and has digressions and “fuzziness” common to speech. We can’t tell where the story is taking us and don’t know quite where to put our attention. That’s a big problem when the reader (listener) is a preschooler. Is this about cooking? Eating? Time with mom? Learning mom’s stories? Something else?

Here’s another example, from the opening of a manuscript: 

Long ago, back when the sun was young, a little boy named Benjamin lived in a dark forest. It had been a hard season. Benjamin’s grandmother had passed from a strange fever, his mother had died from a broken heart, and his dog had been eaten by fierce bears. 

“Long ago” is the conventionally accepted opening for folk tales and oral storytelling. It also gives a feeling of writing from an earlier era (pre-21st century). There’s a mythic quality established in each of the sentences, especially in the last. It’s inviting as a short story. But for a picture book, we need to know very quickly a particular hurdle or situation that can be explored and resolved in about 200–500 words; words that will be expanded upon in non-verbal ways by illustrations. Here, we realize that Benjamin’s life is hard and dangerous, but we don’t have hints of where the story will take us—and for a picture book, 50 words (the length of this excerpt) are too many for the situation to be so unclear. 

I recently received an extremely long submission (839 words), presented as a picture book project. In addition to other issues, it had multiple sub-plots and time references that would be challenging to a pre-schooler or kindergartener listener. It’s important to keep in mind that their personal experience with time is limited because they haven’t lived long enough for terms like these to truly make sense to them: “The following month,” “by summertime,” “after summer, autumn.” 

In the next example, the language isn’t “tight.” The author hasn’t looked at every word to be sure that it has energy and is pulling its weight in illuminating a character or carrying the story forward. It also isn’t reliant upon illustrations to enlarge the meaning of the text. And, its timespan is too long for a picture book text: 

Mama shared her wisdom with Ida, and as the little cub grew, so did their closeness. The little cub was eager to learn everything possible from her wise old Mama.

Ida wanted to be as quick as her Mama, climb trees as high as her Mama, and catch fish as big as her Mama’s!

When Ida felt unsure of her place or left out with the other bear cubs, she knew that Mama Bear would be waiting for her. Mama Bear always knew whether Ida needed a warm hug or a playful game. The two understood one another, without words.

Over the years, Ida had grown to be just as big and strong as Mama Bear. Standing by the stream one day, Ida saw that her reflection was the same size as Mama Bear’s.

*****

If, as you read this article, it struck you that your writing style is a match to short stories rather than to picture books, there are options in the marketplace for you. Children’s magazines, such as LADYBUG and Highlights, reach thousands of children. They also make great credits (clips) for your bio.

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In this interview, Christian discusses how looking into the world of owls helped him gain insight into our own world in his new picture book, The Urban Owls, his advice for writers, and more.

Name: Christian Cooper
Literary agent: Gail Ross (WME)
Book title: The Urban Owls: How Flaco and Friends Made the City Their Home
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Release date: February 18, 2025
Genre/category: Children’s (ages 4-8)
Previous titles: Better Living Through Birding
Elevator pitch: Meet the owls who remind us that nature is everywhere—even in the heart of the biggest cities—and teach us how to thrive side by side.

Bookshop | Amazon
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What prompted you to write this book?

Owls are always among us but are hard to find. When we do, it’s like stumbling across an ambassador from another world: a nighttime world that’s little known to us. By telling the stories of these “celebrity owls,” I wanted not only to look at their world, but to gain some insights into our own.

How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?

It took about a year, from concept to bookshelf; the fantastic artist for the book, Kristen Adam, had deadlines that were just as tight as mine! Flaco had captured the public’s imagination, and we needed to strike while that was fresh. But that’s where the idea evolved: Flaco was the point of entry, but it was very important to me to talk about some of the wild, native owls that had taken NYC by storm as well.

Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?

This is my first children’s book, so the collaborative process was somewhat new. But since I have a background in writing comic books, where the writer/artist collaboration is key, it wasn’t completely alien to me.

Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?

I was pleasantly surprised at just how many parallels between the owl life and human life were right there waiting, even in the context of a children’s book.

What do you hope readers will get out of your book?

A realization that wild things are always with us and will seize any opportunity we give them to live their wild ways. Let’s give them more.

If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?

Let your freak flag fly! No matter where your passion lies, even if it’s something (like birding) that others dismiss, give it full rein in your writing and your life, and you and the world will be better for it.

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(How to Tap Into Vulnerability and Show Strength in Picture Books.)

So I’d like to share how I, as an author and illustrator, created a story that teaches a heartfelt, but sometimes hard life lesson, in a way that is still fun and light as a bedtime story. I’ll share how I did so with my debut picture book, Even Yetis Get Colds. But first, you’ll need a little synopsis to know what the story is about on the outside and the deeper lesson that flows underneath.

Even Yetis Get Colds is a whimsical story about a little girl and her best friend, Yeti. Every year Yeti gets a cold. His sickness causes a snowstorm, and he hides out alone, grumpy, until the cold passes. This year, however, the little girl is determined to find a cure. Many fun shenanigans take place as she tries and fails to cure him. In the end, she realizes that what he really needs isn’t a cure, but just his friend by his side. The story ends with the two besties cuddled up for warmth as they brave the storm together.

It’s a silly, fun story. Yeti’s cold is not contagious, or deadly, and is in fact a little fun, because it causes snowstorms and windstorms and other only slightly destructive whimsical problems. We also know this happens every year, so eventually he will feel better on his own.

If I were to replace Yeti with the little girl’s mother who is sick and can’t be cured; the story would instantly be dark and possibly scary for children—and for me (I’m a softie).

The underlying life lesson is that not everyone can be helped and that there isn’t a cure for everything. It’s one of the hardest lessons I’ve ever had to learn. To be honest, I’m still learning it. I spent years watching someone I love suffer, feeling helpless to do anything about it. I still find myself in that little girl’s shoes trying everything I can do to help, failing, and realizing yet again, the best thing I can do is just be by their side, listen, and wait for them to tell me what they need.

This helpless feeling is even worse as a child, when you feel you have very little power over anything; much less the ability to help a parent or pet or friend or yourself feel better when they’re unwell. It’s especially hard for children to understand that sometimes your body just needs time to heal, and you might not just feel better right away. Or even worse, that there may be no cure at all.

In truth, this is a story about a person who can’t be cured, and the child who fails to help them. Although, I’m sure someone could write that book at face value and it would be beautiful, it’s not how I prefer to tell stories, and not the kind of book I’d like to read to my kids.

So, how can I make that message more digestible, and dare I say… fun?

I didn’t want the person who is sick to be someone we might think of or worry about in our real life. So I made sure that the person who is sick is a fully fictional character. That way we won’t relate it too closely to our own mom, or dog or whatnot. In addition, the sickness isn’t a deadly disease but a snowstorm. We know storms eventually pass.

In fact, the snowstorm is the perfect excuse to have the characters get stuck in giant snow piles; to get thrown about by tornadoes, and tons of other silly and physical humor to carry the story along. If this were a real cold, a big pile of snot might be a little too icky. Although I think many kids would find a snot pile pretty funny, I don’t think parents would appreciate the messaging. This also helps ensure that we know the sickness is not contagious and we aren’t worried about the little girl catching Yeti’s cold.

An early lesson I learned in illustration and writing is to pull from my own life experiences. That connection to real life is what makes stories feel real and relatable. However, that doesn’t mean every aspect needs to be true to life, just the emotional experiences. So taking my real life experience of struggling to help someone in need, but then replacing myself with the little girl, and the person I failed to help with a Yeti and the trouble they suffered from with a snow storm. I have a true to life, personal experience packaged up in a fun and engaging format.

In this way I hope that it doesn’t feel like I’m hitting the reader over the head with the messaging, but letting them feel and experience the emotions for themselves.

And that’s how I wrote a fun silly story about an un-fun topic.

Check out Carlianne Tipsey’s Even Yetis Get Colds here:

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As a set and costume designer, she has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the National Endowment for the Arts/TCG Fellowship for Theatre Designers, the Independent Theatre Award and the Arlin Meyer Award. She has received multiple awards for her picture book illustrations, including three Sydney Taylor Medals. She’s a 2023 Eisner Awards nominee.

Her debut author/illustrator picture book, Anya’s Secret Society, received a Junior Library Guild Gold Selection Award. She’s an author/illustrator of Typewriter and Mona Lisa In New York. Her latest book, I Hate Borsch!,is the Gold Winner of the 2022 Foreword Indies Book of the Year Awards. Born and raised in Kyiv, Ukraine, she now lives in New York City. Follow her on X (Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram.

In this interview, Yevgenia discusses how being confronted with her doppelgänger inspired her to write and illustrate her new picture book, A Party for Florine, her hope for readers, and more!

Name: Yevgenia Nayberg
Literary agent: Anna Olswanger was the agent for this project.
Book title: A Party for Florine: Florine Stettheimer and Me
Publisher: Neal Porter Book/Holiday House
Release date: July 16, 2024
Genre/category: Picture book biography
Previous titles: Author/Illustrator of Anya’s Secret Society, Typewriter, Mona Lisa in New York, and I Hate Borsch!
Elevator pitch: A Party for Florine is a fantasy fan letter inspired by the art and life of the Jewish American painter Florine Stettheimer. Florine was a colorful, larger-than-life character. She’s a perfect imaginary friend for a shy, creative child.

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What prompted you to write this book?

In 2017, The Jewish Museum held an exhibition of Stettheimer’s work. A friend attending the show sent me a photograph of Florine’s early self-portrait. I was shocked by how much I resembled her! I was instantly inspired by this mystical connection to a painter born 100 years before me. As I explored her art and poetry, I became drawn to her exuberance, wit, and her way of looking at the world through an ironic lens.

How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?

I had a vague idea that I needed to do something with the story of my doppelgänger, but it was not a clear one. It just sat quietly in the back of my mind for about three years. I have illustrated several picture book biographies in the past but was never interested in writing one. Then suddenly, I had an idea of writing in the first person: If I were to meet Florine, how would it change my own melancholic and boring life? And that’s how this book wrote itself: a biography of Florine, but also a bit of my own story.

Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?

As much as I like Florine’s work, my own artistic style is quite different. The most exciting challenge was inventing a style that resembled Florine’s without losing my own. I’ve lucked out with my editor, Neal Porter, and Art Director, Jennifer Brown, who were incredibly supportive and cheerful throughout the process.

Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?

The Author’s Note! When Neal asked me to write the Author’s Note, I told myself, “This is my chance to play an art critic.” I really enjoyed switching from my succinct picture book voice to something a bit more adult. I’m also continuously surprised that I manage to write in a foreign language!

What do you hope readers will get out of your book?

It’s up to us to create “the world full of color and full of surprises.”

If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?

Don’t worry about pleasing an unknown child with your story. Write for the child that you once were—or better yet, for the child that you are.

The post Yevgenia Nayberg: On the Artist as Inspiration appeared first on Writer's Digest.

(Turning a Bedtime Routine Into a Picture Book.)

A while ago, I taught an illustration workshop in Russia. On the flight home, I tried to imagine my grandparents and great-grandparents crossing the Atlantic by boat from Russia to Ellis Island. While searching for a movie to entertain myself, I ruminated that I may have more in my suitcase for two weeks than they had, fleeing their home.

Upon returning home, I kept thinking about my grandmother and what it was like for her as a child to leave everything behind and start a new life in a strange place. As I started digging into my own family history, I realized that what made her story special was not that it was unique, but that it was shared by many of my neighbors. As questions begot questions, I wondered about the others in my community, their journeys, and what they left behind.

I interviewed my friends and neighbors about their stories of immigration and migration, and about the stories of their grandparents and great-grandparents. Although the stories I heard came from different places and eras, I couldn’t help but notice how much they had in common.

I had the idea of a five-story tenement building as a container for these stories. I knew I wanted to begin with my grandmother and great-grandparents and end in the present with a family immigrating from Fuzhou, China. It was hard to select only five families for this book when I would have loved to represent many more immigrant cultures. I tried to choose a broad spectrum of experiences and periods, but it is impossible to depict the many cultures that create the vibrant fabric of the Lower East Side. Although I based the first child in this story on my real grandmother, Jenny Epstein, the other characters are composited from many different people I learned about. While constructing these stories, I wanted to leave enough narrative space in each character’s story so children could see themselves.

My memories from childhood onward also provided material to work with. As New Yorkers, much of our time is spent outside our apartments. The shared spaces of a city block, stoop, roof, community garden, bodega, and restaurant are where people gather and foster a feeling of community.

While gathering information for the book, I learned new things about my friends and neighborhood. A friend shared his experience moving from the Dominican Republic to New York as a young boy. I met with students at a local dual language school who shared their experiences recently moving from China to the Lower East Side. I even discovered new things about my family!

For years, my mother has spoken of my great-uncle, Louis Epstein. As a child, he was run over by a trolley and lost his leg, replaced by a wooden one. According to my mother, he ran a business taking people on fishing expeditions on Long Island and sold fishing equipment from a store on Orchard Street until the late 1970s. Although I vaguely remember him, this sounded too absurd, a family myth of the Yiddish Captain Ahab. 

While doing research, I found an out-of-print book on the Lower East Side. Flipping through the pages, I discovered a photo of the Louis Fishing Tackle store at 139 Orchard Street. I shared the photo on Lower East Side Facebook pages and asked if anyone knew. Many responded with stories about my great uncle Louis and the shop. He lived in the back of the store and once pushed a would-be robber down the stairs with his crutches; one person called him cantankerous, and another recalled fishing with him. 

Without my research for the book, I would still doubt this slice of my family history. Putting all these pieces together felt like a puzzle that could not be finished, but I could see enough of the image to recognize it. Every family has a story; this one is mine.

Check out Ellen Weinstein’s Five Stories here:

Bookshop | Amazon

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In this interview, Aya discusses the process of venturing out on her own with the first book she both wrote and illustrated, The Days are Long, the Years are Short, her hope for readers, and more!

Name: Aya Morton
Literary agent: Alyssa Henkin, Birch Path Literary
Book title: The Days are Long, the Years are Short
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Release date: March 26, 2024
Genre/category: Picture Book
Previous titles: The Great Gatsby: The Graphic Novel (F. Scott Fitzgerald (Author), Fred Fordham (Adapter), Aya Morton (Illustrator); His Dream of the Skyland Anne Opotowsky (Author), Aya Morton (Illustrator); The Road Home: A Letter to my Children Mimi Buckley (Author), Aya Morton(Illustrator)
Elevator pitch: A day in the life of a family with young children, enjoying their messy and precious time together.

Bookshop | Amazon
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What prompted you to write this book?

When my boys were two and four years old, I escaped into my studio after bedtime and roughly sketched out a series of images from the day: the breakfast with one kid refusing to touch his food and the other rubbing it all over; the delight from a shell on the beach; the instant nap in the car. Those sketches sat for a few years. My parenting life took up a lot of oxygen! Later, when I was building my portfolio with kid art, I shared the sketches with my agent, Alyssa Henkin. She said, “It looks like a book!” And happily, I went back to the images as a series.

How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?

There were many years between idea and publication. Once I started working on the book in earnest, it took another three or four years for it to come to completion. In its early stages, the story was snarkier. As time went on, the tenderness and nostalgia came into balance. I think this has a lot to do with the experience of parenthood. All the little moments feel overwhelming when kids are small, and they become so precious as the years go on.

Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?

Since I was a kid, I’ve always wanted to make picture books. When I finished art school, I got involved in graphic novels, and that’s been the bulk of my book illustration experience. The process of making a graphic novel feels like building a world or writing a thesis. You visualize every environment and scene, and there’s a lot of opportunity to add details and visual information. Working on a children’s book felt like refining a poem. Every word and image affects the story, so the editing process takes a great deal of focus and patience. Deirdre Jones and Brenda Angelilli, the editor and book designer I worked with, were incredibly involved through this process and I’m really proud of how the book came out.

Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?

This is the first book I’ve both written and illustrated. While most of my professional life has been as an illustrator, I’ve always loved to write. Usually, illustrators respond to a text that’s already been written and the dialogue between text and images through the creation process is minimal. This story started with images, and as I worked, I could tweak the words and the pictures to better fit each other. That was a really fun experience!

What do you hope readers will get out of your book?

I hope families feel a sense of community and affirmation from this book. I hope kids recognize scenes from their own lives and parents relate to the chaotic imperfections and the deep love that characterize these years. I also hope parents and kids of all ages and stages of life connect with the idea that parenting doesn’t have to look perfect for the emotional heart to be real.

If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?

It’s old news and it’s true—these things take time! So much work happens in book making before there’s any outside validation. Especially if you’re a working parent, things can go at an excruciatingly slow pace. My advice is to stay with it, in whatever capacity you can. If you stay on the path, eventually there’s a body of work behind you.  

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(Plotters vs. Pantsers in Poetry.)

We’re all curious about other writers’ inspirations, aren’t we? Where did the spark for that poem, essay, story, or play come from? My first book for children, My Thoughts Have Wings, illustrated by the incredible Leanne Hatch, has an origin story that’s very close to my heart. This picture book was inspired by two things: a conversation I had with my now-teenage daughter Violet when she was small, and years later, a pandemic bedtime routine I began with my son Rhett.

I half joke—but also half earnestly believe—that as soon as children hear the automatic locks click on the car doors, they know they have a captive audience. Time to seize the opportunity to ask big, existential questions! Our conversations while running errands were never dull, that’s for sure. When Violet was in preschool, she wanted to know everything about the world. At ages three and four, she used every short drive to the post office, the library, or the grocery store to ask me big questions from her car seat behind me:

“What is the earth for?”

“What is the future?”

“What is the past?”

“Where was I before I was in your belly?”

I loved her mind—her curiosity, her attentiveness—but some nights she couldn’t turn the thoughts off. I could almost hear her mind whirring, whirring, unable to shut itself down. During one of those difficult tuck-ins, I told her, “Thoughts are like birds—some just fly away, but others nest. Our thoughts are nesters. They don’t want to leave us, and they make themselves right at home.”

I knew what she must have been picturing: winged thoughts gathering twigs and ribbons and even, because we’d seen it once, scraps of plastic grocery bags. Winged thoughts weaving a home for themselves in her skull.

I told her the truth as I knew it: that her head is such a beautiful place to live—more beautiful than any sycamore, maple, or oak—that no wonder nothing wants to leave her. Nothing and no one, least of all me.

I don’t know what helped her more—having a metaphor for rumination and intrusive thoughts, or knowing that she wasn’t alone in that experience, because I had nesting thoughts, too. Sometimes what our children need most is not for us to solve their problem but to listen, reassure, even commiserate.

Years later, in 2020, I published Keep Moving: Notes on Loss, Creativity, and Change, a book of quotes and essays. I created that book as literal self-help, because writing it helped me weather the end of my marriage, but it was published during the first year of the pandemic, when all of us were grieving and unsure. In the last chapter of that book, “Nesters,” I wrote about that bedtime conversation with Violet.

Early in the pandemic, both of my children were grappling with a great deal: separation from friends, family, and school; their parents’ divorce; and their father’s move nearly 500 miles away. Tucks-ins with my young son, Rhett, were often difficult.

One night, sad and anxious, he said, “I’m trying to think good thoughts, but the bad thoughts keep pushing them out of the way.” Frankly, I understood. I wasn’t sleeping well either. Weren’t so many of us, children and adults alike, lying awake at night, staring at the ceiling or tossing and turning, our minds whirring like overheated laptops?

The metaphor of thoughts as birds was fresh in my head, on the heels of Keep Moving, but I took the idea a step further. I wanted Rhett to fill up with good thoughts before bed, so they might crowd out as many of the worries and sad thoughts as possible. I wanted to make room for the joyful, peaceful thoughts to nest.

This became our bedtime routine: cuddling in his bed together in the dark, naming happy memories and things to look forward to. And it worked. Instead of dreading bedtime, I looked forward to it. And instead of crying or grabbing my arm, not wanting me to leave his bedroom, my son was more at peace, too.

Given the tumult of the pandemic, I knew that other children must be sad and anxious, too. I wanted to share our bedtime routine with others, so I began developing it into a picture book manuscript. The most magical part of the process for me was seeing how Leanne Hatch interpreted my words in her incredible illustrations. She captured so much of our lives but also took the art in directions that surprised and delighted me.

Rhett and I call My Thoughts Have Wings “our book”—and it is, because we created it from a shared experience. In the months after the text was finalized, I reviewed a few passes of artwork—first Leanne’s initial pencil sketches, and then more complete renderings in color. I will never forget sitting in my office chair with Rhett in my lap, clicking through the first PDF with rough sketches in place. At one point, he turned around, wide-eyed and smiling, and said: “It’s me!”

It is him. In fact, it’s us! When readers turn the pages of My Thoughts Have Wings, they’ll find some of his happy thoughts: fishing in the creek behind my parents’ house, playing with friends, eating ice-cream at the beach, being greeted with dog kisses when he comes home from school. But the book is also an invitation for caregivers and children to think of and share their own happy thoughts.

My hope for My Thoughts Have Wings—and my purpose in writing it—is that it might make tuck-ins a little sweeter, a little calmer, a little easier for other families. I hope it helps caregivers and kids connect in hopeful, positive ways before bed—ways that leave both kids and grown-ups smiling in the dark.

Check out Maggie Smith’s (and Rhett’s) My Thoughts Have Wings here:

Bookshop | Amazon

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The post Turning a Bedtime Routine Into a Picture Book appeared first on Writer's Digest.

In this post, Gideon discusses the inspiration behind his new picture book, Treehouse Town, his advice for writers, and more!

Name: Gideon Sterer
Book title: Treehouse Town
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Release date: February 13, 2024
Genre/category: Picture book
Previous titles: The Christmas Owl, I Will Read to You, The Midnight Fair, It Began with Lemonade
Elevator pitch: Explore every branch, nook, and cranny of a treetop utopia built by children and their animal friends in this immersive and intricately detailed picture book by a New York Times bestselling author.

Bookshop | Amazon
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What prompted you to write this book?

I’ve always been obsessed with treehouses, and the concept of making an entire and connected world out of them seemed like a fun and hopefully wonderous undertaking! I’m also intrigued by the liminal space between human and animal worlds and uniting them more harmoniously, so that was a big influence as well.

How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?

Charlie and I are good friends, and when we thought we had a shred of an idea we went straight to Deirdre Jones, my editor at LBYR. From there Deirdre and I did a bunch of revising and rethinking and adding things and hammering out the words of the world that Charlie would eventually magician into existence. From the time we sent the idea to LBYR to the book’s publication was just over two years.

Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?

That Charlie is otherworldly talented! I had already known that, but seeing him breathe life into this project with the level of detail and subplots and nuance and intricacies he brought to it—mostly done traditionally and by hand—was its own sort of eye-opening thrill!

Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?

Oftentimes in books that rhyme and that aren’t traditionally “narrative” per say, you have to do a lot of tinkering to make sure you are keeping momentum and varying the reading experience. So, it was surprising (and fun) just how deep I had to dig with my editor to find those unique moments and to lace them together to make a big world cohesive and accessible—and ideally a joy to travel through.

What do you hope readers will get out of your book?

I hope they get outside or are called to the woods. I hope they build a treehouse or at least find one to hang out in. I hope they are kinder to animals and view them, even slightly, more as peers. As much as this book is fun and exciting and incredible to look at, it’s also one that celebrates nature and harmony among living things.

If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?

It’s been said many times, but I think the most important thing after a little planning, plotting, and thinking is to get down a bad first draft—just something that crudely resembles the shape of what you are trying to do. That’ll be much easier to edit and learn from than trying to write something perfectly in one go.

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