2024 Picture Book Writing Challenge

Our 2023 Picture Book Writing Challenge was a great success! About 35 of you participated as we tried new genres, flexed our creative muscles, and grew as writers! I ended up writing nine of the ten genres, plus three other picture books. Even if none of these books ever get published, I love trying new things, challenging myself creatively, and getting stories down on paper. I 100% believe it’s worth every minute!

Who’s in for 2024? We’ve already covered the main picture book genres, so we’ll be digging a little deeper to explore some new, fascinating topics. Remember, anyone can join the challenge—and no one needs to read what you write! We’ve designed this experience to inspire you to learn and grow as a writer and creator, not to pressure you for results. 

How it Works: 

  1. Register by commenting on this blog post. 

  2. Read the blog posts posted throughout the month for inspiration: an intro to the genre, ten favorite picture books in that genre, and author blog posts.

  3. Write a picture book manuscript in the prescribed genre! 

Remember—the Picture Book Writing Challenge is designed as a personal challenge for yourself—no critiquing or sharing manuscripts is needed!

Let the World Know:

Save this image and post to your social media—let the world know you are participating! Tag me at @stefaniehohl so I can like and share your post!

And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for… Here’s the 2024 Picture Book Writing Challenge genre list!

Can’t wait to have you join us! Happy writing!

Jewish Holiday Picture Books with Alan Silberberg (Plus a Giveaway!)

We are so excited to have Alan Silberberg join us today to share information about Jewish Holiday Picture Books!

Alan is the author and illustrator of three Jewish holiday picture books; MEET THE LATKES, MEET THE MATZAH and MEET THE HAMANTASHEN (Viking/ Penguin Random House).  His newest book, LATKES FIRST HANUKKAH is a simple, silly board book for the tiniest readers who are ready to laugh and learn. Up next is P IS FOR PASTRAMI, an ABC board book of Jewish foods coming out in February, 2024.

I am the author/illustrator behind four Jewish holiday books published by Viking/Penguin Random House. MEET THE LATKES was my first book, and to be honest, it is the one that happened by accident. Let me explain:

I had already published three middle grade novels and even though I had been cartooning and drawing for decades, never thought about picture books. I did however love to make little silly animations for fun and for my online book brand. MEET THE LATKES began as an animated holiday card that I would send out every December.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFHuBa0-C3I

After receiving this goofy greeting for a few holiday seasons, it was my agent Jill Grinberg who suggested there was a picture book with my potato pancake family. I figured why not – and then set out to write a Hanukkah book based on my latkes. The only problem was, no editor was interested – perhaps because in my initial draft I had a Latke family hosting a Latke Party, which meant it was more of a cannibal story than a celebration of light.

But there was one editor, Leila Sales at Viking, who saw beyond my initial odd take and thought there was a funny and charming holiday story to be told with my latkes. Thanks to her insight, we shaped my first attempt into a warm, funny book that actually tells the Hanukkah story (without eating any latkes). MEET THE LATKES was published in 2018.

The book got great reviews and kids and families laughed along with Grandpa Latke, who insists on telling a wrong version of the Hanukkah story only to be corrected by the “latke” family dog named Applesauce. It’s funny and warm and I loved making it.

And it hit me: MEET THE LATKES was a format. Anthropomorphic Jewish food who tell a Jewish Holiday story. I started thinking about Passover and knew the title would be MEET THE MATZAH. But I didn’t want to create another “family” story and came up with the idea of using the story of the Jewish people’s persecution under the Pharoah and turning it into a “school bully story”. Again, I used the approach of telling the “wrong” story. In a school filled with bread characters, the antagonist is Loaf, a sourdough who is such a bully he insists he knows the Passover story better than the student assigned to tell it; my hero, a piece of matzah named Alfie Koman. (note: at a Passover seder, one ritual is to break a matzah in half and then hide it for the kids to find later – this matzah is called the AFIKOMAN.) Thanks to Alfie Koman finally standing up for himself and correcting the bully, MEET THE MATZAH also uses a mis told version of the holiday story to tell the actual one.

I followed up with the 3rd book in the series, MEET THE HAMENTASCHEN, which tells the story of Purim using the same mis told story format – but instead of a family or a school setting I created 3 Detectives, who are hamentaschen (triangle-shaped Purim pastries). The trio is hired to solve a problem at the Purim Party and based on being bungling sleuths, they get the clues all wrong and it is up to the characters of the Purim play to set the story straight.

Three holidays; three foods; three stories told wrong and then corrected.

My new holiday book. LATKE’S FIRST HANUKKAH grew out of my desire to make a book for younger kids. The bright and silly story uses anthropomorphic holiday symbols in a counting book format with the eight nights of Hanukkah. Each turn of the page is a new night for Latke to celebrate – with new Hanukkah characters to count.


I never intended to be “the funny Jewish food Holiday book” guy – but am thankful to the readers and educators and families who have embraced my way of celebrating Jewish stories.

Thanks so much for joining us, Alan!

You can find Alan on instagram @alan_silberberg and on his website at www.silberbooks.com.

Make sure to check out Stef’s Instagram @stefaniehohl to enter the giveaway!

One lucky winner will win a copy of Latke’s First Hanukkah!

Activism Picture Books with Robin Hall

We are so excited to have Robin Hall join us today to share information about Activism Picture Books!

Robin Hall holds an MFA in the Writing for Children and Young Adults program at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her debut picture book, THE LITTLEST WEAVER, will release Fall 2023 from Familius, distributed by Abrams Publishing.

She believes we are all born with an innate need to create, whether it be the best bread on the planet, a cozy quilt to keep our loved ones warm, or words on a page.

She teaches creative writing to children, yoga to all ages, and lives in North Carolina on a tiny farm with one husband, five children, four dogs, three weaving looms, and too many chickens to count.

Today I’m excited to talk about my debut picture book that released earlier this month. The Littlest Weaver is about Laurel, the littlest weaver, who sees a need in her community and responds.

Laurel feels a call to action and works to make a difference after a sad, displaced man moves to Laurel’s small Appalachian town. She recognizes loss in him, the same loss she experienced when she lost her mother. Even though she is small, Laurel understands cloudy days, pain, and the slow process of healing.

As Jen Krarr says, the main character of an activism picture book needs “a personal connection to the … cause that is at the heart of the story. This character’s journey is fueled by a cause they care about deeply.” Because Laurel suffered loss, she is the right person to help the sad man heal.

Even though the sad man initially turns her away, Laurel keeps finding different ways to help, from preparing and planting a garden to bringing fresh eggs and cleaning the cobwebs in his windows.

The most powerful thing Laurel does is use her gift of weaving. She realizes the man doesn’t need a happy story rug (her family specialty), but one that recognizes and honors his loss to help with the healing process. Laurel designs and weaves the rug with her father. I don’t want to spoil it here, so you’ll have to check out The Littlest Weaver for the big reveal.

My hope is that readers will see that even if they feel small and alone, they, like the littlest weaver, can make a big difference in their community.

Thanks so much for joining us, Robin!

You can find Robin on Instagram: www.instagram.com/robinhallwrites or on her website: www.robinhallwrites.com.

And you can find her book at Bookshop.org https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-littlest-weaver-robin-hall/19724209?ean=9781641709774 or any online retailer!

Picture Books about Family Traditions with Michael Genhart

We are so excited to have Michael Genhart join us today to share information about Family Tradition Picture Books!

Michael Genhart, PhD, is the author of the newly released Spanish Is the Language of My Family/El Español Es la Lengua de Mi Familia (illustrated by John Parra; published by Neal Porter Books/Holiday House) - which has received 5 starred reviews and is a Junior Library Guild Selection  His upcoming books include Edie for Equality: Edie Windsor Stands Up for Marriage Equality (illustrated by Cheryl Thuesday; Lee & Low Books, 2025) and another picture book biography which has not yet been announced.  Other titles include May Your Life Be Deliciosa (illustrated by Loris Lora, Cameron Kids/Abrams, 2021) which was awarded a 2022 Pura Belpré Honor and ALA Notable Book and received starred reviews from Kirkus and Booklist and They’re So Flamboyant (illustrated by Tony Neal, Magination Press, 2021); Love Is Love (illustrated by Ken Min, Little Pickle Press/Sourcebooks Jabberwocky);  Ouch! Moments: When Words Are Used in Hurtful Ways (illustrated by Viviana Garofoli); So Many Smarts! (illustrated by Holly Clifton-Brown); I See You (illustrated by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff); a series about nourishing friendships (illustrated by Steve Mack) Peanut Butter & Jellyous, Mac & Geeeez!, Cake & I Scream!; and Rainbow: A First Book of Pride (illustrated by Anne Passchier) — all published by Magination Press, the children’s books imprint of the American Psychological Association.  Michael is a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice in San Francisco, California. He received his BA in psychology from the University of California, San Diego and his PhD in clinical and community psychology from the University of Maryland, College Park. He has been a member of APA for over thirty years, SCBWI since 2011, and is a book reviewer for the New York Journal of Books. When he is not in his office treating patients or writing books for kids, he is outdoors gardening, hiking, reading, traveling, and enjoying celebrating family traditions with family and friends. He and his husband are proud parents of a newly minted elementary school teacher. He lives with his family in Marin County.

Growing up in a multicultural family meant lots of fun gatherings and celebrations throughout the year.  Love of family was the common thread that ran through these events, though the music and food that filled our home were decidedly different. When my Swiss-born paternal grandparents came to visit, my father would put on their favorite polka music, and if it was holiday time, my grandmother would make her yummy lebkuchen (a honey gingerbread). If my Mexican-American maternal grandparents were visiting, my mother would play ranchera music and prepare a variety of scrumptious dishes: arroz con pollo, albonigas soup (a meatball soup), or enchiladas.

I wrote ACCORDIONLY: ABUELA AND OPA MAKE MUSIC (illustrated by Priscilla Burris; published by Magination Press) to show what happened when both sets of grandparents came to visit at the same time.  They didn’t speak the same language – but when my father played the accordion (an instrument popular in both cultures), music connected us all.  Gathering at Christmas became a family tradition, with my father pumping out accordion songs (polka, ranchera, holiday hymns), my grandfathers amplifying the music with their energetic yodels and gritos, while the aromas of international cuisine wafted from the kitchen throughout the day.

As a child, one of my favorite days of the year was Nochebuena (Christmas Eve).  During the day, the women and girls gathered for a tamalada, a tamale-making party.  Being the only boy in the room didn’t seem to matter because there was a lot of work to do, and another set of hands meant more help.  But it was also so much fun.  We played music, danced, and told stories…all while making dozens and dozens of tamales.  In MAY YOUR LIFE BE DELICIOSA (illustrated by Loris Lora, who won a Pura Belpré Honor for her illustrations; published by Cameron Kids/Abrams), I hoped to capture the essence of this beloved family tradition: how food, music, and storytelling  brought everyone together in celebration of heritage culture, and language.  I also wanted to showcase the importance of oral history in families: how stories (and recipes) are passed on from one generation to the next – just like how Abuela imparts her wisdoms about making a delicious life as she demonstrates to Rosie, her nieta, how to make a delicious tamale.

In my newest book, SPANISH IS THE LANGUAGE OF MY FAMILY (illustrated by John Parra; published by Neal Porter Books/Holiday House), I tell a story of love of family and family tradition - through a celebration of language.  A little boy enters the National Spanish Spelling Bee.  His abuela helps him study, and during this time she shares with him that she was not allowed to speak Spanish when she was a young girl in school.  In fact, anyone who did so was punished.  Her story of shaming is revealed through the spelling words.  Ultimately, this story is about healing and the reclaiming of Spanish for a family where the tradition of speaking Spanish has deep roots.

Clearly, I love drawing from my family traditions to tell stories that I hope will have universal appeal.  In fact, when I share these books with children, the excited responses I get back include: “That’s like my family!” “We have family traditions, too!” “Now I want to tell my family stories!” And it’s that kind of inspired feedback from child readers that makes the author in me smile for days.  Likewise, I hope that these books will inspire my fellow writers to celebrate their own family traditions and find ways to tell those stories that reach the hearts and imaginations of children.

Thanks so much for joining us, Michael!

You can find Michael on Facebook @ MJGenhart, Instagram @michaelgenhart, Twitter/X: @MGenhart, or his website at michaelgenhart.com

Family Tradition Picture Books With Sidura Ludwig

We are so excited to have Sidura Ludwig join us today to share information Family Tradition Picture Books!

Sidura Ludwig has wanted to be a writer since she could hold a pen. Now she’s an award-winning author of books for adults and children. Her short-story collection You Are Not What We Expected (House of Anansi, 2020) won the Vine Literary Award for Fiction and was shortlisted for the Danuta Gleed Award. Her novel Holding My Breath (Key Porter Books, 2007) was shortlisted for the Winnipeg Book Award. She has two books for kids coming out in 2024: her debut picture book, Rising (Candlewick Press), will be released in the spring (preorder here!); her debut middle grade novel Swan (Nimbus Publishing) in the fall. She lives in Thornhill, ON with her husband, three kids and a geriatric Havanese.

At the beginning of the pandemic, when we were in the height of lockdowns, it was hard to tell the difference between the weekday and the weekend. All our regular markers were gone; but the one marker that didn’t change for our family was preparing for and celebrating Shabbat.

In Judaism, the Sabbath starts at sundown on Friday and ends an hour after sundown on Saturday evening. For those twenty-five hours, we practice a spiritual rest which includes refraining from work, technology, cooking, turning on and off electricity, and so on. Friday night dinner is a big meal with blessings and lots of food; but it’s also a beautiful family time when no one is rushed, and everyone is present.

During the pandemic, my one routine that didn’t change was waking up early on a Friday morning to make challah bread for Shabbat. At a time when the world felt upside down, I clung to something that felt normal. Shabbat too was the one day that felt the same as before.Yes, we didn’t have guests, but as a family, we still lit candles at the right time every week, still sat down together at the table, still ate the foods we love and associate with Shabbat.

The text for my debut picture book, RISING, came out of a deep desire to capture the feeling of how family traditions can be anchors for kids. In it, a child and mother rise early every Friday to make challah together. The book captures the quiet moments of anticipation as the family prepares for the Jewish Sabbath. But also, how the rituals of Shabbat connect the child from one generation to the next.

I was inspired by books like FRY BREAD (written by Kevin Noble Maillard; illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal, Roaring Book Press, 2019). In FRY BREAD children make traditional fry bread with Nana. Through their senses, they connect to their community, history, traditions and future. Fry bread becomes a metaphor for Indigenous perseverance, diversity and strength. The bread is the anchor for the children that connects them to the generations that came before. But when they learn with elders how to make the bread themselves, it’s also a promise that their culture will continue to live on through them.

Similarly, in SOUL FOOD SUNDAY (written by Winsome Bingham; illustrated by C. G. Esperanza, Abrams Books, 2021), a young boy learns how to make traditional soul food on a Sunday afternoon with his Granny. She teaches him how to grate the cheese and clean the greens. But before the meal, he decides to make one last thing, iced tea, all by himself. Learning soul food prep is the boy’s link to his family traditions. Making the iced tea on his own is how he becomes part of that lineage.

Family traditions picture books show how cultural traditions impact family, identity and community. They can also illustrate how for some, traditions are anchors in an ever-changing world.community. They can also illustrate how for some, traditions are anchors in an ever-changing world.

Thanks so much for joining us, Sidura!

You can find Sidura on Instagram@siduraludwigauthor, Facebook @siduraludwigauthor, or her website siduraludwig.com.

Chronological Picture Books with Joyce Hesselberth

We are so excited to have Joyce Hesselberth join us today to share information about Chronological Picture Books!

Joyce Hesselberth is a writer and illustrator based in Baltimore. She studied graphic design at Virginia Commonwealth University and later earned her master’s degree in fiction writing from Johns Hopkins University. Her children’s books have been published by Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, HarperCollins, and Chronicle Books. Her book Mapping Sam won a special mention award in the Bologna Ragazzi non-fiction category and was also named one of New York Public Library’s Best Books. Her most recent book, When Molly Ate the Stars was published by Chronicle Books in Fall 2022. Her illustrations have also appeared in magazines and newspapers including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Scientific American, and many others. She and her husband David Plunkert co-founded their studio Spur Design in 1995. Joyce also teaches illustration at Maryland Institute College of Art.

When you start really studying picture books, chronological books are everywhere, right? Something happens, which leads to something else, which leads to something else, and so on until the end. Picture books naturally lend themselves to this type of storytelling. In longer formats, you have more flexibility to explore flashbacks or tell the story in some other non-linear format. Technically, you can do that in picture books, but because of the short format, picture books need to be succinct. And that’s where chronological order can really help out.

Sometimes the chronology is the main point of the story, but sometimes the chronology is more of a tool that ties the story together. I find myself using this tool more and more often as I write. I’m going to talk about two ways to approach chronological stories: event-based and time-based.

Mapping Sam is a narrative non-fiction picture book that I wrote and illustrated. It is a book about maps. But the story is told as an event-based chronological tale: a cat sneaks out of the house at night and wanders around the neighborhood, visiting key sites along the way, before returning home to fall asleep in the kids’ bedroom. The story of a cat roaming the neighborhood is the way to thread the things I’m actually talking about – different types of maps – together. When I first started writing this story, I had a bunch of types of maps I could talk about, but there wasn’t enough to hold it together. But then I thought about telling it by exploring where a cat goes at night and – aha!– I had a story. Most importantly, I had a solid beginning, middle, and end. It also gave me an excuse to draw lots of cats, which was a big plus!

I used a time-based chronological structure in my book Pitter Pattern. Here, the main topic is patterns in nature, sports, music, etc. In this picture book, we follow a girl named Lu through the days of the week. Each day, there are new patterns to find. While I was writing this book, I had a bunch of types of patterns that I thought were interesting, but without some sort of structure, it felt like a list. And while there are certainly books that use a list approach, I always am more excited by having more of a narrative. I think the person who used this type of chronological structure the best was Eric Carle in the classic picture book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Carle walks us through the days of the week and ends his story with the transformation into a beautiful butterfly.

You could write a story around hours, months, seasons, or any time-based construct. Of course, there still needs to be some sort of satisfying end to the story. For Pitter Pattern, I had already established that the days of the week were a pattern too, so looping back to Sunday and repeating the opening line “Pitter, pitter, pat! Pitter, pitter, pat! Pitter, pitter, pat!” made the story feel like it came full circle.

So think about chronology as the structure to hang your story on. What events are happening while your story unfolds? Whether your main character is counting down the days until a big event, or setting out on an exciting journey, chronological storytelling is there to keep your reader entertained along the way.

Thanks so much for joining us, Joyce!

You can find Joyce on Instagram: @hesselberth or her website: https://www.joycehesselberth.com/

Mystery Picture Books with Elaine Bickell

We are so excited to have Elaine Bickell join us today to share information about Mystery Picture Books!

Elaine is from London in the UK but has called Wellington in New Zealand home for the last 17 years. She lives in an old house in the central city with her partner, 3 children and two fox terriers and spends her time writing picture books for children. Her debut picture book, The Little Ghost who Lost her Boo! made it around the world in 2019.

I’m a big fan of Joy Cowley and I owe her a lot. It was winning The Joy Cowley award in 2018 that launched my writing career. I’m starting with Joy Cowley because she said…

“…authors tend to be either plot driven or character driven. Once we recognise which we are, we can do something to strengthen the side that is lacking.”

Joy’s words resonated with me because she made me realise I am a character driven writer. Plot is the side I have to work on to strengthen.

It wasn’t until I was asked to write this guest blog post that I realised The Little Ghost who Lost her Boo! is a mystery picture book. I had never consciously thought of it that way before. You may find this lack of awareness and intent somewhat unusual or confusing, but for me it is typical of being a character driven writer. Now, in hindsight, I realise the mystery picture book genre, that I didn’t know I was writing, served me up a classic plot structure and thereby helped me “strengthen the side that is lacking.”

In typical whodunnit, or rather ‘whereisit’ tradition, Little Ghost loses her Boo and heads off to find it with determination. Her journey spent searching, and the characters she meets along the way, make up the main narrative of the story. My plot “issue” was resolved by adhering to the well-trodden path of a mystery story.

So ubiquitous is the mystery picture book, and so familiar the plot structure, that I find I also inadvertently included many of what might be called its essential ingredients. I owe this I think to a subconscious familiarity born from years of reading widely. Writing this blog post has made me consider how much of my writing is in fact subconscious.

I’m going to return to Joy Cowley again at this point because she also said something along the lines of “…writing a book is much like giving birth. You gestate an idea for a period of time and then suddenly, only when it is ready, it pours out onto the page.” Again I find I can relate. I play around with an idea in my head for weeks, sometimes months, and occasionally years, before it is ready to be released onto the page. During this time a lot of the story gets written by my subconscious, or semi-conscious brain. It’s only at the end that I feel like I step in and actively shape the story.

So back to those mystery picture book plot essential elements that I included subconsciously or accidentally! Of course there must be a compelling mystery to solve, and a sleuth with a big enough reason to solve it because the consequence of not solving it needs to be a big deal. In The Little Ghost who Lost her Boo, the consequence of not finding the lost Boo is serious! A ghost without a Boo cannot do the very thing that ghosts do, scare people.

A mystery story also needs red herrings. Those little moments of hope that the mystery is about to be solved only to prove misleading. The Little Ghost has them in abundance.

And mystery stories need a satisfactory resolution. In this instance the reader steps in and helps solve the mystery. An invested reader is another essential mystery story element.

Once I started to think about the genre of mystery picture books I realised that some of my favourites fall into this category, but the one I have enjoyed reading to my children the most is “The Story of the Little Mole who knew it was none of his business.”

Someone does a little something on Little Mole’s head and he sets out to solve the mystery and find the culprit. A classic whodunnit mystery plot applied in the most unexpected way!

Thanks so much for joining us, Elaine!

You can find Elaine on her website at www.Elainebickell.com, Facebook at Elaine Bickell, Children’s author, or Instagram @eebeenz.

Global Historical Fiction Picture Books with Meg Wiviott

We are so excited to have Meg Wiviott join us today to share information about Global Historical Fiction Picture Books.

Meg Wiviott is the author of PAPER HEARTS, a young adult novel-in-verse based on a true story of friendship and survival in Auschwitz. PAPER HEARTS made the 2016 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults and the Amelia Bloomer lists. It was also a Cybils Poetry Finalist and a 2015 Nerdy Poetry and Novel in Verse Winner. Meg is also the author of the award winning picture book, BENNO AND THE NIGHT OF BROKEN GLASS, which tells the story of Kristallnacht through the eyes of a cat. She holds an MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts.

I got the idea for BENNO while attending an SCBWI NJ conference many, many years ago when an extremely well known and respected publisher was asked, “What’s the one project you’d like to see come across your desk?” The publisher responded, “A picture book on Kristallnacht.” Those of us in the room who knew what Kristallnacht was gasped. It was a small gasp, there weren’t many of us.

I blinked. I stared. I blinked again. A picture book on Kristallnacht? How do you do that? How do you write a story on what is essentially the beginning of the Holocaust for young children? The wheels started turning.

It took me years—YEARS—to figure out how to do it (and quite frankly, I still don’t know how I actually did it because I haven’t been able to do it again). The idea stayed in the back of my mind and every once in a while, I pulled it out and played with it. I did tons of research. I read about Hitler and Goebbles, the Nuremberg laws and the expulsion of the Polish Jews. I read about Ernst vom Rath and Herschel Grynszpan. (Note that none of those things are mentioned in the book).But I had to know everything before I could make sense of how to write it. It is my philosophy that it’s not what we tell our children, but how we tell them. This story had to be honest.

When I had a reasonably presentable draft (there were many, many unpresentable versions prior to this one) I took it to my critique group. Like any good critique group, they read my work seriously and then as gently and kindly was possible told me it was boring. They explained that draft lacked a story arc, tension, and a character with whom the reader could identify. They were right. It was missing everything a good story needs.

One person suggested I tell the story from the point of view of a child. This was something I really did not want to do! I did not want to tell it from the pov of a non-Jewish child for several reasons, foremost because I did not want to get inside of the head of that non-Jewish parent. I refused to have any character spew antisemitic sentiments. Nor did I want to tell the story from the pov of a Jewish child because, quite frankly, the story is scary. I decided instead to write what I know…

Me around 6 years old with my first kitten named Lucky.

Cats. I know cats. I have had several in my life. The inspiration for Benno came from a cat I met when my husband and I were newly married and lived in an apartment. The super allowed a stray cat named Hobo to live in the basement of the building. He was a big, gray cat. He looked like the kind of cat who would roll a pack of cigarettes up in his t-shirt sleeve. Everyone in the building knew him. Everyone loved him.

Once I had Benno the rest of the characters fell into place. The facts are still there, but Benno adds the heart that was missing from previous versions.

Thirteen years on and BENNO AND THE NIGHT OF BROKEN GLASS is still in print! I am immensely proud.

My most recent cat, Slide (who we had until he reached the ripe old age of 17).

Thanks so much for joining us, Meg!

You can find Meg on her website https://megwiviott.com/, Instagram @megwiviott_writer, or Facebook @ Meg Wiviott- Author. 

Where To From Here? Traveling Without a Template with Liz Garton Scanlon

We are so excited to have Liz Garton Scanlon join us today to share information about Journey Picture Books!

Liz Garton Scanlon is the author of many beloved books for kids, including the recent middle grade novel Lolo's Light, the upcoming picture book Full Moon Pups, the Caldecott honored All the World, and many others. Liz is faculty co-chair of the Writing for Children and Young Adults program at the Vermont Faculty of Fine Arts, and lives in Austin, Texas. Find more on her life and work at  www.LizGartonScanlon.com 

In a game of writerly free association, I’d say journey and you – most likely – would say hero’s. The Hero’s Journey is a story template (popularized by Joseph Campbell) that begins with the hero’s call to adventure, follows him on said adventure, and welcomes him back home, victorious. It’s a way to tell a journey story, for sure. But it’s not the only way.

For one thing, it presumes that only certain, extraordinary characters receive the call when really, life itself is the adventure and if we’ve been born, we’ve been called. It also suggests a journey that’s circular and complete – the hero goes out, faces challenges, learns stuff about himself and the world, and returns home smugly satisfied. For most of us, life’s journey is more like a spiral than a circle, with plenty of side trips and twisty tentacles along the way. And while we certainly learn and grow as we navigate circumstances and interactions, we rarely (if ever) feel complete, much less smug! Finally, the Hero’s Journey is gendered in a way that’s untenable for many writers, readers and adventurers these days.

So, where does that leave those of us who want to use a journey as story structure or subject matter? Well, if we explode open the limitations around the Hero’s Journey, we see that we’re all on chosen or assigned adventures all the time, and every single one is an act of imagination. We do not know what we will encounter along the way, and yet we move forward – bravely or naively or with deep trepidation or fear – through space and time – fired by need or desire or curiosity or wonder. Sometimes, at the end, we return home, but not always. Sometimes, we’re dramatically changed, but not always. Sometimes, we feel satisfied, but not forever.

I’ve written several journey-based books over the years. I’m thinking of my picture book In the Canyon, illustrated by Ashley Wolff, that tells the story of a girl who hikes to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and, in the end, rather than feeling victorious, feels deeply connected to the natural world. My first middle grade novel, The Great Good Summer, is built partly around a road trip that Ivy and her best friend Paul take via Greyhound Bus, which we can all agree is more humbling than heroic.

But today I want to take a look at I Want a Boat, my collaboration with illustrator Kevan Atteberry. In this book, the protagonist is a young girl who uses her imagination to turn an empty box into a boat and, with that, she’s off an a seafaring adventure, with only her stuffies to serve as crew. The lyrical structure of this book is the repeating phrases I have… and I want…, phrases that were originally introduced to me as journaling prompts by a therapist-friend. The idea behind the words, at least as I understand them, is to express gratitude and presence (I have…) and also, a yearning, a desire, a leaning toward what’s next (I want…)

This, to me, is what moves a story forward. A grounding in the present moment and a pushing off from there. An understanding of where the character is, where she is headed, and what is moves her in that direction. There is no true template to guide that movement or predict the actual, eventual destination, whether we wish there were or not.  The character, like the writer, can only be curious about the journey. In turn, the reader will be, too.

(For more journeys, have a look at Liz’s Would You Come Too? and Frances in the Country, as well as Wishes by Victo Ngai and Muon Thi Van, Journey by Aaron Becker, The Adventures of Beekle by Dan Santat, and the very classic Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.)

Thanks so much for joining us, Liz!

You can find Liz on instagram @LizGardenSalad, Twitter @LGartonScanlon, or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/liz.g.scanlon.

Expository “Extras” with Katy S. Duffield

We are so excited to have Katy S. Duffield join us today to share information about Expository Nonfiction Picture Books!

I LOVE a good story. You know the feeling—falling headfirst into a good book with an enticing beginning, a flowing middle, and an oh-so-right ending—only to come out hours later asking: what time is it? Narrative storytelling (whether fiction or nonfiction) has a compelling “pull,” because it typically has conflict, a distinct story arc, and a satisfying ending.

But storytelling wasn’t a good fit for my topic when I was writing my nonfiction picture book, Crossings: Extraordinary Structures for Extraordinary Animals (illustrated by the amazing Mike Orodán). If I’d wanted to write about one particular animal using a certain wildlife crossing, I could have written in a story-oriented narrative style. But what I most wanted was to feature a variety of fascinating crossings along with the wide range of animals that use them, so instead of narrative nonfiction, I knew expository fiction was the way to go.

(*for more about expository and narrative nonfiction, nonfiction structure types, and everything kidlit nonfiction, visit author Melissa Stewart’s website http://www.melissa-stewart.com).

But without “story,” I needed to come up with other ways to pull readers in. I asked myself: How can I write about wildlife crossings in an engaging way? So, I did what I often do—I dove headfirst into the books on my bookshelf. The expository nonfiction books I adore have all kinds of yummy—what I call “extras”—spare text, lyrical language, refrains, and a big dose of heart. These would be the elements that would make my manuscript sing!

Spare Text

The main text of the first manuscript that my editor saw was around 400 words (the book also includes layered text on each spread to expand on what is shown in the main text). Pretty spare, right? But my super-sharp editor had her super-sharp revision scissors at the ready. I’ll admit, I hesitated at first. I’d worked hard on my beginning “set-up” and on my evocative descriptions, but I pruned them even more. And…my editor was right. The final main text clocked in around 250 words and felt much “tighter” overall. Here’s a “before” and “after” example:

Original text:

The roar of the tide calls—a massive wave of red crabs floods the forest floor,

then scuttles up, up and OVER a specially-created crab bridge toward the ocean.

Final text as it appears in the book:

Refrain

Luckily (thankfully!), the refrain I used throughout the book: “Over. Under. Across. Through.” came to me quite early in the process. I wanted the piece to feel “active,” and since the text focuses on the animals’ movement throughout the crossings, using prepositions that denote movement seemed to be an interesting and appropriate choice. As a bonus, the refrain, (along with a focus on poetic word choice) added a lyrical element to the text.

Heart

I knew that the endangered animal topic would have a strong heartstring tug of its own, but I also wanted to highlight the people who care so much about these animals and how they go about helping them. My first attempt was okay, but I felt it needed more, so I kept working on it to find the just-right approach.

Original:

Animal-loving superheroes, don their capes, pick up their pencils, set their minds to Figure. It. Out.

And they come up with ideas, answers—

—Ideas and answers that will help save the world’s animals.

The following is a look at the revised text which has been reworded and tightened and, which now includes the “Over. Under” refrain. The addition of “opening their minds and their hearts” also allowed me to use a version of that phrasing on the final page which helped the text come full circle (bonus!):

For me, studying the elements of books I love can help me see my manuscript in news ways. So, if you’re working on a piece of expository nonfiction, don’t fret that you don’t have a built-in story. Instead, take a look at some of the expository nonfiction books that you love and see what “extras” you can find to enhance your work-in-progress.

Happy writing!

Thanks so much for joining us, Katy!

You can find Katy on her website at www.katyduffield.com or on instagram @katysduff.

Creating Expository Nonfiction Picture Books that Sing with Melissa Stewart

We are so excited to have Melissa Stewart join us today to share information about Expository Nonfiction Picture Books!

Melissa Stewart has written more than 200 science-themed nonfiction books for children, including the Sibert Medal Honoree Summertime Sleepers: Animals that Estivate, illustrated by Sarah S. Brannen, and her upcoming title Whale Fall:Exploring an Ocean-floor Ecosystem. She maintains the award-winning blog Celebrate Nonfiction , and her highly-regarded website features a rich array of nonfiction reading and writing resources.

Most children’s book agents and editors chose to careers in publishing because they’re naturally drawn to stories and storytelling. And because they receive many, many more submissions than they can possibly accept, they’re taught to select manuscripts they fall in love with. So it’s no surprise that, when it comes to nonfiction, they’ve traditionally tended to favor submissions with a narrative writing style.

But many children think differently. These budding scientists, engineers, computer programmers, accountants, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, and more are drawn to expository nonfiction —text that explains, describes, or informs in a clear, accessible way. This is also the kind of nonfiction teachers focus on during informational writing units, so increasingly, publishers are looking for engaging, innovative manuscripts with an expository writing style. As a result, editors and agents are becoming interested in expository nonfiction picture books and, in the last few years, there’s been a uptick in the number being acquired and published.

For many writers, the most challenging thing about writing expository nonfiction is text structure. While nearly all fiction and narrative nonfiction has a chronological sequence structure, as I explain in this series of articles published in School Library Journal, expository nonfiction can have just about any text structure you can think of.

If I’m lucky, I know the text structure of a book before I start writing, but often it takes years of experimenting. This interactive timeline describes my 4-year journey in search of the perfect text structure for my book Can an Aardvark Bark?

As Lydia Lukidis explains superbly in this Storystorm blog post , another important element of an expository nonfiction picture book is “the hook.” The information has to be presented in a way that makes kids care. It’s all about fueling their natural curiosity.

Beyond that, elements like strong voice and rich language make editors and agents sit up and pay attention. You can find informative video mini-lessons on these topics here. While they’re intended for teachers, they’re just the kind of information children’s book creators can benefit from, too.

And finally, I’d like to recommend the anthology Nonfiction Writers Dig Deep: 50 Award-winning Authors Share the Secret of Engaging Writing, which I edited. It includes inspiring and informative essays from all your favorite nonfiction authors talking about their creative process.

Good luck with your expository nonfiction picture book manuscript!

Thanks so much for joining us, Melissa!

To see more of Melissa’s work, you can visit her website at www.melissa-stewart.com or visit her on instagram @melissastewartscience.