Book concepts
I have a bunch of ideas for books- working on pitches for small publishers.
Meet Scriver, the central character for a children’s board book proposal about a young rabbit just learning to read. The book will feature the sorts of typography we are surrounded by in daily modern life; street signs, billboards, book titles, posters, product labels; anything with letters. Inspired by my love of letters and daily neighborhood walks in San Francisco I imagine experiencing the world of letters and letterforms through new eyes. Fans of "How Rocket Learned to Read" and "Yoko Finds Her Way" will appreciate this attempt to inspire kids to look around them and get curious about reading wherever they happen to be.
Cover idea for a picture book about a man who makes a string of bad choices and gets lost in a dream world. He has to follow the clues to get home in time for a very important tea with his family. An ode to my childhood love of The Yellow Submarine’s bold patterns and wild colors “Dream” also goes into how getting lost and making mistakes is human and if we pay attention to unmet needs, we can find our way back to the people we love and make amends. Fans of “Wonder Bear,” “Monster Mamma” and the works of John Alcorn will appreciate this 1960’s-inspired illustration paired with a text aimed at helping kids understand how parents can move through difficulty with self-compassion and how families can learn to see each other as they are.
Character designs inspired by listening to “We Are Each Other’s Harvest” by Natalie Baszile. The book “brings together essays, poems, photographs, quotes, conversations, and first-person stories to examine black people’s connection to the American land from Emancipation to today. In the 1920s, there were over one million black farmers; today there are just 45,000. Baszile explores this crisis, through the farmers’ personal experiences. In their own words, middle aged and elderly black farmers explain why they continue to farm despite systemic discrimination and land loss. The "Returning Generation"—young farmers, who are building upon the legacy of their ancestors, talk about the challenges they face as they seek to redress issues of food justice, food sovereignty, and reparations.” Listening to it and working on my character design style I drew these thinking about how their stories could be told in children’s book formats.
I’m a plant person, and this k-4 book proposal is for a story about how to see plants as more than just background objects. It covers using our senses to taste, touch, smell, and experience these amazing beings and all their beauties, curiosities, healing properties and tastiness.
This “Transmundane Tuesday” prompt; “is a giant, has very long hair, is wearing a shirt with your towns name on it” has turned into a book proposal about a giant and a tortoise exploring the Sonoran Desert. Growing up there, I was always struck by the contrast of very large things like mountains, rocks, saugaro cacti with the very TINY things- the golf ball-sized pincushion cacti, the insects, the tiny leaves of a paloverde tree. Kids will learn about the wonders of the desert and how friends with very different perspectives can help each other experience, learn, and see more of the world we live in. Readers of “Big and Small and In-between” and “Pig and Small” will appreciate this exploration of size, scale, point of view and the importance of having friends who are very different than you.