You know it’s June when suddenly there are fiercely protective does everywhere and, if you’re lucky, you get to see tiny new fawns wobbling along behind them.

A doe with a new fawn has taken up residence on the wooded outskirts of my yard.  I have yet to see the baby, but I know it’s there because the doe is terrorizing my dogs!  (Not that they don’t deserve it – they’re entirely too interested in the proceedings, and even though I know they’d never hurt the fawn – if only because they’d have no idea what to do with it! – they make the doe nervous with their investigations.  And as someone who is a mother, I understand 🙂 )

Since I haven’t seen the fawn yet, I’ll entertain your with baby horse antics instead 🙂

 

You will recall that we had a barn baby back in April… whose mother, coincidentally, is named April 🙂  At the moment, this little dickens is referred to as Sassy… when she isn’t being called something less polite 🙂  She is quite a handful 🙂

Anyone feel a picture book coming on? 🙂

Alrighty, then!

Since today’s pitcher is a self-professed Ice Cream Lover, and since summer is coming, and since what could be better for breakfast than ice cream, let’s have Something Chocolate Ice Cream for today’s snack!

Brownie Cup Ice Cream Sundae

Obviously either chocolate or coffee is the best flavor of ice cream to use, along with hot fudge and/or caramel topping, but since it’s breakfast time, if you feel compelled to have some fruit, you can go strawberry ice cream 🙂

Delish! 🙂

Now then, onto today’s pitch which comes to us from Katie who says, “I’m an educator, Word Nerd, and Ice Cream-Loving Optimist. Faith, family, and fitness are my motivators. My #1 writing goal is picture books featuring Big Ideas for Young Minds (also the name of my main blog). My side gig is creating teaching resources (my own and for hire).   Additionally, you may want to know:

6. 1. 1. 1. “Goodnight, Moon” is my least-favorite classic, but “Runaway Bunny” is tied for first with “Harold and the Purple Crayon” and “The Lorax.” Also, I have too many modern favorites to pick even the Top 10.
         2. I want to know why zillions of the facing-out picture books (e.g. hot sellers) in stores rhyme when verse is supposed to be verboten.
         3. Age ranges on picture book queries make me wince since I think picture books are perfect for any age. The little plus sign I put after the age range (e.g. 4-8+) makes me feel better.”

 

Here is her pitch:

Working Title: The Tooth Fairy Conference

Age/Genre: Picture Book (ages 5-9)

The Pitch: Tooth Fairy Gwyneth rallies brainy and brawny conference attendees to extract Plaque Man, a rot-minded foe, and save the fairy economy. Gwyneth must convince skeptical speakers presenting key economic and tooth collecting knowledge to form a posse with tough tooth fairies from all over the world. Now if only they can combine their dental and mental derring-do and wash skunky, gunky Plaque Man down the drain.

·        ~1250 words, PB ages 5-9+  It’s dreadfully long as a fiction PB, but it has nonfiction elements integral to plot and character development. I’m open to input on if it should be a chapter book instead.

So what do you think?  Would You Read It?  YES, MAYBE or NO?

If your answer is YES, please feel free to tell us what you particularly liked and why the pitch piqued your interest.  If your answer is MAYBE or NO, please feel free to tell us what you think could be better in the spirit of helping Katie improve her pitch.  Helpful examples of possible alternate wordings are welcome.  (However I must ask that comments be constructive and respectful.  I reserve the right not to publish comments that are mean because that is not what this is about.)

Please send YOUR pitches for the coming weeks!  For rules and where to submit, click on this link Would You Read It or on Would You Read it in the dropdown under For Writers in the bar above.  There are openings in July, so you have time to polish your pitch before putting it up for helpful feedback and a chance to have it read and commented on by editor Erin Molta!

Katie is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch!  I am looking forward to seeing that little fawn one of these days soon 🙂