Planting seeds for picture books with agricultural roots

 by Sue Heavenrich

 

  I love gardening. There’s something about the smell of fresh soil, dropping seeds into thumbprint holes, and the constant humming of bees and flies. Not only does my garden provide food for the table, but it serves as my science lab and recently inspired a book about pumpkins.  

 

 

 

Turns out a bunch of writing friends have their own garden-related books featuring cabbages, compost, nut trees and farm life – some of them award-winning titles! So I invited them over to the GROG today to relax in the shade, sip icy lemonade and chat about our books that celebrate agricultural connections. Since Chelsea's sitting right next to me, I'll start with her.

 

What inspired your story, and how did you decide to write it the way that you did?

Chelsea

Chelsea Tornetto (Seasons on the Farm): I grew up in rural southern Illinois with farm families on both sides, so the topic itself was very familiar to me.  At first, I thought it might be an overdone topic...seasons are a common theme in children's books, as are farms!  But I realized that the combination of the two allowed me to highlight how farmers see the seasons through a much more purposeful lens than "regular" people.  For them, being tuned in to even the most subtle signs of the changing seasons is essential to their success and their livelihood.  So, I decided to focus on that and help show kids who may not be familiar with rural life how the changing seasons are about more than just snow days and spring flowers.  

Peggy Thomas (The Soil in Jackie’s Garden): I had wanted to write about soil for a long time because I’m fascinated by all the magical things that happen underground. I struggled to find the right story structure until one day while I was teaching a writing class. I reminded my students that rather than reinvent the wheel they could try using one of the many traditional story structures like “The House That Jack Built.”  The moment I said it I knew it would be perfect for showing how everything begins and ends with soil. It’s the first time I took my own advice.  

Roxanne Troup  (My Grandpa, My Tree, and Me): While researching, I ran across a YouTube video of a farmer harvesting pecans and was thunderstruck by their methods. I grew up in a farming community and had some experience with agriculture and pecans, but no one I knew harvested pecans by tractor. And I had never considered how all those pecans would sound or look like falling from the tree like rain! It was dusty and noisy and not at all the way my family gathered pecans. This dichotomy provided the structure for the informational element of my book—comparing commercial pecan harvesting with at-home production—but I needed a story mechanism that could making interesting information meaningful. I needed heart. While brainstorming, the phrase, “But not my tree,” popped into my head and I immediately knew an intergenerational family would provide the necessary story wrappings (a.k.a. “heart”) for this tale.

Karen Greenwald (The Cabbage Seed’s Colossal Secret): The stories that grab my attention often involve an unlikely hero/es. When I found out about the nine-year-old girl who chose to give a local soup kitchen a 40-pound cabbage she grew, then started a charity to encourage children nationwide to do the same, it was an instant click—exactly the kind of story that I like to put a spotlight on. I often think good stories tell you who they are and how they want to be written. To me, taking a circular approach felt powerful. I wanted it to reflect the growing cycle, the giving cycle, and the sharing cycle this child initiated.

Sue, with Jarrahdale pumpkin

Me: The Pie that Molly Grew started as a response to a challenge from Susanna Leonard Hill. Write about pies, she said. I listed all the kinds of pies I’d ever heard of and circled pumpkin, which is my favorite. And I jotted down a line: this is the pie that Molly made. That line stuck in my head like an earworm, pestering me until I planted my pumpkin seeds and realized that it might be a book about how a seed no bigger than a penny can grow into a long, tangly vine that produces an abundance of pumpkins. 

So, do we all garden? Or tend to plants in some fashion?

Peggy: I love gardening, but I love wildlife even more, so I’m slowly replacing non-native flowers and shrubs with ones that grew in my area before Europeans arrived. These native plants like coneflower, milkweed and spicebush are the plants that insects, birds and other animals rely on, but they are disappearing due to habitat loss, climate change, pesticide use, etc. I can’t do much about the bigger picture, but I can make a difference at home by turning my yard into a little nature sanctuary.

Roxanne: I live in a high-altitude, semi-arid, suburban area; so what I can grow is limited. To make the most of our resources and provide pollinators with what they need, I focus on native flower gardens/landscape plants, herb gardening, and container gardens for my veggies. (I also have a variety of house plants—including an avocado tree, currently in need of a larger pot, that my son grew as a science experiment in middle school.)

Roxanne

Karen: I wish I could garden in my yard but as I look out the window most days (when I probably should be focused on my computer screen), the number of deer grazing in my yard is striking. Every time we've planted flowers, they were snipped at the bud. So, I am more of a viewer of nature!

Chelsea: I have a bit of a black thumb, but my husband is a huge gardener, and most of our backyard is covered in garden beds.  (see pic).  While I don't do the work, I certainly enjoy the fruits of his labor!  We have strawberries, cantaloupe, tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, onions, figs, peas, and much, much more.  He also keeps my flowers alive for me!  :)  As shown in my first picture book, GARDENS ARE FOR GROWING, our kids have grown up in the garden, and I love watching them pick produce, help water, and just generally enjoy the outdoors with their Dad.  

Me: Every time I plant pumpkin seeds, I marvel how this humble fruit has fed families for thousands of years.  I cannot remember a Thanksgiving without a pumpkin pie. So I knew I had to include that connection of giving thanks for the earth and the sun, the rain and the seed, the flowers and the bees, and the gardeners and farmers who grow the food we eat.

What sort of connections did you want to emphasize in your book?  

Karen

Karen: I love a story where a community is formed, and where that community finds an unlikely or unimagined way to solve a problem. In this case, children all over the country have joined together, without even knowing each other, to make a dent in the food crisis. It’s a type of community that can grow exponentially, impacting an untold number of people’s lives. To me, that’s an incredible outcome. I also love that it teaches children to plant themselves somewhere or in something and nurture what they’re growing in both the Earth and within themselves—and as they increase their garden, hopefully their compassion, talents, and interest in protecting our environment will expand as well.

Chelsea: As I mentioned earlier, both sides of my family are farmers, and one thing I've realized over the years is how unique farming is as a job.  Other kids I knew growing up had parents who worked specific hours, had to schedule their "vacation" days, complained about their bosses, etc.  But a farm, as a family business, is more like a big, never-ending family project, and daily life is woven more naturally into the "job." The whole family has to work together and rely on each other to succeed...and it forces you to depend on each other more...which can build really close relationships.  There's also a special sense of pride in a family farm that's often been passed down from generation to generation.  A family farm more than just a source of income.  It's a part of your history.  I really love that.  

Peggy: It was important that my book be more than just planting a seed and harvesting a watermelon. That agricultural part of the story exists within and because of the larger web of organisms working to aerate the soil, release nutrients, pollinate flowers, and decompose dead things. Severing those connections weakens the entire system.

Roxanne: Like gardens, families come in all shapes and sizes. And family—whether the one we’re born into or the one we choose for ourselves—gives us roots. It provides us with support and fuels our growth. Even as families change (as gardens do throughout the seasons) the love we share doesn’t run out. It may look different in different seasons of life, but it is still there nurturing and supporting us.

Me: One of the things I hope readers take away from reading The Pie That Molly Grew is how a single plant can be part of a web that connects sun and soil, flowers and bees, and the food we eat. I hope it inspires kids to plant a seed, whether it’s pumpkin or carrots or spinach for their salads.

What do you hope readers take away from your book?

Peggy

Peggy: I hope that, after reading The Soil in Jackie’s Garden, young readers will want to be part of the soil cycle. It is so easy to do. By creating a compost pile, they become just as impactful as all the other animals working in the garden. Plus, it is so much fun to poke around in the compost and watch food scraps disappear.

Chelsea: I hope kids who aren't familiar with farm life will gain a new understanding of and respect for the lifestyle I show in Seasons on the Farm. I also hope that farm kids who read my books will see themselves and their lives reflected on the pages.  

Roxanne: When they reach the last page of My Grandpa, My Tree, and Me, I hope kids have learned more about where our food comes from – and the incredible about of work required to produce their favorite snacks. I also hope that they pick up on the subtle message that familial love, like the pecan tree, grows with time and care.

Karen: I hope readers, young and older, take away a sense of empowerment from The Cabbage Seed’s Colossal Secret, and a realization that, while there are great problems for us to solve, they can help be a part of positive change. Every tiny seed planted is another opportunity to make a difference!

Me: Thanks everyone. My glass is empty, so that means it’s time to head back to weeding – or writing.

You can find out more about our roundtable guests - and their books - by visiting their websites:

Chelsea minds the farm at chelseatornetto.com
Peggy turns compost at www.peggythomaswrites.com    

Roxanne sits in the shade of pecan trees at www.roxannetroup.com
Karen turns small seeds into giant stories at www.karengreenwald.com
Sue dreams about pie at www.sueheavenrich.com

Summer Picture Book Study by Tina Cho

 

Happy summer, groggers! I love going to my local library and checking out new picture books to see what’s being published and to have an awareness of the ideas circulating. You never know when you need a comp book or mentor text for your own writing. Comp books are books that are comparable to yours, for publishers and agents to compare their marketability. Mentor texts are books that you as a writer use to analyze and see what made that story work and get published. Here are some that jumped out at me.

Serafina Makes Waves by Matthew Burgess, illustrated by Robin Rosenthal is a hilarious story about an adorable cat who “detests water.” What will she do when her beloved stuffy falls into the pool? A fun book for kids learning to swim!

For creatives: This fear-of-water theme is not new. How do you take a familiar theme/story and tell it in a fresh way? This book mixes two high concepts for kids—a beloved stuffy and adorable cats.

Deep Blue: Swimming in the Big Blue Sea by Dashka Slater, illustrated by Laura Hughes

Kayla and her father go to the beach with her dolphin floaty. She swims until a “sharp shell” pierces her floaty. She's scared to swim in deep water, but her father reminds her she "does" know how to swim. So, they play a game. “’You be the island,’ I say. ‘I'll be the lighthouse.’" This continues with other metaphors until she eventually is as good a swimmer as her dolphin. This book would be perfect for those reluctant swimmers. And it would be wonderful for kids to practice writing your own metaphors. 

For creatives: This is another book with a fear-of-water theme but takes a different spin of adding in poetry, specifically metaphors. Also, the main character already knew how to swim, just not in deep water.

A Room with a View by Joanna Ho, illustrated by Thais Mesquita

Oliver hesitates to go on an adventure with Mama who takes him camping in a tent because “This is a room with a view!” He complains and has a less fun attitude and plans missing out on their next adventure until he realizes all the special moments he would miss with his mama like making shadow puppets and the marshmallow roasting championship. Back matter includes an author’s note about preserving national parks, tips for adventuring like a pro, and a state list of national parks.

For creatives: Choose a summer topic and add in important layers or entry points. This book highlights a unique and important setting—a national park. It’s also a timely story of enjoying the outdoors without electronic devices. 

Lydia Loves Bugs by Heidi E. Y. Stemple and Yuliya Pankratova

Just like the title says, Lydia loves bugs. “Big, bouncing bugs and small, squiggly bugs.” Without spoiling the humor in the book, not everyone in her family loves bugs like she does. Back matter includes an author’s note defining entomologist and defining how “bug” is used in the book. End pages list fun facts about all the bugs in the book.

For creatives: Again, there are a bajillion bug books in the world, but how is this one different? With its very simple, lyrical text and big illustrations, young kids will be drawn into the book. The authors don’t state any real insect names, but instead use fun descriptive words to describe the bugs, like “you-can-barely-see-‘em bugs.” I love how the back matter is really aimed for the young reader and speaks directly to the kid as in “Chasey, pinch bugs: Stag beetles really look like they will pinch you because of their large mandibles. But they can’t actually hurt you.” How can you be creative with your back matter so that it’s aimed at the intended age of the reader?

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So now you have four summery books to study. What others have you found? Drop them in the comments! And if you'd like a summer challenge--try writing a summer themed picture book. How is yours different from all the other summer books? What entry points and layers can you add in? (By that I mean, what hooks and themes does your story have to market it?) Happy summer reading and writing! 

NIghty Night Dinos, Hello Debut PB! Craft Chat with Deborah Holt Williams & Book Review by Kathy Halsey

 

Congratulations to Deborah Holt Williams and illustrator Anna Doherty on their debut picture Nighty Night Dinos scheduled to release June 16, 2026! Deb and I have been longtime friends and have supported each other on what can be a loooong journey over the years. It’s so dino-rrific to witness her debut book! Big congrats and dinosaur roars! 

Nighty NIght Dinos Book Review

By Kathy Halsey

I’ll put on my educator-librarian-book reviewer hat to discuss this appealing book. How does one take an evergreen topic like a bedtime story and make it stand out? Deb took the path of adding another perennial topic, dinosaurs, to the mix along with rhyme to make a lyrical read aloud that also shares the importance of sleep. 

I can picture parents gently rocking their children to sleep as they read this or taking an active kiddo, not ready for sleep, and imitating the dinosaur’s motions of romping, splashing, swimming, and flying. Once the cadence of the book slows, the little dinos yawn, find their stuffies, curl up in their favorite blanket, and rest their crests on the best pillows, hopefully as a nudge to their young readers! Shh! 

I was surprised to learn about dinosaurs I’d never heard of before. Curious kids will be interested in discovering these less traditional dinosaur classifications, too. 

Illustrator Anna Doherty has created a soft, unique palette that amplifies dreams and sleep. I’ve never seen such cute, cuddly dinosaurs. The end papers feature a striking sky of dinosaur clouds that lend whimsy to this picture book, too.   

This is a winning combination for kids and parents that will last through many a storytime and be a welcome addition to public libraries, too.

Craft Chat with Deborah Holt Williams

 Kathy: It's a pleasure to be in conversation with you today, Deb. My copy of NIGHTY NIGHT, DINOS arrived earlier than I thought, and it's such a fun, charming book featuring one of children's literature's favorite animals, DINOSAURS!This is such a delightful story. What is the origin of this book? Did you envision it as a board book or a poem, or did you always see it as a picture book?

Deb: First let me say it’s an honor to be featured on your blog, Kathy! We’ve been in the submitting trenches together a long time. NIGHTY NIGHT, DINOS started off as an entry in a bedtime story poetry contest in January of 2020. It was not a winner, but I really liked it, so I made it a bit longer and envisioned it as a board book. I sent it to Familius publishing in February of 2021 and heard back the very next day! (How rare is that?) The company’s owner, with the wonderful name of Christopher Robbins, liked it but they had a few other dinosaur books in the pipeline already. We kept in touch but a couple years went by. Then in October of 2023, Christopher wrote and asked if I would add four more stanzas so they could turn it into a 32-page picture book! Absolutely! I sent them off, and then in November of 2023 I was in the hospital after a procedure, couldn’t sleep, turned on my laptop and there was the contract! Just what the doctor ordered!  I first saw the artwork for DINOS in September of 2024, while we were in Greece for a wedding, and I loved it! Anna Doherty is so talented, and a lovely person, too.

Kathy: Yes, we've been writer friends for years. It's delightful to host you on the GROG! Congrats!

I understand there will be two more books in this series, Nighty Night Bears and Nighty Night Puppies, both due out in 2028. Did you have these others waiting in the wings, or how did you approach this as a series for Familius? 

Deb: In April of 2025, an e-mail arrived from Familius. Tariffs were everywhere, and I was afraid to open the e-mail. Paper comes from Canada, books are printed in China, and I was sure that this email was to tell me that they could not produce my book after all. (I’d had two close calls in the past from other publishers on other manuscripts.) But, I opened it and… it asked if I would consider doing a series! I got cracking, and shortly after that, contracts were signed for NIGHTY NIGHT, PUPPIES and NIGHTY NIGHT BEARS, both due out in 2028. In January of 2026 the book jacket for DINOS was sent for my approval, and the School Library Journal review came out and was very positive. That was followed by a good Kirkus review in March, and my ten author copies arrived on May 1st. The book comes out on June 16 this year, 6 years after it’s first iteration.

Kathy: So, there's still time to pre-order this book! Excellent news. I’m curious about how you decided which dinosaurs would make their sleepy time appearance. Some of them feel very similar while others I've never heard of. Did you have to do any research on these dinosaurs?

Deb: I’ve loved dinosaurs since I was 6 and found my first fossil. I took my youngest son on a dino dig when he was 6, and we read tons of books about dinos, so I didn’t have to do too much research there. But when I saw Anna’s illustrations and all the bats she put in, I had to check and see if there were bats in the dino days. (There were.) When I learned she was planning on painting clouds for the endpapers, I asked if she could make the clouds look like chubby dinosaurs, and she did. She is from Scotland but lives in Switzerland, and I hope I get to meet her someday. Now that the book is done, we chitchat on Instagram.

Kathy: What plans do you have for the NIghty Night Dinos debut? A blog tour? A launch party? What are you most looking forward to as a published author? What project are you working on next?

Deb: Our town hosts Colorado’s oldest festival every summer, Strawberry Days, and our terrific local bookstore, Alpenglow, will have a booth where I’ll be sitting with them to sign books on the 20th of June. So that will be my book launch! I’m scheduled for a few blogs, and to appear at several local libraries (the national summer reading theme this year is dinosaurs!) and I even got an invitation for a bookstore in Denver, on the other side of the Rockies. (I live on the western slope, in Glenwood Springs.) I’ve contacted some dinosaur museums in Colorado and Utah but haven’t heard back. I’m still writing and submitting, and I learned recently that 12 states have an official state dinosaur, so the wheels are turning about a story where they decide to get together and…well, I’m not too clear on the plot yet. But I’ll keep at it!

Kathy: That will be fun, especially visiting museums! Thanks, Deb, for chatting with me today and for inspiring me with your journey. Finally, here's a tip for writers from Deb.

Deb: A tip for aspiring authors:  I find it really helpful to volunteer at my library, wiping down the picture books and keeping them in order, because it helps me to see what’s new and which publishers my stories might fit.

Connect with Deb here! 

Website: https://deborahholtwilliams.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lucky.williams.7  

Bluesky: @debwriter.bsky.social

Instagram: @debwriter

The Researcher’s Treasure Hunt: Finding the Heart of "The Secret War"

By Todd Burleson

If you looked at my Google Drive right now, you wouldn't see a neat folder for a published novel. You’d see a decade-long archaeological dig.

Writing The Secret War wasn’t a straight line; it was a 13-year journey of uncovering the "wrong" stories to eventually find the one that truly mattered. As authors, we often feel like we’re on a long road trip where we’ve been pulled to the side with a flat tire or a busted radiator. There were even long stretches where it felt like the car had broken down entirely and I simply abandoned it—only to find it still there a year later, waiting to be repaired and driven again.

But in those moments of being "stuck," we notice the horizon at sunrise even more. Inspiration is everywhere if you are looking for it.

From Identity to Authenticity: The Shift from Jamie to Jamie

In the early versions of this manuscript, the protagonist was a 13-year-old Black girl. I spent months lost in the fascinating history of the Coffey School in Chicago and the incredible WASPs (Women Airforce Service Pilots). I loved learning about these pioneers, but as a new writer, I began to feel a deep responsibility toward representation.

Black and female characters have, for too long, been written through the lens of cis white men. I felt that as a debut author, I wanted to focus on an identity I "knew" from experience to ensure the story remained authentic. Jamie eventually became the boy I wish I could have been in 1944—someone who would have given anything to look Orville Wright in the eye.

The Heart vs. The Blood: Centering the Young Reader

Orville Wright was the inspiration for this entire project and has fueled my lifelong fascination with flight. In my initial drafts, the adult characters were front and center, but I realized I needed to bring the story back to a relatable reader audience.

I shifted the adult storylines to the background to ensure the boys remained the heart and soul of the book. If the boys are the heart, Orville is the blood pumping through their veins—his presence is felt everywhere, even when he is pushed into the shadows as a 72-year-old recluse in chronic pain.

From Trope to Truth: Trading "Green Goo" for Reality

As an educator and librarian, I’ve read thousands of middle-grade books, and I’ve learned that young readers don’t need "kid gloves". They need empathy and truth.

In my early drafts, the antagonist, Billy, was a cartoonish bully whose father suffered from a sci-fi version of "radiation sickness"—complete with glowing green goo. I eventually realized that by leaning on lazy tropes, I was robbing the story of its power. I traded the "goo" for the terrifying reality of the Dayton Project. In the final version, the tragedy is real: Billy is a victim of the system he’s trying to protect, carrying a warm, gray piece of Polonium-210 like a treasure while the adults look the other way.

The "Magnesium Glow" of the Future

The adult story that I "killed" in The Secret War hasn't actually vanished. It has become my next project, currently titled Magnesium Glow. This book is a narrative non-fiction biography of Colonel George Hatcher, the man who gave Orville his final flight on April 26, 1944. It explores the "Venn diagram" that brought these two amazing men together in Dayton, and I am incredibly proud to finally give Hatcher’s story the focus it deserves.

Looking Toward the Horizon

It is tough to give writing the time it deserves when you are working, raising kids, and simply surviving. But with retirement from my 34-year career in education now on the horizon, I am overjoyed. I’m looking forward to building more efficient routines while still allowing myself the time to wander the lakeshore and soak in the beauty of Kenosha.

The "Writer’s Math" of my journey—writing 500,000 words to find the 35,012 that mattered—wasn't a waste. It was the fuel.

What "scraps" are sitting in your own files waiting to become their own story? How have you balanced the "survival" of daily life with the need to wander and find inspiration? I’d love to hear about your own creative path in the comments.