Storystorm 2024 Day 7: Kidlit Works & the Power of How

Kidlit Works is a group of picture book authors with books coming out in 2024 and beyond. Today we are excited to share with our fellow writers the way that “how questions” inspire our work. Children ask “why?” all the time. They’re famous for it. But perhaps the foundation of those “whys” is really a “how”—how does the world work? As writers for children, we honor our audience’s constant curiosity. And as we reveal to children the grand and tiny ways in which the world works, we also discover how writing works. Below, nine Kidlit Works members discuss the “hows” that sparked our books, and “hows” we hope will spark ideas for you.

Sara Holly Ackerman

I’ve always been captivated by how things are made. In fact, adult me is still enthralled by Mr. Rogers’ crayon factory tour. As a teacher in Ethiopia, my favorite unit was all about fabric, particularly local weaving traditions. I wished there was a book about making Ethiopian garments…and soon there will be! A Gabi is made by a team, and so was this book. Fasika Adefris and I taught together and wrote together, so it made perfect sense we would author THE GABI THAT GIRMA WORE together. We chose a cumulative structure to highlight the process from cottonseed to finished product, and Netsanet Tesfay created the stunning illustrations.

Prompt: Pick an object that intrigues you. How is that object made? How can you use language and structure to invite children to experience the creation of this object?

Zainab Khan

The idea for NOURA’S CRESCENT MOON (Candlewick, March 5, 2024) came as a bolt of lightning hitting the right place at the right time. A gift from God. I was inspired to write about fasting, Ramadan and Eid ul-Fitr all in one book. Then I imagined the story arc in my head as I wrote it down. I thought of the colors in the sky, the food Noura would eat, the things needed to be done for Eid to be special.

Prompt: Are you able to think up a story’s beginning, middle and satisfying end in your mind? How will you evoke the senses so that you are able to jot down what’s in your head into the written word? What colors and shapes do you see? What can you almost smell and hear? Is there something special your character can touch? How will all of these answers be part of the puzzle?

Sylvia Chen

How did TRICKY CHOPSTICKS (illus. Fanny Liem, Atheneum/Simon & Schuster, March 19, 2024) come about? I was brainstorming “How can I write a fun PB with some sort of STEAM tie-in like my other stories, that also captures my cultural background?” when the title TRICKY CHOPSTICKS popped into mind. From there, so many “how can…?” thoughts helped to shape and deepen my arc: How can I express that the MC Jenny feels all this cultural pressure in a relatable way for any reader? How can other characters add tension without being too mean or intense? How can Jenny use STEAM thinking for her solution? How can she succeed in an entertaining but realistic way? How can I phrase the ending with an encouraging takeaway and fun wordplay?

Prompt: How can you add elements from your personal experience to help your manuscripts stand out even more? As you revise, try imagining yourself as your MC and use a “how can…” lens to explore adding more depth to your story: How can you express what’s really driving your MC? How can your characters interact to strengthen the story arc? How can you show (vs. tell) the various emotions your MC feels? How can your MC work through certain challenges or circumstances in a relatable way for young readers?

Marzieh Abbas

AWE-SAMOSAS! (March 26, 2024, illustrated by Bhagya Madanasinghe) was born out of me asking myself how I could share the joy of experimental cooking, and celebrate my favorite tea-time snack and culture all in one book. In this story, Noor, a Pakistani girl fond of cooking, has misplaced her grandma’s famous samosa recipe. As the story built to the climax, I asked myself, how else can Noor fail? How can her creativity save the day? My backmatter also includes: How else can you stuff a samosa?

Prompt: If you have a plot-based story, ask yourself ‘how’ you can keep your MC from achieving their goal by putting more obstacles in the story. Is there something your MC really wants? How can they fail repeatedly so you can raise the stakes and build to the climax?

Gabriele Davis

PEACHES (May 7, 2024, illustrated by Kim Holt) was inspired by a childhood memory of the joy my dad took in sharing peach cobbler with our family. For my dad, a kind, quiet man, sharing food was sharing love. This likely stemmed from his own childhood, growing up on his family’s large Virginia farm, which included apple, plum, pear and peach trees. When inspired to write about this memory, I asked myself: How can I capture the joy of those peach-cobbler moments? How can I create relationships in this story that convey how loved I felt? How did this tradition begin? How was it passed along? I later added additional layers (loss and healing) to the story, which prompted even more “how” questions. I didn’t adhere strictly (or at all) to the original details of my experience—or of my dad’s. My loyalty was to the emotional truth.

Prompt: Think about your childhood memories and choose one that resonates deeply for you. Ask: How can I capture the emotions that this memory evokes? How can I recreate the relationships associated with this memory? Once the bare bones of the story are down, ask: How can I weave in key details (sights, sounds, scents, history, etc.)? How can I add conflict or tension to keep readers engaged? Finally, once the story feels complete, ask: How can I add additional layers to give this story even more meaning?

Cheryl Kim

While watching basketball with my husband back in 2012, LINSANITY took over the NBA news. We loved how Jeremy Lin broke stereotypes and I assumed he was the first Asian American to play in the NBA since he was the first I’d heard about. I was shocked when I found out that there had been others and the very first was Wataru Misaka who broke the color barrier in the NBA the same year Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball. I wondered HOW I hadn’t heard of him before. That led to writing WAT TAKES HIS SHOT: THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF WATARU MISAKA to share his story with the next generation of readers.

Prompt: Is there an overlooked or little-known piece of history that you want the next generation to know about? This could be a who, a where, a what, or a combination of them. How do you want to bring that piece of history to life in a way that would make young readers want to know about it?

Carol Joy Munro

It was a double whammy of ideas that resulted in SPRINGTIME STORKS: A MIGRATION LOVE STORY (Chelsea O’Byrne, illustrator). While cleaning my office, I found a print out of text I had typed from a book by Jane Yolen. It was a free verse poem. I love free verse! How had I never tried it for a picture book? How could I not try now? Days later, I saw a video on Facebook about two Croatian storks. He migrates. She can’t fly. How must she feel to await his return each year? How is their story not perfect for a free verse PB? So I got to work!

Prompt: Find picture book mentor texts that read like free verse poetry. Type them out. Study them. Watch for intriguing stories on social media, in newspapers, magazines, wherever. How do they inspire you? Tell your story in free verse.

Christina Shawn

When my son was a baby he only wanted to be with me and as time went on he became more comfortable with other people too. I wondered how I could express that special bond and his reluctance toward change, but also how our hearts and relationships find room to grow. THERE’S ALWAYS ROOM FOR MORE (Chronicle Books, 2025 illustrator Shahrzad Maydani) features a reluctant child in a growing family who finds there’s always room for more love.

Prompt: Ask yourself, how do you feel about change? How do you react? Do you get excited, resistant, angry, uncomfortable? How can you express these emotions through word choice or character voice in your writing?

Stacy S. Jensen

While living in a new community, I saw new houses and construction around me. I wondered, “How did this land look before all of this?” The answer: BEFORE I LIVED HERE (Spring 2025, illustrator Victo Ngai) which focuses on a boy’s neighborhood in Colorado. The land was home to many people, dinosaurs, and an ocean.

Prompt: While my story is about how land changes, ask yourself how something changes or was before your character arrives on the scene — a family before a new baby, a class before the new student enters, or a party before you knock on the door.

Thanks for exploring HOW with Kidlit Works today! You can follow us on Instagram @kidlitworks and TikTok @kidlitworks.

Kidlit Works is offering the following prizes:

30-minute Ask Me Anything with Cheryl Kim
30-minute Ask Me Anything with Sylvia Chen
One-hour Ask Me Anything with Zainab Khan
30-minute Ask Me Anything OR a MS critique (under 600-words non-rhyming Fiction/Nonfiction picture book/board book) with Marzieh Abbas
One-hour Ask Me Anything about websites or Canva OR a live picture book critique on Zoom with Stacy S. Jensen
MS critique (under 600-words non-rhyming fiction picture book/board book) with option for Zoom brainstorming chat with Christina Shawn
Manuscript critique (picture book, fiction, poetry or prose, rhyming okay, under 700 words) from Carol Joy Munro
Picture book manuscript critique (max 600 word, non-rhyming, fiction) OR a copy of Peaches from Gabriele Davis
$20 gift card to your favorite indie bookstore from Sara Holly Ackerman