Perfect Picture Book Friday: IF MY SISTER WERE A WORM

Posted on October 23, 2026 by viviankirkfield

Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday, dear friends. Today’s featured book launched earlier this week….and I am thrilled to help author Julie Hauswirth celebrate. Julie and I are old friends…back in 2023, she was a winner of Sylvia Chen’s Book Boast Challenge…and I was the prize…a 30-minute Ask-Me-Anything Zoom Chat. I was impressed with Julie’s passion for writing and I know our conversation lasted way more than 30 minutes. And she has also participated in #50PreciousWords and was in the prize winner’s circle in 2024. When I heard her debut book was launching, I asked her if she’d share the story behind the story…so please make sure you scroll through the entire post because her words will inspire you!

IF MY SISTER WERE A WORM

Written by Julie Hauswirth

Illustrated by Jessica Goecke

Published by Holiday House (October 20, 2026)

Ages: 4-8

Themes: Sibling rivalry, imagination, humor

ME: And here is Julie to tell us about the book and her path to publication. Welcome, dear Julie! I’m so happy you stopped by Picture Books Help Kids Soar.

JULIE: Thank you so much for inviting me, Vivian! It’s a joy to be here.

About the book:

If My Sister Were a Worm is based on a true story…
…Just kidding!

But sort of. It’s a story about Maggie, a younger sibling who grows tired of always feeling overshadowed by her big sister. What do you do when your sister steals your thunder? You turn her into a worm, of course. Worms don’t pop your birthday balloons. They don’t “help” you open your presents or prematurely blow out your candles. They don’t steal your favorite seat on the school bus!

On the other hand, worms can’t play with you before bath time. They can’t be your sidekick at family weddings, and they definitely can’t make s’mores with you at summer camp. Plus, they’re REALLY easy to lose.

If Maggie isn’t able to turn her sister back into a human, she’s in for a lifetime of parental blame and worm-hunting. There may be only one thing left to do… Are two worms better than one?

What inspired you to write this story:

The idea for this story came to me during Susanna Hill’s May Mini Mix n’ Match Challenge in 2023. One week, the challenge was to select a subject from column A (You, my sister, my grandpa, etc.) and pair it with a “condition” from column b (elastic, worm, movie star, etc.). Participants would then write a 100-word cause and effect story similar to If You Give a Mouse a Cookie or When Your Lion Needs a Bath. I chose sister and worm, and then had a blast writing from the perspective of child Julie living with a worm for a sister. Since the challenge was just meant to be creative and fun and there were no winners, I didn’t feel the pressure to churn out a “perfect” entry and was able to just have fun with it. I imagined a worm-sister at a birthday party or sharing a bedroom or avoiding the family parrot at dinner. When I ran out of space and needed to wrap it up, I ended with a short “I’ll turn her into a kitten instead” and planted the idea that the narrator used some sort of magic to turn her sister into a worm. After the challenge was over, I decided to expand on the original story and turn it into a full picture book manuscript.

As I added scenes and developed my characters, I began to draw a bit more from my relationship with my own sisters. I have two: Jaclyn, who is 3 ½ years younger than me, and Colleen, who is 11 years younger than me. My sister Jaclyn and I had more of a typical sibling relationship: we were different, we bickered, but we were also best friends and constant playmates. With each new scene or revision, the narrator became more and more like my sister Jaclyn, and the worm-sister became more and more like me. So while it’s not really based on a true story, the relationship between Maggie and her sister comes from a very real place.

And don’t worry, I didn’t leave out my sister Colleen. She’s featured in the book as Maggie’s “Aunt Colleen” in my favorite spread!

Any humorous moments and/or challenging incidents on the path to publication:

After gathering feedback from my critique partners, continuing to revise, and polishing the story to the point where I felt it was ready to query, I shared it with a well-known critique service to get some professional feedback and make sure I was on the right track. But the feedback I received from this service was not at all what I had been hoping to hear. The person who critiqued the story felt that the main character was not likeable, that the story relied heavily on telling rather than showing, and that it didn’t follow a traditional narrative arc. They encouraged me to keep revising. At first, I was sad to hear that my main character wasn’t likeable to this reader. But so much of what they suggested I change was intentional choices I had made about character development, pacing, and structure. I wasn’t sure their feedback was really in line with my vision for the story. I gave myself a day to feel upset, and then I sent it out anyway. I knew of an editor who was accepting unagented submissions, and I shared this manuscript and one other with them. Within a few days I had a response: the editor loved the story and was taking it to acquisitions!

While that editor didn’t end up acquiring my story, their interest in it led me to sign with my agent. We did a round of revisions together; she had one suggestion, completely different from what the critique service had recommended, and it made a huge difference while remaining true to the story I wanted to tell. We had an offer within just a few weeks of going on submission. I’m so glad that I trusted my gut about the feedback I had received. I love getting feedback and I’m not afraid to revise, but I also think it’s important to take the feedback that resonates with your vision for a story and leave what doesn’t behind.

ME: What a fabulous story, Julie! Definitely another case of DON’T GIVE UP! and HAVE FAITH IN YOUR STORY!

And here’s a little bit about the author and the illustrator and how you can get your own copy of this fabulous book…and how you can help the book become a success!

Author Bio: Julie Hauswirth is an educator and children’s author. She grew up in Connecticut with two sisters who probably wanted to turn her into a worm at one point or another. Julie now lives in Florida with her husband and two sons.

Illustrator Bio: Jessica Goecke (she/her) is a writer and illustrator of children’s books. Her debut pilryasibling rivlarysibling rivalrycture book is Billy and the Hole. She lives just outside Seattle with her husband, two kids and miniature schnauzer, Duke.

Ways to help get this book into the hands of kids:
Buy the book
Review the book
Put the book on your Goodreads Want To Read Shelf
Tell friends about the book
Ask your local library to purchase copies for their collection

Thank you for spending your precious time with us. I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Happy Book Birthday: THE BOY BEHIND THE WARDROBE: How C.S. Lewis Grew Up to Create Narnia

Posted on October 20, 2026 by viviankirkfield

Hello dear friends. Don’t say I didn’t warn you…the new books are coming hot and heavy! And how THRILLED I am to help celebrate the launch of this particular book! I’ve mentioned that it is a special pleasure to welcome a book that I saw as an early draft…back in 2016, I gave author Suzanne some feedback. I am sure that the manuscript went through many more revisions after that…but now, 10 years later, IT IS A BOOK! Those 5 P’s are at work again…especially the Patience and the Perseverance.

So, please join me in an enthusiastic rendition of Happy Birthday to You!!
Suzanne is here…ready to blow out the candles and share a bit about the story and what inspired her to write it. Grab a big slice of cake, sit back…and enjoy!

Synopsis

Once a boy was born to make stories: C.S. Lewis, who insisted on being called “Jack.” Jack loved to write and draw animal tales with his older brother. But after his mother died, he was shipped to boarding school, where he longed for real friends. Words and stories were his refuge — and they would drive him toward his destiny as a world-renowned author.

With lyrical words and lush, fantastical art from Mira Miroslavova, this spellbinding biography invites young readers into the childhood of the creator of Narnia.

Thank you, Vivian, for helping me celebrate my book birthday! I’m excited to finally share this gorgeous picture book with the world.

What inspired me to write this story?

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe made a huge impression on me as a child. I still enjoy re-reading The Chronicles of Narnia as an adult. While moving around the world, I realized that many people assume C.S. Lewis was English because of his connection with Oxford University and J.R.R. Tolkien. He was, in fact, born in Belfast. I was inspired to write The Boy Behind the Wardrobe because I was born and raised in Northern Ireland and taught geography in Belfast, two miles from C.S. Lewis’s childhood home. My initial idea was to produce a beautifully illustrated picture book highlighting the landscapes, castles, and coastlines of Northern Ireland that inspired C.S. Lewis’s Narnia.

What was the biggest challenge I faced?

I started my research in October 2015. It was a full year before I had a finished manuscript to share with my critique group. C.S. Lewis was a larger-than-life character and there’s a lot of fantastic information on him. It’s almost overwhelming. One of my biggest challenges was synthesizing my 10,000 words of notes into a compelling story arc with an emotional narrative thread. I had to cut so much because it didn’t serve the story I was trying to tell.

And Vivian, you were one of those readers to see an early draft of this story. Your insightful feedback helped me focus on the themes and trim the word count before sending it to my agent.

My path to publication

The story went through several rounds of revisions over the next few months. Around this time, I took Kristen Fulton’s narrative nonfiction writing course and read widely in that genre. One of my go-to mentor texts was The Right Word: Roget and his Thesaurus written by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Melissa Sweet, and published by Eerdmans Books for Young Readers. You could say I wrote The Boy Behind the Wardrobe with Eerdmans in mind. However, my agent already had another client’s story on submission with this publisher, so she made an initial list of five editors at other publishing houses.

Then in May 2016, while volunteering with SCBWI at the Texas Library Association convention, I connected with Kathleen Merz, the acquiring editor at Eerdmans Books for Young Readers. We started chatting about books. When I mentioned my C.S. Lewis story, Kathleen said she would love to read it.

It was several months before I heard back from Eerdmans. I’d moved to Seoul and was beginning to think that my story hadn’t resonated with them. Then, on December 1, 2017, I got exciting news from my agent — my manuscript had received unanimous enthusiasm from the acquisitions team at Eerdmans, and they wanted to publish my story!

I knew Eerdmans had the vision to publish a beautiful book, and I was delighted when Mira Miroslavova was brought on board in 2022. Her artwork had that lovely balance of imagination and groundedness needed for this story. At this point, the process became very collaborative — I was consulted from first sketches to final art. I also enjoyed digging up historical photos when Mira asked for clarification on a particular scene or when it was important for the images to feel historically accurate.

Mira worked on the illustrations for three years—a true labor of love. At 56 pages, The Boy Behind the Wardrobe is almost twice the length of a standard 32-page picture book and every single spread is gorgeous. The finished book was well worth the wait. And the timing is perfect for Greta Gerwig’s movie adaptation of The Magician’s Nephew, scheduled for a worldwide theatrical release in February 2027.

Thank you, Vivian, for helping me celebrate the publication of my debut picture book. I’m thrilled to share that THE BOY BEHIND THE WARDROBE is now part of the Incredible Lives for Young Readers Series, alongside The Right Word: Roget and his Thesaurus, the mentor text that helped shape my early manuscript.

Suzanne’s bio: Suzanne was born in Northern Ireland and taught geography two miles from C. S. Lewis’s childhood home in Belfast. After trading her classroom to travel the world as a U.S. Air Force spouse, she settled near Washington, DC, where she teaches elementary school reading. The Boy Behind the Wardrobe: How C. S. Lewis Grew Up to Create Narnia is Suzanne’s debut picture book and can be ordered through her website

Suzanne Poulter Harris Children’s Book Author or wherever books are sold. Follow her on Instagram @suzannepoulterharris and X @SuzannePoulterH.

Mira Miroslavova has created art for many picture books and novels, including Night of the Deer (Sleeping Bear), The Birds of Christmas (Eerdmans), and a cover for National Book Award Finalist The Ogress and the Orphans (Algonquin). Her work has been called “elegant” and “eye-catching” by Kirkus Reviews and has been selected for the Society of Illustrators “The Original Art” show. Raised near Sofia, Bulgaria, Mira now lives in Manchester, England. Follow her on Instagram @miramiroslavova.

Thank you so much, Suzanne! You’ve taken us on your journey…one of hard work, patience, and perseverance. This is a very special book…and I hope my blog followers will
Buy a copy
Review the book
Tell friends about it
Ask local libraries to purchase copies
Put it on the Goodreads Want to Read Shelf

Thank you all for spending your precious time with us…and have a great week.

Cover Reveal: WHAT I’LL CARRY

Posted on October 19, 2026 by viviankirkfield

Hello dear friends! I often mention how much I love this kid-lit community…and how wonderful it is to meet up with kid-lit folks at conferences and book events. I also talk about how fabulous it is to work with folks on manuscripts…and then find out that they have a book coming out…even if the book isn’t based on the manuscript I helped them with. And today, we have a DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE/DOUBLE YOUR FUN guest! Charlotte Sheer and I met in person at the 2019 New England SCBWI Spring Conference in Springfield, MA.

She and I have worked together on manuscripts as well! And so, when Charlotte reached out to let me know that her debut middle grade novel in verse is coming out next year, we put our heads together to celebrate with a COVER REVEAL!

Oh My Goodness! The cover just pulls me right in! I want to find out what is going on…why the girl looks so sad/worried. Luckily, Charlotte stopped by to chat with us. And what could be better than sharing the story behind the story…I think we all love to learn what inspired an author to write a particular story…and how the path to publication unfolded.

ME: Welcome, Charlotte! I loved seeing that photo from 2019…it was fun to see my hair brown…during COVID, I decided to let nature take its course and now my hair is whatever color it wants to be…white/grey/brown…I think they call it salt and pepper. I call it saving lots of money and time.
I’m so thrilled about WHAT I’LL CARRY, dear Charlotte. Can you tell us a little bit about the book?

CHARLOTTE: It’s wonderful to be here, Vivian. I’m excited about the book…and happy to share a little bit about how it came to be.
WHAT I’LL CARRY by Charlotte Sheer – a middle grade Novel in Verse
(Behrman House/Apples and Honey Press, April, 2027)
The story of my writing journey for WHAT I’LL CARRY began more than ten years ago, before I retired from teaching fifth grade English at Foxborough Regional Charter School in Foxboro, Massachusetts. In connection with a Holocaust educational project my students were doing, a special guest came to school and spoke about how Nicholas Winton’s kindertransport mission rescued her three-year-old self and her nine-year-old sister, as well as 667 other Jewish children in Czechoslovakia, from the Nazis’ reach during 1939.

It was like a lightbulb switched on for me! This amazing lady’s personal story was a snapshot of actual history, experienced by children. It seemed like the perfect basis for a book which might
serve as a soft entry point for middle grade children to begin learning about causes and effects of World War II.

The manuscript began as a picture book in 2015, but by 2019 I agreed with my many critique partners that such an important, emotional story deserved many more pages. As the story
evolved, so did the need to tell it in verse, making some of its heavy themes more approachable for middle grade readers.

And I, a Late Bloomer kidlit author did NOT give up, persevering more than a decade to see my way to book publication. (A little side story: I wrote a play in fifth grade and couldn’t think of a
good title. I don’t recall what the story was about, but my teacher, Mrs. Oliver suggested I call it “Perseverance Wins”. That was the first time I heard that important word…and it turns out, I never forgot the title of my play or what it meant!)

Originally titled, TAGGED FOR DELIVERY, the manuscript won the 2022 New England SCBWI Windows and Mirrors Award and the 2023 SCBWI Novel in Verse Award, the first year it was
ever offered. The recognition helped me acquire the agent who spent a year and a half finding me the best publisher for my book.

Here’s a little description from the book sale sites:

Readers might consider the question, “What would you carry, if you had to leave the only home
you’ve ever known?”
When the Nazis invade Czechoslovakia, Alena and her two sisters flee their village on the Kindertransport to England, leaving their beloved parents and home behind. The once sheltered girls are nearly entirely on their own.

As Alena struggles with her inner turmoil and her growing recognition of what hatred feels like, she slowly grows into a self-sufficient young woman, finally able to contribute to the war effort herself.
Inspired by a true story, this historical fiction novel in verse is not only about surviving impossible cir cumstances but also about taking ownership of your choices, finding your voice, and learning to stand up for yourself.

Publication is set for April 13, 2027, appropriately during National Poetry Month (and just before Holocaust Remembrance Day in early May).

As I’ve pondered “clever” ways to market my debut book, the question occurred to me, “Who IS the oldest debut author of a traditionally published children’s picture book or novel?
I discovered that Laura Ingalls Wilder was 65 when her Little House on the Prairie published. I will have beaten her by 11 years when my book publishes next April.

Additional info about me:
Before retiring as a fifth-grade teacher, I began the Holocaust Stamps Project, an idea inspired by my class. An interactive educational initiative, it was completed by kindergarten through
grade twelve students from 2009-2018, during which time students and countless community members collected, trimmed, and counted 11 MILLION postage stamps, one for every Holocaust victim (6 million Jewish, 5 million others considered inferior by the Third Reich). I regularly returned to the school to work on the project with the students, assisting with design and completion of eighteen 18 x24 inch collage artworks, made from thousands of the stamps, each telling stories about causes and effects of the Holocaust. Today the stamps collection and artworks form the ce nterpiece of a permanent public museum exhibit,
“A Philatelic Memorial of the Holocaust” at the American Philatelic Center in Bellefonte PA.
For my work on the Holocaust Stamps Project, I was presented with the 2017 Leadership in Holocaust Education Award at Fanueil Hall in Boston.

My poetry for children appears in a half dozen anthologies.
Social media links:
Website: www.charlottesheer.com
IG: @charlotte_sheer
FB: https://www.facebook.com/CharlotteSheer.Writer
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlottesheer
#applesandhoneypress
#behrmanhouse
Pre-orders
Bookshop.org https://bookshop.org/p/books/what-i-ll-carry-a-novel-in-verse/3313d1a9bd78bc75?ean=9781681157337

Dear friends…I know we are all grateful to Charlotte for generously sharing so much about herself and how her book came to be…and most importantly, how she never gave up. Remember the 5Ps…perseverance is one of the most important elements on the path to publication. And I think Charlotte has me beat when it comes to age when first traditionally published book launched…I was 72 when Sweet Dreams, Sarah and Pippa’s Passover Plate and Four Otters Toboggan debuted.

Let’s do what we can to help make WHAT I’LL CARRY a success. We can:
Buy the book
Review the book
Tell friends about the book (please share this post on social media)
Ask your local library to purchase copies for their shelves
Add the title to your Goodreads WANT TO READ shelf

Thank you for spending your precious time with us. I hope you all have a wonderful week!

WHAT I’LL CARRY