What 10-Year-Old Maple Wanted

One of the advice I received from the SCBWI mentors was to create more black and white illustrations for a slightly older audience -- so that I can explore the field of books for young readers in addition to picture books.  My characters in my portfolio tend to be very, very young –– so I was advice "to not be afraid to make my characters grow up just a tiny bit."  :)



In addition to reading many young chapter books with amazingly beautiful illustrations, I kept asking myself this question: What did 10-year-old-me want to read/see that today-me can create?  (Fantastic advice from Toni DiTerlizzzi during his speech at the SCBWI 2012 Summer Conference.)

10-year-old-me LOVED history –– there was a fantastic collection of history-comics in the local library, and I devoured the books every weekend.  10-year-old-me could not get enough of history/historical fiction.

I hope today-me can help expand that market, so that 10-year-olds of today can embark upon their own journey towards a love in history.