GENRE: STEM/STEAM, Informational Fiction, Rhyme
WORDS: 405
Query:
Dear PBParty Judges, Agents, and Editors,
I am delighted to submit UP WE GO! AMAZING ELEVATORS, my STEM-infused informational fiction picture book for ages 4-8. This zippy story sprinkles fascinating world facts into a 405-word lyrical narrative with sidebars and backmatter that spark kids’curiosity with every page-turn.
Join two friends as they zoom up, up, up through 4,000 years of innovation on an elevator time-machine adventure! Along the way, they’ll meet ancient inventors, explore some of the world’s most unusual lifts, and even glimpse the future: elevators to space! The narrator, a young elevator enthusiast who uses a wheelchair, is determined to share their passion with their best friend, Skye. There’s just one problem… Skye is a cat, and she does not like elevators! Will this fantastic journey across time and around the world help change her mind?
UP WE GO! AMAZING ELEVATORS blends The Elevator on 74th Street by Dr. Laura Gehl, (2025) with the STEM-rich wonder of Jason Chin’s Your Place in the Universe (2020). It will appeal to readers who enjoyed the humor, history, and endearing animal characters of Hannah Holt’s A History of Underwear (2022).
I am a Spanish-English bilingual children’s writer, an active member of SCBWI, Julie Hedlund’s 12×12 Picture Book Challenge, and the Atlanta Writers Club. I’m also the proud parent of an “elevator kid”! My young son’s unique passion sparked both the research and the fun family explorations behind this book. I’m excited to share this unexpectedly captivating subject with children everywhere and inspire a generation of future engineers.
I have several additional polished picture book manuscripts available upon request in both prose and rhyme (and some are bilingual, too!)
Thank you for your time and consideration of my work.
Excerpt:
There’s the magic button, Skye! [Sky=Cat]
Just press and watch it glow!
Now listen to that motor purr—
it’s almost time to go!
(YOWL!) [Cat]
You scaredy-cat. This will be great!
WE’LL TRAVEL BACK IN TIME.
We’ll zip around the world, and—
DING!
Did you hear that chime?
(MEW.)
I’m gonna show you EVERYTHING,
so you can love lifts too.
And then we’ll ride them every day
together— me and you.
What inspired you to write this story & what do you have in common with it:
I wrote the book I could not find on the market for my little elevator engineer! My son Kai has been fascinated by elevators since babyhood. At first, the attraction was all about the “magic” buttons, lights, and automatic doors. But as Kai grew, so did his thirst for learning. Together, we dove into research on the innovative history of lifts. We made lists of the world’s most interesting lifts and started to visit them whenever the opportunity arose. The Burj Khalifa and the Chinese Hundred Dragons Elevator are top on the list… that is, until the first space lift is ready to ride!
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