GENRE: *Diverse, Character Driven, Lyrical
WORDS: 445
Query:
Dear PB Party Judges, Agents, and Editors,
In a village above the Amazon, where women weave their stories into tapestries, restless Nina rebels against tradition, running to the rainforest where she discovers a wild way to weave her worlds together. WILD THREADS, a 445 word picture book for ages 4-8, explores intergenerational tradition, belonging, and innovation through a culturally rooted lens.
WILD THREADS is for families who like reading about ingenuity and creative-problem solving as in Rainbow Weaver by Linda Elovitz Marshall (Lee and Low books, 2016); Generational connections through weaving as in Woven of the World by Katey Howes (Chronicle Books, 2023); or Indigenous culture and the human connection to nature, as in Zonia’s Rainforest by Juana Martinez Neal (Candlewick Press, 2021)
In 2024 I received a Silver level scholarship from the 12×12 Challenge, won the scholarship for SCBWI’s Submission Shine, attended the PJ Library Picture Book Summer Camp at Highlights and was awarded the Volemos Grant from SCBWI for my manuscript, LOVE CAN GROW. In 2022 I was a RUCCL mentee, and won a scholarship from the Highlights Foundation. I’ve participated in many SCBWI and Highlights Foundation events and workshops, and I’m an active member of four critique groups. This past summer I attended the Whole Novel workshop at Highlights Foundation where I worked with my mentor, Erin Entrada Kelly.
Thank you so much for your time and consideration!
Excerpt:
In a circle, on a mountain, above a canopy of trees and the Amazon River,
women tell stories, weaving symbols they learned from their mothers.
The crops
The animals
The sun
Every girl in the village learns to weave.
But not Nina.
Instead of weaving the same old pictures,
she’d rather be squishing her toes in the mud,
searching for shiny rocks in puddles,
feeling ridges where moss meets bark.
What inspired you to write this story & what do you have in common with it:
Walking through the rainforest in Belize, I was drawn to the tumbling vines, and the way they twisted together. They reminded me of the woven tapestries from Ecuador, my mother’s homeland. My own experiences of Ecuador were as a visitor to my extended family, being connected yet not fully belonging. It inspired me to write about Nina, a child who is rooted in culture but doesn’t feel like she belongs. I took the tumbling vines and the tapestries from my life and wove Nina’s story, about following her own path.
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