GENRE: *Humor, Character Driven, SEL
WORDS: 517
Query:
Dear PBParty Agents & Editors,
I am pleased to share Terry Beary the Fierce Fairy: A Letter to Every Kid Who Thinks I Ate the Tooth Fairy, a 527-word picture book. Told as a formal letter from the real Tooth Fairy, it pairs the epistolary charm of Dear Dragon with the playful fairy-tale subversion of The Not-So-Wicked Witch.
Terry Beary is tired of one very specific rumor: that Terry ate the “real” Tooth Fairy.
Terry did not.
Terry is the real Tooth Fairy: fully licensed, highly credentialed, and more than qualified for the position. Because Terry is bigger, louder, and furrier than most children expect a fairy to be, a first nighttime visit sparks panic, screaming, and a reputation Terry does not deserve. As Terry defends that reputation, readers are invited to question who decided a fairy had to be tiny, quiet, or delicate in the first place.
I am a picture book writer, dually licensed marriage and family therapist, and clinical social worker with extensive experience working with children and families. I write funny, voice-driven picture books with emotional underbellies, often starring characters who are doing way too much for reasons that make perfect sense to them. I am also legally blind, and that lived perspective shapes the kinds of stories I’m drawn to and how I tell them.
I have additional picture book manuscripts available and would be happy to share more work upon request.
Thank you for your consideration.
Excerpt:
To Whom It May Concern:
Let’s clear something up.
I did not eat the real Tooth Fairy.
I am the real Tooth Fairy.
Yes, I am a bear.
No, this is not a costume.
No, I am not “filling in.”
And no, I did not “accidentally swallow the smaller model.”
I am fully certified.
Wing Endurance: Advanced
Tooth Retrieval Under Maximum Pillow Compression: Elite
Landing Grace: Improving (And that’s what counts.)
What inspired you to write this story & what do you have in common with it:
I wanted to write a funny, voice-driven story for children who feel a lot, notice a lot, and are not always what other people expect. Like Terry, I know what it is like to be misread because of appearance and assumptions. As a therapist, a legally blind writer, and the mom of a six-year-old, I think often about the kinds of stories children deserve, especially stories that help them feel less alone in who they already are.
I wrote this story for kids who are spirited, worried, imaginative, intense, tender, or still learning to trust who they are. I wanted the humor to open the door to something deeper: a story about first impressions, difference, self-trust, and the freedom to take up space as you are.
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