GENRE: Contemporary, Lyrical, Fantasy
WORDS: 401
Query:
Dear PBParty Judges, Agents, and Editors,
I am excited to share THE STORY TREE, a lyrical ode to a lifelong love of storytelling, the wonder of nature and the cycle of life.
A tree waits for the bookstore window to open. Every afternoon, the woman with sparkles in her voice reads to children. The tree listens. Words carry him, roots and all, to places a tree cannot go. His branches spread like dragon wings, dancing on star-spotted skies. Stories nourish him with something not found in sunshine, soil or raindrops. But as time passes, the stories are taken away from the tree and he is only left with memories, until one day he gets to live a beloved story in a way he never dreamed possible.
At 401 words, THE STORY TREE will resonate with children and parents who appreciate the transformative power of storytelling in How to Read a Book (Kwame Alexander/ Melissa Sweet) or who love the wonder of nature expressed by Outside In (Deborah Underwood/ Cindy Derby).
I am a 2023 PB Rising Stars mentee, a 2024 WriteHive mentee (for my middle grade series), a former member of the Australian Emerging Children’s Writers’ Group, a scholarship graduate of the Children’s Book Academy, a member of SCBWI, and my short fiction has been highly commended by the Australian Writers’ Centre.
If you enjoy reading THE STORY TREE, I also have numerous heartfelt/ humorous picture books and a middle grade ghost story to share. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Excerpt:
The tree looks longingly through the window, counting each moment until story time.
When afternoon arrives, his branches lean closer.
He listens.
The woman with sparkles in her voice waits by the window.
Children gather around her, chattering and chuckling, until she opens a book.
Silence.
She reads.
Deep in the magic of his imagination, the tree flies free from his patch of grass to faraway lands.
What inspired you to write this story & what do you have in common with it:
As a boy, stories were my sanctuary. They allowed me to escape and live in the mind’s eye of great storytellers. My library card was a passport to time travel to any imaginable destination. In writing The Story Tree, I want kids to feel that, no matter who they are, or what they are going through, stories allow them to go anywhere and be anyone.
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