Another Picture Book Week Down

National Picture Book Week ended yesterday. I now have seven new rough drafts to work with for my next book. Of those seven, two I'm really happy with, four I'm mostly happy with, but they need work to get them somewhat usable, and one will probably be recycled into another story at a later time.

With the 'Diversify Books' campaign happening across most social media outlets, my brain was definitely focused on creating books that highlighted the differences among people. The majority of the books I wrote this week had themes dealing with how everyone's different, whether family dynamics, skin color, beliefs, or disability. (This last one I also handled in WHO WILL DANCE WITH ME?)

Here's a quick overview of what I came up with. The titles are only temporary working titles for now:

Day 1: WHAT IF? What if everyone was exactly the same in every way? How boring that would be. Good thing we're all different. (Keeper)

Day 2: LOST Puppy is lost and all alone. No one wants to let him in. Then he finds someone else who's lost and becomes a hero. (Workable)

Day 3: GIFT OF ME A little girl is told she has hair like her mother and eyes like her father. All of her features seem to come from someone different. When they're all added together, they become her. (Workable)

Day 4: NOT MY BROTHER A little boy is going to become a big brother, but not in the usual way. His parents are adopting and his new brother looks nothing like him. (Keeper)

Day 5: TUXEDO Tuxedo Rabbit fools everyone into thinking he's Brother Rabbit. It's not fun when his friends want to play with him and not Brother. (Workable)

Day 6: MELODY'S LIE Melody tells a lie. It grows until it's too big for her to handle. (Definitely workable)

Day 7: BLANKIE A little boy and his favorite blanket can do anything together. (Needs reworking. Might be scrapped and redone.)

So, that's my past week in a nutshell. For those of you who have known me forever (or at least since elementary school): Yes, I'm dragging Tuxedo Rabbit back out, kicking and screaming. ;-) Obviously writing all new stories - I'm not even digging out the old ones - but I think his time has finally come to have his tales redone. Poor rabbit paid his dues, getting me writing in the first place. It's only fair he gets some good stories now.

Everyone else who joined me in NaPiBoWee, how did you do? Get at least a draft or two worth working on? I'd love to hear how you all made out.