Children's Book Submission Question

Hi everyone,

This is one of the rare times I've checked out this particular board but will be checking it out more often since I'm involved in producing a children's book. So here's my question:

How do you submit a children's book? Is it the same format as a regular novel?

Here's a bit of background before you answer: This illustrator friend and I have decided it would be fun to collaborate into developing a kid's book together. To compare the style to something similar, I'd say it's like Dr. Seuss. What I mean is that the story is written as a poem and there'll be illustrations on each page so kid's can see what's going on.

So, what's the regular protocol for submitting something like this? Should I submit the story first to a publisher to see if they're interested? Or is it better to wait until the illustrations are done and send the whole thing? If I wait until the illustrations are done, how do you package it when submitting?

Thanks for any help.

Thanks Allen and Stormie. The other thread answers a lot of my questions. So what it boils down to is that I should sell the story first and then the publisher finds a suitable illustrator. So here's my follow-up:

My illustrator friend is a professional (albeit new on the scene but a professional) and has some excellent ideas. Is it possible to recommend an illustrator to a publisher if they're interested?

Also, I don't mind double-spacing for submitting. It's just that the story is basically a poem broken into 40 4-line stanzas. So there's no real chapters.

I'm going to pick up that book for most of my info. I'll continue to post here if I need any clarifications. Thanks again.