A Bright Idea!

I think it's a great idea!

Go for it, what a fabulous idea.

Great idea Alycia!!!

writerdog said:

I have a number of different medical issues. When I was a child, both myself and Mom tried in vain to explain them to my peers. To this day, people still don't get it. They all want to treat me different. Even some of my family members. I am a writer for children. What if I write picture books about such things. Kids get entertained and informed. Meanwhile, they can later use their books to inform others.

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A lot of my children's stories have an underlying theme of difference and disability.These days children with ongoing medical issues and/or disabilities are much more likely to be mainstreamed with the rest of the kids, so I believe there is a need for these types of stories. They can be used for many different purposes in many different settings.

Recently at storytime at the library, a father started bringing his young son with autism. Some of his son's behaviors were upsetting to the other children, and even to the other parents. I suggested to the librarian that she find a children's story about a kid with autism to read to the group. She loved the idea, but couldn't find a good story that dealt with autism in a way the kids would understand.

So, writerdog, I think there is a definite need for the stories you want to write. I've done a fair bit of research into this. Please feel free to PM me if you want to discuss further. Good luck!

Good for you! I hope it goes well!

This is a great idea! I can't wait to see what you come up with. This is such an important topic at any age.

I suppose it would depend on what you are thinking of doing. If you are planning on non-fiction that explains the basic facts of different conditions, I have only seen those published by small presses that are very targeted. I suspect that large publishers would be less open to this sort of book. Picture books that seem to tell a story but are really trying to teach children something, no matter how valuable the information, are also a hard sell. The most commercially viable (in my opinion, take it for what it's worth) would be fiction where a character happens to have a particular condition, but the focus of the plot is on something that all kids can relate to.

I have a student this year who has diabetes, and her mom gave me a picture book explaining the condition. It was well done, but clearly a small press production. So you'd need to do some research to figure out who publishes those kinds of informational books.

Good luck!

I think it's a brilliant idea!

Best of luck.