VISUAL STORYTELLING FOR YOUNG READERS
BY MIKE KERR
The Wanna Bee and the Great Procrastination
The Wanna Bee needs to collect pollen before the season is over. Unfortunately he was distracted and left it until the last minute. Now the Wanna Bee must race against time to get what he needs.
I imagine the Wanna Bee as a series of books. The character is about accepting your limitations and making the best of them.
In development
The Little Coyote
When I was a growing up, kids mostly did their own thing. And with as little parental involvement as possible. But if I did need my dad, I knew where to find him.
Today, this is what can be described as a health and wellness retreat. But back then we called it by its old name, its secret name – a man’s cave.
I want to create books relevant to boys, to get new generations of them interested in words and pictures again.
A Full Book Dummy pdf is downloadable HERE.
A
What is a Word?
A Read Around Book. Apologies this story is hard to read online, but the physical copy is fun to read. And it does function quite well as the reader interactively turns the page around to read it.
There is more to a word than how to spell it. A story for young people on the existential nature of words.
A Full Book Dummy pdf is downloadable HERE.
T
And Then
This is inspired by the way children tell stories. Written in a run on sentence style it is about a child that likes to tell stories and can go on and on … and on telling her stories.
It is also about a busy and distracted mom who becomes inspired to tell her story too.
In Development
T
Put Your Boots On Hank
A western/rural book made for boys, but fun for anyone. About tradition and family.
My guess is that this is my most kid friendly story, probably because it was inspired by watching the antics of my younger second cousins.
T
Mel and Collie
As the name suggests, Mel suffers from melancholy. Mel and Collie go for a walk but her problems follow her.
The story uses personification to communicate the challenges of dealing with anxiety and depression. I see it as a fantastical roadtrip adventure that is serious but fun.
Tonally I imagine it as bittersweet, these issues are not something that can be overcome with a wave of a magic wand. Although Mel + Collie meet a magician who tries to do just that.
In development
It It
Who Am I?
When is your past no longer yours?
My family is originally from Wood Mountain Saskatchewan. My great, great grandmother Tsunke Hin Hotewin (Roan Horse) and her people the Lakota followed Sitting Bull to Wood Mountain after the Battle of the Little Big Horn and Custer’s Last Stand.
In Wood Mountain she married a cowboy nicknamed the Englishman.
This story is about identity, intermarriage, and family heritage. Does a person leave their past behind when they marry someone with a different history.
Does a parent’s heritage remain with their children, their grandchildren, or great grandchildren? At what point do you lose claim to a family history and identity?
The Puller
This book idea came from feedback I received from Kate O’ Sullivan at Harper Collins. I haven’t been able to properly pitch the idea again, which is a reason I would like to work with an agent.
A partial book dummy pdf is downloadable HERE.
It It
Marcus Aurelius
Hear me out on this one, a kids book adaptation of Meditations by Marcus Aurelius! My current artwork is too idiosyncratic for mass market publishing but after this experiment I realized that I could also illustrate it with straightforward child character storytelling and it could be made approachable to everyday kids. (I plan to do Book Two of Meditations that way)
Another book aimed at boys, I call it Stoicism lite.
Full Book Dummy pdf is available on request.
It It
Zine-apalooza
I have a lot more content that is aimed at K-12 in my zines if you would be interested in seeing more …
Thank you for your time, any feedback or suggestions would be amazing!
contact me at mike@randmcollective.com
It It
