Poor Poky Puppy




What do the people want?  What they want!

How do the people want it?  How they want it!

When do the people want it?  Now!

In my research regarding attaining agented representation and publication, there is so much talk about trends, what sells, and what’s popular now.  Which, I get it – we all have to eat, agents and publishers included.
I’m going to go out on a limb here though and make the following statement:  In my humble opinion, the beloved Poky Little Puppy would not even be able to get an agent today.  

Poor Poky Puppy.  He’s adorable and naughty and we all learned something.  But by today’s standards, (I think strongly) it would be considered boring and lacking character development.  Let’s not even get into the fact that no one would want to publish something that suggests that you feed your snowflake dog anything other than 
the most premium, artisan dog food.

Granted, this is all speculation and many, many parents still own copies of Poky Puppy.  Nonetheless, I hope you can see my point here.  The styles, approaches, and story lines of yesteryear are not valued in the same way.  Much of what is currently popular in children’s books and entertainment is thoroughly injected with stimulation – the brightest colors, the biggest jokes, the craziest plots.  In some ways that’s alright – but on the other hand maybe we’ve lost something too.

If I could write the perfect picture books, let me tell you, they would feel fresh but have that certain nostalgic je ne sais quoi.  At this juncture, I’m just looking for an agent who can share my vision.

In your opinion, what are qualities and characteristics (not topics) that we need to see more of in children’s books today?





#AnitaVP #picturebook #writemore #pokypuppy #nostalgia


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