Kayla Tostevin

Page Street Kids

My Manuscript Wish List®

We publish picture books in all genres for ages 4-8 with particular focus on new talent, artist-led narratives, engaging story arcs, and visually driven concepts. We do not publish board books, early readers, chapter books, or middle grade at this time.

Generally I look for:

distinct voices that show more than tell
topics and themes that feel fresh and/or underrepresented
characters that make me feel things

I’m not usually a big fan of:

fully rhyming texts (I do like little rhymes and other wordplay sprinkled in!)
purely educational texts–I prefer there to be some sort of story arc even in my NF
saccharine stories (Christmas stories are a particularly tough sell)
stories about the evils of screens

Some topics I’m pretty much always interested in:

action/adventure, be it epic or everyday
the wonder/unexpectedness of nature
settings and folklore from around the globe
diverse perspectives and characters – joy/fun as well as more serious topics!
art about art (particularly movies and music, and books of course)
small fantastical elements applied to reality
humor (especially if it’s offbeat, or a silly concept taken seriously)
unconventional friendships and chosen families
gentle intros to topics more traditionally aimed at older audiences
mental health
food culture
city life

And some more specific whims:

tea–particularly its comforting power/variety around the globe/ability to bring all kinds of people together
kids in solo sports (especially gymnastics and swimming)
bios about mountaineers/thru-hikers (especially with subjects who are BIPOC/disabled/women/otherwise marginalized on trails)
single parents/amiably divorced parents/other non-nuclear families (more as a casual, normalized element than a central topic)
a PB bio about Queen of Creole Cuisine Leah Chase
rewilding stories (lesser told than wolves being reintroduced to Yellowstone)
an adventure that takes place at Pike Place Market (could be realistic, could be fantastical!)
PB bios about contemporary musicians/bands (open to any genre, but especially a fan of rock, pop, hip hop, electronic)

Fun facts about me:

My cat’s name is Ewan, after both Ewan McGregor and Ian McEwan.
I spent lots of time growing up and worked my first job at a video store, and I still stubbornly rent movies to this day.
I grew up in the part of Washington State where Twin Peaks was filmed. It’s not quite that spooky in reality.

Submission Guidelines

Submissions should be emailed to childrensubmissions@pagestreetpublishing.com

Potential authors, please send your work using the guidelines outlined below. Due to the high volume of submissions, we respond only to authors whose work we want to consider for publication. We’ll review your work as quickly as possible; however, it could take us 2-3 months to respond. Please understand that we aren’t in a position to give updates on your submissions. We apologize that we will not be able to respond to emails or calls. Please do email us if you have received an offer for your book and would like to rescind your submission.

Please include a query letter and attach either a manuscript as a Word document (if text only), or a 32- to 40-page PDF sketch dummy in spread layouts (if text and art). Your query must contain: 1) synopsis, pitch, age range; and 2) a bio that describes your occupation, publishing history, social media presence, whether or not you are represented by an agent, and any other information relevant to your submission. If you are an illustrator, please include a link to your portfolio website. Please do not send more than one submission per person within a three-month period, unless you receive a request to submit other stories.

Email: childrensubmissions@pagestreetpublishing.com with the title of your story in the subject line.

Guidelines & Details