Be Kind, Make Friends

Written by Angie Quantrell

Illustrated by Gayle West

Woman’s Missionary Union, 2024

I’m excited to have my friend and fellow critique partner, Kim Larson, interview me today. Her debut picture book, Goat’s Boat Won’t Float, will be released Oct. 1 (The Little Press). You can learn more about her at KimALarson.com.

And here’s my guest host, Kim!

Congratulations on your beautiful book, Angie! It has such an important message. I’m thrilled to interview you today so your blog readers can learn more about this amazing book. Please tell me where you got the idea for it?

In January 2023, I was at a WMU (Woman’s Missionary Union) preschool affinity group meeting—a group of leaders who love and teach preschoolers. We discussed what resources the leaders wanted or needed, what they would like to have for their classrooms. The idea of a picture book about friends and kindness came up. The topic of kindness and friendship is evergreen for everyone, especially preschoolers who focus on practicing kindness and skills for making friends every single day. Be Kind, Make Friends came out of that discussion and sharing of ideas.

I should back up a bit and share that the name of the WMU preschool-aged missions discipleship program is called Mission Friends. More on that later.

That is such a fun backstory! I love that you found a need and filled it. Was this always the title for the project?

Be Kind, Make Friends has been the title from early on in the process, with a few tiny variations. I LOVE how Gayle West, our illustrator, turned the comma into a paper heart!

I agree! Gayle did an amazing job on the illustrations. I bet you were thrilled when you saw them. Tell me more about the writing process. Did you go through many revisions of the text?

So. Many. Revisions. From large picture down to tiny word changes. I think as authors, we are pretty hard on ourselves, aiming for the very best manuscript we can write, but also we are so close to the work, we need fresh eyes that haven’t spent nearly every waking minute writing, revising, thinking, and rearranging our manuscripts. It was an important part of my process to involve feedback from others. I had feedback from the preschool team at WMU, critiques from my critique partners, critiques from the 12×12 Picture Book Writing Challenge community—and all of that was to get it as close to perfect as possible.

And THEN we sent the Be Kind, Make Friends manuscript out to preschool leaders (who would potentially be using the book with preschoolers) and others in the WMU audience, a group of readers who regularly read preschool materials for feedback, preschool writers, and even higher education experts.

Getting fresh eyes on my manuscript was so important and helped me see words and ideas that might not be as clear to others as they were in my mind. Be Kind, Make Friends is nonfiction, so accuracy is vital. I am so thankful to ALL the readers. Writing something like Be Kind, Make Friends really is a team effort. Thank you, team!

For new (or any) writers, sending out our work can make us feel nervous. EEK! But when we have others read and critique our manuscripts and then we carefully choose how to implement the comments, this only makes our work better. But we need to remember that we are the creators of the work, so we do not have to use all of the suggestions, only those that fit with our vision for the work. I did find that if several readers mentioned the same section of the manuscript, then I knew that there was a problem I needed to work on, something to fix so the idea was clear.

I couldn’t agree with you more about the importance of feedback. As one of your critique partners, I’ve appreciated your honest, helpful suggestions and the encouragement you always provide. When did you know your manuscript was ready for submission?

I knew Be Kind, Make Friends was ready after I went through all of the above steps. Revisions. Critiques. Addressing comments. Rereading. Allowing time for the manuscript to rest. And then a final round of reading by our preschool team. I did not have to submit at that point since the project was already approved. In the kidlit world, Be Kind, Make Friends is called a work-for-hire project, so the process was a bit different. Gayle West was working on the illustrations right along with me as I worked on revisions. After I paginated (this is SO helpful) and made a thumbprint board of what text went on which page, she was ready to go. We came roaring down the finish line together! Ready to go to the printer.

You laid out the steps beautifully, whether it’s a work-for-hire project or otherwise, it takes a team to get a book into print. It sounds like one of your first steps was to find a publisher. How did you connect with the publisher of Be Kind, Make Friends?

About 30 years ago, my husband and I were attending First Baptist Church in Wapato, the church my husband grew up in and we were married in. Our family had grown by two babies, both preschoolers at the time. Wednesday night meetings were great for youth and adults, but there was nothing offered for preschoolers. Our pastor at the time suggested I try Mission Friends, a preschool missions discipleship curriculum. From the get-go I was in love with Mission Friends and the curriculum! Missionaries around the world, international excitement, fun activities, engaging stories, loads of hands-on learning. It was exactly right for us.

I loved the curriculum so much, I cold-queried them! LOL That’s what I’d call it now. Back then, in the dark ages of technology, I sent a typewriter-typed letter introducing myself and asking if I could write for them. I was soon invited to a writer’s conference in Birmingham, Alabama, and I was on my way. I’ve been writing preschool curriculum (stories, activities, session plans), picture books, articles, and other resources since then. I’ve been blessed to have a connection with WMU for many years. When this project came up, I was still (and still am) writing and editing preschool resources for WMU. I was very excited to write Be Kind, Make Friends!

I loved learning about your connection with the Mission Friends organization! I hope that continues. Tell me, what’s next for you?

I will continue writing and editing for WMU. I also write picture books and submit them to publishers and editors. I enjoy penning haiku poems and sharing them on my blog. There are always ideas swirling around in my head. I will have to see what happens next!

You are very creative, Angie, and I look forward to reading your future work. Please let your readers know where they can buy a copy of this beautiful book!

I would love to share where to find Be Kind, Make Friends!

To get a copy of Be Kind, Make Friends, visit wmustore.com.

Kim, thank you so much for hosting me today on my blog! You are a truly gifted writer and a special friend and critique partner! I appreciate you. I look forward to interviewing YOU soon about your upcoming debut picture book, Goat’s Boat Won’t Float!