MOWMT: Finding the Heart of Your Story by Melissa Stoller
March 5, 2025
[Note: Click on the Titles to buy the Books.]
As I write picture books, I always keep in mind the importance of finding the heart of the story. Every book needs a center – an emotional connection – to draw the reader in, keep them turning pages, and encourage them to return to the book over and over.
This emotional chord of the story can be elusive. A few questions to ask as you are writing include: do the characters evoke an emotion in the reader that makes them want to say “Ooh, aah, wow, or something similar? Do the characters conjure up memories or feelings that add a layer or depth to the story? Do the characters or plot highlight a situation that is relatable or even universal, that the reader can connect to? Keeping these questions in mind will ensure that a story is heartfelt and satisfying.
In HAZEL AND MABEL: TWO HEARTS APART (illustrated by Anita Bagdi, releasing from Gnome Road Publishing in Fall 2025), I wrote about what happens when a friend moves away, and then things aren’t exactly the same when the friend comes back for a visit. I remembered how I had felt as a child when a friend left our town, and also recalled watching my children handle their feelings as various friends moved over the years. As I drafted my story, I read as many books as I could about moving, friendship, and kindness. I know that my memories of similar experiences, as well as studying these books, helped me find the emotionally resonant heart of my story.
Here are several mentor texts that informed my understanding of friendship, moving away, and rebuilding connections:
EVELYN DEL REY IS MOVING AWAY (by Meg Medina, illustrated by Sonia Sánchez, Candlewick Press, 2020).
This beautiful book explores how it feels when a first best friend moves away and nothing will ever be the same again.
“’We can talk every day after school,’ I tell her, though the world is still whirling. ‘And you can visit me this summer,’ she says. ‘And spend the night!’ But I know that tomorrow everything will be different. Evelyn will be in a new home that doesn’t match mine.”
HEDGEHOG NEEDS A HUG (by Jen Betton, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, an imprint of Penguin Random House, 2018).
In this sweet story, Hedgehog feels upset, and just wants a hug, but that proves more difficult than he thought, until he finds a way to comfort another creature and they both feel better.
“When Hedgehog awoke in his cozy nest, he felt down in the snout and droopy in the prickles. I’ll feel better if I get a hug, he thought.”
THE FRIEND SHIP (by Kat Yeh, illustrated by Chuck Groenink, Disney Hyperion, 2016)
In this delightful book, Hedgehog wants to find friendship and the friend ship . . . so she gathers friends one by one and goes searching. Eventually, they all find just what they need and were looking for.
“Hedgehog was curled up in a prickly little ball in the lonely little nook of a lonely little tree when she heard someone say her name. ‘Poor Hedgehog seems so lonely!’ ‘I know, but it will get better. Friendship is out there – all she has to do is look.’”
THE GOOD-PIE PARTY (by Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton, Arthur A. Levine Books, an Imprint of Scholastic, 2014).
This lovely book shows how three best friends throw a good-bye party that turns into a good-pie party, as they deal with one friend moving away, and vow to keep their forever connection.
“Posy Peyton doesn’t want to move. She doesn’t want to pack her books or take down her bird feeder or undecorate her secret clubhouse. And she really doesn’t want to say good-bye. ”
And my book – HAZEL AND MABEL: TWO HEARTS APART (illustrated by Anita Bagdi, releasing from Gnome Road Publishing, September 30, 2025).
In this book, two best forest friends fight to get the heart of their friendship beating again after one moves away. When Mabel comes back to visit Hazel, they both realize that things don’t feel quite the same. So they figure out what they still have in common, and then find new ways to get their friendship back on track.
“Hazel and Mabel knew they would always be best friends. Even if Mabel grabbed the last gumdrop. Even if Hazel snored during sleepovers. Even when Mabel . . . moved away. Their hearts remembered afternoon adventures, and letters flew back and forth, keeping them connected.
Enjoy finding mentor texts that help you amplify the heart in your stories. Cheers to Marching On!
PRIZE: Melissa's Prize will be a signed copy of any of her books (US winner only) or a PB Critique.
MELISSA’S BIO: Melissa Stoller writes to bring connection, joy, and a bit of magic to her readers. She is the author of HAZEL AND MABEL: TWO HEARTS APART, illustrated by Anita Bagdi, releasing from Gnome Road Publishing on September 30, 2025. She is also the author of the chapter book series The Enchanted Snow Globe Collection - Return to Coney Island, and the picture books Scarlet’s Magic Paintbrush; Ready, Set, GOrilla!; Sadie’s Shabbat Stories; Planting Friendship: Peace, Salaam, Shalom; and Building Bridges: Peace, Salaam, Shalom (co-written). Melissa is a Rate Your Story Judge, a Blogger for the Children’s Book Academy, a Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center Advisory Council Member, and a past school and synagogue Trustee. She also interviews authors and offers resources on her blog. In other chapters of her life, Melissa has worked as a lawyer, legal writing instructor, freelance writer/editor, and early childhood educator. She lives in New York City with her family, and enjoys theatre, museums, and long walks with friends.
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Thanks for sharing these great examples and congrats on your newest book! I can't wait to read it!
MELISSA: The heart of a story is EVERYTHING. THANK YOU for INSPIRING us to find ways to understand what the heart of our stories are, and to connect with it ourselves, so our readers can as well. Keeping the heart at the forefront of our minds is KEY in order to not lose sight of, or touch with, the heart of our stories as we revise them OVER AND OVER AGAIN. If we get stuck or lose sight of the story, it's time to get back in-touch with the heart again. The heart is the guide. It is EVERYTHING.
These were great questions for us to consider as we work to infuse heart into our story and connect to our reader. The mentor texts were helpful, I look forward to reading them. Thanks for posting. Congratulations on HAZEL AND MABEL. I follow Melissa on Facebook and Twitter/X.
Thanks for your questions to ask about emotion in my PB! Emotion plays such an important role in a story. And thank you for the books you discussed. I've only read two of them so I will add the rest to my reading list as well as your books.
Thanks for posting in MOWMT.
I will share your information as well as your books in my chapter critique meeting in May.
I follow you on Pinterest and Blue Sky.
Thanks for this reminder. Do the characters or plot highlight a situation that is relatable or even universal, that the reader can connect to?