With any creative project, as an artist, I look to the works of others for reference and inspiration.

As a first-time author learning the "norms" of the children's book industry, I spent much time leafing through contemporary and classic books to absorb information on page and word count, story arc and theme, illustration style and formatting, and the more mundane issues such as creating a copyright block. My modest bookshelf of precedents was indispensable as I created Big Mo.

I turned to a few of my favorite books, each a piece of art in its own right!

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