MOMWT 14: Magic in Mentor Texts with Lynne Marie
- rateyourstoryweb
- Mar 14
- 4 min read
Conjuring magic in picture books isn’t as easy as it may seem. First, the magic must be seeded in the ordinary world. It can’t just come out of nowhere, magically or not. Since essentially everything a picture book should be seeded in the beginning – this just makes sense.
With my rhyming picture book BroomMates (co-authored in rhyme by Brenda Reeves Sturgis and illustrated by Nico Ecenarro), it was easy – the main characters I created were both witches!
So when they whip out their wands, the reader doesn't even question that something magical would happen.
As a long time Mentor and Developmental Editor at www.thepicturebookmechanic.com, Creative Director and Owner of www.rateyourstory.org for over five years, three-time agency intern and editor at two small presses (currently at littlepresspublishing.com), I have had the opportunity to read many manuscripts where the magic didn’t spark.
Let’s take a gander at Tornado Slim and the Magic Cowboy Hat by Bryan Langdo (Amazon/Two Lions, 2019).
You may be thinking that there’s magic in the title so that plants the seed. Yes, but that alone is not enough. Show us there will be magic, rather than tell us.
The magic in this book doesn’t explicitly appear in the beginning, but rather implicitly.
One fine day, Tornado Slim awakens from a nap to find a suspicious coyote standing over him. This coyote (which is known for being a wily creature) asks an odd favor of Slim. When Slim hesitates, the crafty creature sweetens the deal by giving him his blue hat. The coyote further alerts our suspicions as readers by asking Tornado Slim to use the hat carefully. We're pretty certain that there's some trickery coming our way from this trickster -- and we know it has to do with magic.
When the magic appears, it feels natural to the story as it was introduced in the title, and effectively, although subtly, planted in the beginning. Together, that works!
Every Night at Midnight, by Peter Cheong (Atheneum/Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2023), my next example, quickly and effectively seeds the magic in the title and the first line. The reader knows from other stories that strange and magical things can happen at midnight, so they begin to suspend disbelief. They wonder, what happens every night at midnight. Could it be magic?
But they really believe that the main character magically changes into a werewolf when he declines sleep over invitations because of his “problem.”
The Moon Ring by Randy DuBurke (Chronicle Books, 2019). Across different cultures, and throughout history, the moon has been known to be magical and mystical, so we can fairly say that the title is a building block to support the magic.
The story introduces a rare situation where a blue moon occurs (the second full moon in a month).
Grandma shares her beliefs that magic happens during the full moon and then, by the second spread, a ring falls from the sky. So as you can see, th magic is set up and when it occurs, we want to believe, and therefore, believe.
My last example (although there are many, many more) is the Magic Hat Shop by Sonja Wimmer (Cuento de Luz, 2019) is yet another one that relies on the title to introduce the idea of magic.
But it is supported by what happens. A hat shop appears in the middle of the town square (as if by magic) and no one knows how it arrived or from where it came.
Again, so when it proves to be magical, the reader believes.
With so many more interesting and informative magical Mentor texts to discuss (like Possum Magic by Mem Fox, The Magic Hat by Tricia Tusa, Strega Nona by Tomi DePaola, Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett and more, I will certainly revisit this topic for further discussion, but for now, I hope my post is magic enough to inspire you to discover magic in reading or writing!
PRIZES: I will be giving away several prizes including submission passes to me at the Little Press, Rate Your Story speedpasses, 1/2 Hour Ask Me Anything Sessions and 1/2 Hour Mentor Sessions. The more people who comment, the more prizes I will add!
Anyone who shares a book that has magic or is magical realism (be sure to note) will get an extra entry into the prize drawing for each book shared.
BIO: Lynne Marie is a multi-published, award-winning author of picture books, including three with Scholastic, The Star of the Christmas Play (Beaming Books 2018), Moldilocks and the 3 Scares (Sterling / Scholastic 2019), Let’s Eat! Mealtime Around the World (Beaming Books 2019), The Three Little Pigs and the Rocket Project (Mac and Cheese Press 2022), The Palace Rat (Yeehoo Press 2023), Henny Penny’s Weather Worries (Mac and Cheese Press, 2025), Zeus and the Titanic Pet Problem (Mac and Cheese Press, 2025) and more, forthcoming.
Lynne Marie's recent book, BroomMates: A Brewing Boundary Battle (The Little Press 2024), is an honor book for the 2025 Anna Dewdney Read Together Award, has been awarded a 2025 CBC Favorite in K - 2 from Teachers, Kids and Librarians, as well as a winner in the Holiday Category of the 2024 Northern Lights Book Awards.
She’s an Editor at The Little Press, Creative Director / Owner of RateYourStory.org, Mentor / Developmental Editor at ThePictureBookMechanic.com, Creator of March On With Mentor Texts (www.rateyourstory.org/march-on) and Mentor Text Talk, Co-Host of #SeasonsOfKidLit (www.seasonsofkidlit.com) and a Columnist at Children’s Book Insider (https://writeforkids.online/). Visit her at www.LiterallyLynneMarie.com.
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"A title is a promise" I always try to think of your sage advice when I'm writing a title. Thank you for sharing some great mentor texts that deal with magic in a story!
One of my old favorites is Sylvester and the Magic Pebble.
I follow you on all the SM platforms. I shared on X and Bluesky.
It's interesting to see how the title can be used - it's slightly different from title in general. I recently read Papa, Please Get the Moon For Me by Eric Carle. It's magical realism.
Great post and mentor text suggestions for the use of magic, Lynne! I think adults are also interested in the "magic" in PBs! I follow you on everything and shared your post on X and Bluesky. You know I LOVE Broommates! I reviewed it and use it as a mentor text for one of my manuscripts!
Oh my, you never cease to amaze me, Lynne Marie with all your tips and suggestions. One of the biggest, best things I've learned from you is to read, study and pull apart books that I can use as mentor texts for my own stories. Thanks for this magical post and for taking over the month with March On With Mentor Texts. Every post(er) is so different from the one before, and every one is so GOOD! Thanks everyone for keeping me afloat!
I would love to hear your thoughts on SATO THE RABBIT. Magic, fantasy, imagination? Thanks for helping me think more about how magic is introduced in stories.