This book is for the horse lovers out there!
Jessica Milo is a former preschool teacher and poet who pours her passion for children’s stories into her own writing. When she’s not writing, she loves to play video games and board games, keep up her Duolingo Spanish streak, go on walks, read, eat a lot of pasta, and daydream about writing new stories that capture that same magical feeling from her kindergarten days. She lives in Northern California with her husband and cats, Gus and Meeko. My Pony Wonder is her first picture book. You can learn more about her at her website or follow her on Instagram or BlueSky.
MY PONY WONDER is a picture book about young girl on a trail ride with her pony. It’s a lovely lyrical text all about the day’s adventures and highlights the bond between the girl and the horse. There just aren’t enough horse books like this out there for all the horse lovers.
Welcome Jessica!
Me: Can you tell us a little bit about your writing journey. When did you start writing picture books? How has that brought you to writing this picture book?
Jessica: I started writing picture books in 2021 after being furloughed from my preschool teaching job during the pandemic. Around the same time, I lost both my best friends—my cat and my aunt—which left me completely heartbroken and in a bad mental state. My parents suggested I write a children’s book about my cat, so I began reading lots of picture books to learn the craft—and quickly fell in love with them!
I immersed myself in the kidlit world, studying hundreds of picture books, joining writing programs and organizations, and connecting with the kidlit community on Twitter/X. Writing had always been a creative outlet for me—I’d loved writing poetry since middle school. So, writing picture books felt like a natural fit for me, and my passion for it grew deeper each day.
One of my many picture book ideas was a story about a girl and her horse on a trail ride through the woods. While searching for mentor texts and comp titles, I came across Valerie Bolling and Kaylani Juanita’s TOGETHER WE RIDE and was inspired by its lyrical style. I knew I wanted my trail ride story to be in sparse, rhyming verse with a rhythm emulating the sound of clip-clopping horse hooves. I drafted my trail ride picture book idea in October 2022 and revised it several times with my critique partners’ feedback until I felt it was polished. When I was querying, I shared the manuscript with my current agent, Wendi Gu, and she loved it! Now that story is my debut picture book entitled MY PONY WONDER, illustrated by 4x NYT-bestselling illustrator Ramona Kaulitzki. Our book releases July 7, 2026, from Random House Studio!
Me: I love that you have a horse story! I haven’t seen one of those in a great long time. What gave you the idea for this story?
Jessica: Thank you, Jena!As a kid, I grew up riding horses with my sister, so those lovely memories inspired me. We adored trail rides and being in nature! Those always felt so special and adventurous. Those cherished, joyful memories gave me the idea for my book.
Me: This is an incredible short rhyming text that just dances through the book. How many drafts did it take to get to this final state? Were there a lot of revisions or was this a gift from the Muse?
Jessica: I’d say both! I did many revisions (probably around 9 or 10), but the language/text didn’t change much, and the heart of the story remained the same. It really was sequencing and figuring out the arc of the MC’s journey and what happens next in the trail ride that drove my revisions.
One major revision that helped me sell this book was from an R&R (revise and resubmit) request from a different publisher that we had subbed the story to. The editor asked for more verses to be added to draw out the emotionality and bond between the girl and her horse. I did that R&R, and we shared it with my now-editor (who, at the time, was still considering it and we were chatting with). That revision really helped level up the story and made it feel complete. A huge thanks to the R&R editor — without their feedback, my book wouldn’t be what it is today! Another change I made later on after we accepted the offer from my now-editor, was making the MC’s horse a pony, since she’s a young girl (around 6 y.o.) which made more sense. That change inspired a line in the story, which became the title, MY PONY WONDER.
Me: I was surprised to see a scary moment in the middle of your story. What gave you the idea to include it?
Jessica: Yes! So, I know that I needed to have a moment of tension that would keep the reader engaged and interested and also show the sweet bond the MC and her pony share. The scary moment was inspired by my severe childhood anxiety, which I struggled with growing up (I still struggle with anxiety). Having that scary moment of uncertainty and anxiety really resonates with me, especially with having a pet/animal be there to calm you down and ground you. Being around horses and riding them really helped me cope with my anxiety as a kid.
Me: What is one thing that surprised you in writing this book?
Jessica: What surprised me was how easily the language and rhyme came to me for this story. It felt like it just flowed from me—the rhyme, rhythm, and lyrical language naturally fit together like a puzzle where you’ve already put together the border, and it’s just a matter of filling in the middle. It was like I already knew this story, and had it written subconsciously, and all I had to do was sit down and type it out. This is a very, very rare case for me and drafting new stories doesn’t typically happen that way!
Me: Ramona Kaulitzki’s illustrations in this book are wonderful. I love all the colors and textures. Did you have any illustration surprises? Any favorites?
Jessica: Ramona’s art is sooo charming and beautiful! I love how painterly the illustrations look. She was the perfect illustrator for this story. As for illustration surprises, I was surprised to see my MC and her pony riding with a group of friends! I knew there would be my MC girl, her pony, and an adult riding with her. I didn’t expect the other kids, which was such a great surprise, and it’s so awesome to see more kids in the book enjoying horse riding. I love that Ramona made this book more inclusive!
Another surprise and a favorite is the little dog! What’s interesting is how I see things in Ramona’s illustrations that resonate and connect with me, things she didn’t know about! For instance, how the MC girl wears her hair in pigtail braids—that was my fave hairstyle as a kid and I always had pigtail braids because my favorite character and movie was Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. And the little dog in MY PONY WONDER looks like Toto!! And funny enough, on Ramona’s Instagram, one of her pinned posts from 2023 is a gorgeous illustration of Dorothy in the poppy fields looking out at Emerald City. Ramona never knew of my love of The Wizard of Oz, so this all felt like kismet.
Me: Do you have any advice for new or aspiring picture book writers?
Jessica: My advice would be to read TONS of recently published picture books and write out/type up your favorites! I do this often to study and practice craft. It helps me learn more about pacing, language, plot, character development, etc. Also, find the kidlit community online, if you’re open to that, and engage with other kidlit creators! I’ve made such great friends through the online kidlit community that makes me feel supported and brings so much joy.
That is great advice. Thank you for stopping by my blog today Jessica.
But wait, dear readers. There’s more! Jessica has also agreed to giveaway a copy of her debut picture book to one lucky US winner. You can enter the giveaway here. Good luck!