John Micklos Jr. Writer

Sad, Mad, Glad: A Book Mirrors Life

Like the young boy in my new picture book Sad, Mad, Glad: A Day Full of Feelings, I experienced a roller coaster of emotions during the five years since the concept first came to me in the summer of 2021.

My first two books published by Penguin—One Leaf, Two Leaves, Count with Me and Raindrops to Rainbow—came in fits of inspiration, and they practically wrote themselves. Sad, Mad, Glad took far more effort.

For months, I struggled with each spread, each stanza, each emotion. Every step of the process felt like an uphill climb. At that point, I became FEARFUL I had lost my touch.

Finally, by November 2021, I felt EXCITED as I submitted my final manuscript to Penguin Workshop. I was CONFIDENT that Sad, Mad, Glad would make a great complement to my previous Penguin books.

Still, I felt ANXIOUS as I awaited a response. Would the publisher like the manuscript as much as I did? Then, on March 18, 2022, an email from my editor, Alex Wolfe, appeared in my inbox. I felt JOY as I scanned the first paragraph: “Much like Raindrops to Rainbow, we love your sweet poetry, and the underlying themes of the book feel very relevant and well represented. We’re thrilled to be able to make you an offer!” The manuscript was scheduled for publication in summer 2024.

I felt PROUD that I had managed to place this manuscript that I had struggled so much to finish. Then a few months later, Alex sent me further feedback. She requested a more specific storyline, fewer emotions highlighted, and a more dramatic climax. She closed by saying, “I hope this is helpful and inspires a fruitful revision!”

Still, I felt CONCERNED as I began the rewrite. Editing a rhyming text means that changing one word or concept often changes the entire verse. Could I still make everything work? Despite my concerns, I managed to finish my revisions right on schedule, and I realized the story was now much stronger.

In March 2023, Alex informed me that the book’s publication date had been pushed back to Spring 2025. Although I was DISAPPOINTED, I tried hard to be PATIENT. I knew this was part of the process. Then, in early 2024, Alex reached out to inform me that the publication date for the book had once again been pushed back, this time to early 2026. She said to watch for feedback in the summer of 2024 so we could begin next steps.

As promised, Alex contacted me in July 2024 with an update. She had re-read the manuscript with “completely fresh eyes” and once again had lots of comments. She asked me to tweak the beginning and ending of the story and to further trim the number of emotions featured. She believed the book “is going to be all the stronger” after another round of revisions.

My initial reaction was PANIC. This seemed like a lot of changes to what I thought was a nearly finished manuscript. There were nearly 1,000 words of feedback on a 150-word story! But once I had a chance to more carefully review Alex’s detailed comments, I realized I could fulfill her recommendations without doing a total rewrite. At the end of July, I submitted a revised manuscript. I felt both HOPEFUL and ANXIOUS as I waited for Alex’s feedback.

Soon I felt RELIEVED. Alex loved the revision. Now I felt EXCITEMENT for what lay ahead. That fall, we engaged talented artist Lilibeth Jiminez to illustrate the book. Throughout 2025, I watched with JOY as Lilibeth’s illustrations evolved from rough black and white sketches to wonderful finished full-color art. Due to an unforeseen printing issue, the publication date got pushed back to August 4, 2026, but I’m so PLEASED with the final product. I hope readers will like it as well!