Draw 2 semicircles that are each about 4-inches (10.16) wide on gray, black, or brown felt (or furry fabric), then cut them out using scissors. These will be the ears. Draw 2 semicircles that are each about 3-inches (7.62 cm) wide on pink felt, then cut them out using scissors. These will be the inner ears. You can sew, glue or pin one pink inner ear to one grey, black, or brown outer ear, then repeat with the other set. These form the completed mouse ears. Sew, glue, or pin the ears to the hood of a plain grey, black, or brown hooded sweatshirt. The costume will look best if the hoodie is the same color as the outer ears. Make sure that one mouse ear is attached to each side of the hood, and not too high up on it. You can put on the hood and test out the ears before attaching them to decide which exact position looks best. This step is optional, but can add a touch more flair if you have time. Lay the hoodie on a flat surface, and cut out an oval of pink felt (or another contrasting color) that is the width and height of the front of the hoodie. Then sew, glue, or pin the oval to the hoodie to serve as the belly. A regular pair of sweatpants in the same color as the hoodie (gray, black, or brown) make the perfect pair of mouse legs. Simply put them on once the rest of the costume is finished. Take a tube sock that is the same color as the outer mouse ears and the hoodie (or pink). Fill it with newspaper or fiberfill so that it looks like a tail, then sew, glue, or pin it to either the bottom back of the sweatshirt or the back waistband of the sweatpants. You can cut off one leg of a pair of tights and use it in the same way to make a mouse-tailjust make sure to tie, sew, glue, or pin one end closed before you stuff it. Once you've made all the pieces of the costume and have put them on, you're ready to draw the mouse's face. You can use regular makeup. Put a dot of pink lipstick on the end of your nose to make the mouse's nose. Use eyeliner (black, brown, or white) to draw a few whiskers across your cheeks. If you would like to complete the mouse look, you can put socks on your feet that match the color of the mouse costume, and socks or mittens on your hands. These will serve as the mouse's paws. You can use socks or mittens of the same color, or a contrasting one. For instance, if you have a black mouse body, then white paws might look nice.

Summary: Make the outer ears. Make the inner ears. Fasten the inner ears to the outer ears. Attach the ears to a hoodie. Add a mouse belly. Use sweatpants as the legs. Make the mouse-tail. Paint on a mouse face. Put on paws.

The more comfortable you are with your song choice, the better you can deliver the song. Choose a song you have practiced many times and know by heart. Knowing the song well helps alleviate any anxiety or stage fright as you get ready to perform. If you pick a song you haven't practiced much, you may wind up forgetting a part or not hitting all the right notes. Great vocal technique is part of singing well, but the delivery of your song makes the performance special. To do this, think about the lyrics or melody you are singing, and embody the emotions as best as you can. In addition, you can dance and move to the beat to deliver an authentic performance. For example, if you are singing a melancholy song, think about times you've felt sad or disappointed, and infuse your song with these emotions. Feel them in your heart, and sing in a way to reflect them. Pick a song that has meaning to you, so you can easily embody the theme or emotions of the track. While you're performing, keep in mind why the lyrics are important to you and why you want to share this song. If you sing great but don't seem connected to the song, your performance will seem staccato. If you are in a performance and you miss a note or sing out of key, that's okay! Simply keep going as if nothing happened. Sing the next note or improvise by changing your pitch. If you don't draw attention to the mistake, the audience likely won't even notice the error. If you stop and draw attention to the mistake, people will realize something is wrong.

Summary: Pick a song you know very well so you can sound your best. Captivate your audience by matching the tone of your song. Keep going if you make a mistake.

The best picture books ware simple, yet somehow profound with the stories they tell. Think of Dr. Seuss' books; they were always very simple narratives, but the ideas used carried a lot of weight. Think of a high concept that involves something that would appeal to a wide variety of ages. Even if you feel tempted, try not to turn the story into a morality tale. Very few readers are going to be genuinely interested in reading a veiled lesson in etiquette or behaviour. If you're more of an illustrator than a storyteller, you can always illustrate an existing story. There are countless picture books on the market that are based on classic fairy tales. Inspiration for stories can be found by immersing yourself in media. Films, music and books are all willing templates for your own stories. Most stories need interesting characters to populate the action with. Having spent some time mulling up a plot, the characters should come relatively naturally. While you should have a basic idea of the role each character will inhabit in the story, it's important to give them each a personal flavour. The best characters are easy to imagine having a life of their own beyond the confines of the narrative. While you're concocting characters, you should also be thinking of the way they'll look in your illustrations. Visually drab characters with a rich psychological profile probably aren't suited for a picture book. Animals are very popular to use in children's picture books. Animals have a universal appeal, and anthropomorphizing them to fill human role makes them less offensive to some readers. Speaking generally, animals are also more interesting to draw. Using a word processor, write up the story as you see fit, dividing it into a clear beginning, middle and end. At this stage of writing, you needn't worry about the proper choice of words. You're just trying to get the ideas into a basic framework. From there, you'll be able to add a writer's tone and boost your wordplay. Keep your word count around the 500 word mark. Anything more will be difficult to fit into the book and will distract from the illustrations. It's best to be tactical and efficient with your word choice. With your narrative all written out, you need to divide it into as many pages as you have for the story in your book. Include at least one action per panel; anywhere from one to four sentences per page should be great. It will be much easier to edit out your work now that it is separated into smaller sections. Focus on one section at a time, and transform the template you have into writing with style and form. While the specifics will really vary depending on your tone as a writer and the subject matter, keeping it concise and poetic is usually essential for picture books. Use simple, effective language that benefits the illustrations you'll be including. Simple rhymes are helpful, but don't build your writing around them specifically. A mediocre rhyme is worse than no rhyme at all. Alliteration is an easy trick, and makes the writing sound more melodious.
Summary: Outline your story. Create some characters. Write a rough draft of your story. Divide your draft into pages. Edit and finalize your draft.