By Kristin Tillotson

When novelist Alison McGhee decided to try her hand at children's books several years ago, she was like so many others who've gone down that road: "I thought, how hard could it be? What an idiot. But I kept at it, being a masochist."

Several kids' titles later, her efforts have paid off with the New York Times bestseller "Someday" and now the coveted cover spot on the Simon & Schuster spring 2010 children's catalog for "So Many Days," featuring illustrations by new York-based Taeeun Yoo.

The book, about the choices kids make that help shape who they become, sounds like an extension of "Someday," which McGhee thinks was successful because "it's really like a picture book for adults, because it expresses parents' hopes and dreams for their child." The new book hits stores in early January.