write what we know. Maurice Sendak siad that he wrote good children's books because he didn't write for children.
By the way...i'm not married to the daddy on the couch story line.

New Ideas...

"Philip, No... Thank You." A redhead boy named Philip with a heart of gold who finds mischief in his great big house. "Philip,no. Don't disturb sleepy-grumpy grandpa. Thank you." He climbs cupboards, he over-waters lawns, he plays with grandma's figurines...When told no, he goes through steps to put things right. OR he creates mischief and sets things right (with help of a little brother?) before anyone discovers what happened.

"Daddy's Work Boots" What does daddy do? From the kid's point-of-view. A story about what daddy does or might do when he leaves the house every morninng. Kid has all sorts of crazy/wild/complex ideas about what daddy does all day. at end of day baby and mama show up to meet daddy as he gets off work---revealing what he actually does only at the end of the book. During the story clues are offered as to what daddy does. Is he a cable guy?

"Magic Subway" a subway line that transports a kid to different enchanted places... in actuality the kid was using his imagination during the entire boring train trip to grandma's at 95th st. Different subway stops= a different enchanted land. Possible inner-city motif. Possible Chicago specific.