Publishing a children's book

Ok, so I've never published a children's book- BUT I took a class on it, and it afforded me a chance to talk with a lot of first time published author's of children's books. 
I actually wrote this in response to a blog post on Pioneer Woman's site, because I felt her post was a bit misleading about how easy it is to be published...  So here was my comment on her blog:
(Comment on a blog post on Pioneer Woman's site)
This is a great post on the process of writing a children’s book- when you already have a publisher, a fan base, and #1 bestsellers under your belt.
SO just for information sake- here is all the basics I learned from some first time published children’s book authors:
The process is much different when you don’t have these things. Usually you don’t get to pick your illustrator, you don’t get to have quite as much input with the illustrations, you are limited to 32 pages- and need at least 18-25 art possibilities in your text.
Once you have a story you think is worthy of being published you send your manuscript to as many agents as you can. You have to make sure that your manuscript and cover letter are written in a certain format- industry standards…
Double spaced, one-sided only, indented at each paragraph, 12 pt times new roman or courier font, don’t use bold or italicized, any notes that you have for the illustrator should be in brackets. The title page should have the title centered on the page and underlined, at the top should have your name, address, email and phone on the top left corner single spaced, and the on the top right should be your last name/one word to recognize the book with (this header should be on every page of the manuscript to identify it).
The current trend in Children’s books is 2nd person and 200-500 words, with the protagonist being 5-7 years old.
(Follow-up comment, after some questions concerning my first comment)
I should have mentioned that the notes to the illustrator in brackets should only be included in the manuscript when they are absolutely necessary for the story to make sense. Otherwise don’t make ANY suggestions to the illustrator. I got this info from a publisher. And never, ever submit your manuscript with illustrations. That is totally taboo for some reason (I don’t know why).
Also, the 2nd person voice is just a current trend- I actually tried writing something in 2nd person for a writing class, and it pretty much stunk. So any voice that makes your story the best possible story it can be is the best voice to use. If you want an example of 2nd person voice think of all the “If you give a mouse/pig/moose a ______” books.
Also, there are publisher directory books that can be checked out from the library (Children’s and Writer’s and Illustrator’s Market book)- with addresses and the type of books they publish. You can also find this info online, but having a comprehensive book can save time. But once you pick publishers from the book, look them up online and see what they are really currently accepting. BUT most authors I’ve met suggest finding an agent to promote your work for you. They take a cut of the profits, but they also protect you from having the publisher “steal” from you. Find agents online at AARonline.org .
Let’s see, is there anything else I’ve learned that would be useful… Write, write and rewrite. I like this quote “A writer wrestles with their writing so the reader doesn’t have to” -Zinzell.
Also, publisher’s like levels. Levels are things like ABC, Numbers, humor, educational, colors, bed time book, funny for the parent- stuff like that. Think “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” , it has days of the week, fruit, numbers, education of the life cycle, lots of levels.
Anyway, it took me forever to figure all this stuff out, so if any of the info helps someone out there to get started, then I’m thrilled!