In today’s episode, Katie Davis shares how digging into research makes your writing sparkle — whether your book is nonfiction or fiction. Using picture books Renato and the Lion by Barbara DiLorenzo and Shark Nate-O by Becky Cattie and Tara Luebbe, Katie reveals how research brought surprises to each of these stories.
Caldecott Medalist Matthew Cordell helps us find the magic of picture books as he explores the bridge between text and image by breaking down successful books. Matthew even shares his struggle with finding the bridge in his early work. Join us for this magical ride.
In this episode, Laura Backes and Emma Walton Hamilton team up to give you tips on approaching the first big revision of your first draft. Listen as they dig deep into revision first steps by taking you on a tour of the first act of a fiction picture book and a nonfiction picture book to show what your manuscript needs at the beginning of the story to get started on a firm foundation.
Today’s episode includes snippets from literary agent Brenda Bowen’s appearance at Picture Book Summit. Brenda represents national and international bestselling authors and illustrators including Newbery and Caldecott award winners. She is also a children’s author herself with over 40 books under her belt under the name Margaret MacNamara. In Brenda’s presentation, she spoke with her author hat on about how she finds and develops ideas and how sometimes, necessity can be the mother of invention....
In today’s episode, we’ll hear from Kate McMullan, bestselling author of over 100 books for kids, including the I STINK series. In her presentation, Kate talks about inspiration, where you can find it and how to capture it when it strikes.
Through humor and storytelling, veteran nonfiction author Stephen Swinburne takes us into the heart of narrative nonfiction storytelling with solid tips and tricks for writing STEM and STEAM manuscripts, including what editors are looking for in today’s market.
How can you actually connect with your readers? Get your books into the hands of more kids? It’s a challenge, especially when it seems like thousands of new books are published every day. In this episode, Katie Davis shares how she's used her platform and marketing strategies to sell almost one million copies of her traditionally published books and launch two books at #1 on Amazon. She’ll reveal how you can follow the same steps and get your books into the hands of more readers!
How do you tell a story about a specific cultural paradigm and make it universally accessible? Award-winning author Rukhsana Khan shows us how to do just that as she walks us through her Golden Kite award-winning book BIG RED LOLLIPOP. Don't miss the behind-the-scenes stories and intentions of this beloved picture book.
Mac Barnett shares how the layout and format of a picture book informs how the reader will engage with the story on different levels. Even the trim size of a book changes the way it’s read. Mac Barnett's Picture Book Manifesto: http://thepicturebook.co/
In Laura Backes’ Picture Book Summit workshop Purpose Without Preaching, she gave some tips for infusing your manuscript with a message without preaching to the reader or sounding didactic. In this episode, we share some highlights from her talk.
Today’s episode features LeUyen Pham, an author and/or illustrator of over 100 books for children including THE BOY WHO LOVED MATH, VAMPIRINA BALLERINA, A PIECE OF CAKE, and the Caldecott Honor Book BEAR CAME ALONG. In this excerpt from her Picture Book Summit presentation, she shares some of the behind-the-scenes creation of BEAR CAME ALONG as part of a broader conversation on why authors should trust their illustrator and keep art notes to a minimum.
Today we bring you beloved author-illustrator Paul O. Zelinsky. Paul received the Caldecott Medal for his illustrated retelling of RAPUNZEL, as well as Caldecott Honors for three of his books: HANSEL AND GRETEL, RUMPELSTILTSKIN, and SWAMP ANGEL. He also known for crowd-pleasing favorites such as THE WHEELS ON THE BUS and Z IS FOR MOOSE. In this portion of his presentation from Picture Book Summit, Paul talks about what people (including editors) are looking for in a picture book, what makes a pi...
In this episode, we’ll hear from Alvina Ling, vice president and editor-in-chief of Little Brown Books for Young Readers. In this excerpt of Alvina’s Picture Book Summit presentation, she reveals very specific reasons why a manuscript might get acquired or rejected by Little Brown or by any publisher in general. Enjoy this peek behind the publishing curtain. Find out more about Picture Book Summit at picturebooksummit.com .
Today we are thrilled to bring you Adam Rex. Adam Rex wrote and/or illustrated all the books you like including the New York Times best selling Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich , the New York Times best selling School’s First Day of School , and also a number of titles about which the New York Times has been strangely coy. In this snippet from Adam’s Picture Book Summit presentation, he digs down deep into word choice and rules of humor in creating a funny picture book. Find out more about this yea...
In today’s episode, we’ll hear an excerpt of Emma Walton Hamilton’s interview with the legendary Jane Yolen at Picture Book Summit. Jane is the award-winning author of over 365 books for children and young adults, including the Caldecott Medal-winning book OWL MOON and the bestselling series HOW DO DINOSAURS SAY GOODNIGHT? In this interview with Jane, she discusses how she manages to be so prolific (she prefers the word “versatile”) and how she finds and develops the unique voice of each of her ...
The delightful David Shannon joins us in this episode. David Shannon is a bestselling children’s author-illustrator known for perennial classics such as DUCK ON A BIKE, A BAD CASE OF STRIPES, and NO, DAVID! In this segment from David’s Picture Book Summit presentation "It's Done!", he talks about what happens when you’re done with a manuscript, how do you know it’s really done, and what are the reasons to be done. Also, what are some of the challenges you can expect to encounter on the way to ge...
In today’s episode, we’ll hear from Carole Boston Weatherford the award-winning author of numerous books for children including JUNETEENTH JAMBOREE, FREEDOM IN CONGO SQUARE, and YOU CAN FLY! THE TUSKEGEE AIRMAN. In this segment, she talks about premise and point of view and how important they are in picture books. Find out more about this year's Picture Book Summit at picturebooksummit.com .
RENÉE LATULIPPE In this episode, we feature children’s author, poet, and founder of the Lyrical Language Lab, Renée LaTulippe. In this segment of Renée’s Picture Book Summit presentation From Drab toFab: Ridding Your Writing of Ho-Hummery , she demonstrates the critical role word choice, or diction, plays in crafting outstanding picture books. Find out more about Picture Book Summit at www.picturebooksummit.com/podcast ....
ANDREA DAVIS PINKNEY Today’s episode is an excerpt of from New York Times Bestseller and Coretta Scott King award winner Andrea Davis Pinkney's presentation "Nonfiction with a Twist." Andrea is known for picture books such as POEM FOR PETER, MARTIN AND MAHALIA, and biographies of Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald among others. In Andrea’s presentation for Picture Book Summit she shares how she gets her ideas and the unusual role a flip flop played in capturing the voice of her biography of Ella...
THE 500 WORD PICTURE BOOK Picture book texts are getting shorter. In fact, many agents and editors have put a 500-word limit on new picture book manuscripts. But how do you write a story—complete with fully-developed characters, a plot with a beginning, middle and end, and page-turning action— in 500 words? Picture Book Summit Co-Founder Laura Backes gives us advice on how to start writing your picture book so you can stay on track throughout the process and not add too many words to your story....
TOMIE DEPAOLA Earlier this year we lost the legendary author-illustrator Tomie DePaola. Tomie wrote over 270 books for children including classic picture books such as STREGA NONA, OLIVER BUTTON IS A SISSY, and NANA UPSTAIRS, NANA DOWNSTAIRS. Today, we celebrate his life by remembering the light and joy he brought us in this Picture Book Summit interview. Find out more about Picture Book Summit at www.picturebooksummit.com/podcast ....
PETER BROWN Welcome to the Picture Book Summit Podcast where we share insight on the craft of writing, illustrating, and publishing picture books from the industry’s best and brightest. Each episode is an excerpt from a keynote or presentation given at Picture Book Summit, the annual world-class online conference for picture book writers and illustrators around the globe that takes place every October. In this episode, we share a snippet of our Picture Book Summit interview with Caldecott Medal-...
