Betsy Bird Workshop

Performance on the Page: Constructing the Perfect Picture Book Read-Aloud

Let’s dig in to the first workshop coming to Picture Book Summit Special Edition: Finding Your Voice on October 3, 2020. We would be remiss if we hosted a picture book conference about voice and didn’t talk about people actually using their voices to read our stories to kids. That’s a key component of picture books, right? So we asked picture book curator and read-aloud expert Betsy Bird to join us!

Betsy is bringing us Performance on the Page: Constructing the Perfect Picture Book Read-Aloud!

Join author and librarian Betsy Bird for an in-depth examination of what separates the good picture book read-alouds from the great picture book read-alouds. Librarians have always known that picture books can often break down into two groups: one-on-one titles and read-aloud titles. One-on-ones are great for getting snuggly at bedtime, but if you want to engage a large crowd of kids, you need a text that pops in an entirely different way. Betsy breaks down some of the most successful read-alouds, from classics to lesser known titles to brand new 2020 books.

More about Betsy

In case you haven’t had the pleasure of running into Betsy in the kidlit corner of cyberspace on her Fuse 8 blog or on her podcast, here are some things you should know:

Betsy Bird is the Collection Development Manager of Evanston Public Library and the former Youth Materials Specialist of New York Public Library. Her children’s literature blog A Fuse #8 Production  is hosted by School Library Journal. She reviews regularly for Kirkus and occasionally for The New York Times. Betsy is the author of two picture books (Giant Dance Party and The Great Santa Stakeout). She co-authored of the very adult Wild Things: Acts of Mischief in Children’s Literature. And, if you’re looking for hilarious female writers, don’t miss the middle grade anthology Funny Girl edited by Betsy.

Betsy hosts two stellar podcasts. Story Seeds Podcast is where kids are paired with authors to create stories together. On Fuse 8 n’ Kate, Betsy and her sister debate which picture books deserve to be classics. Betsy’s next project is a middle grade novel with David Small called Long Road to the Circus, on shelves Fall 2021.

Learn More

This year, Betsy joins our Superstar Speakers Sophie Blackall, Lesa Cline-Ransome, and Peter Reynolds at Picture Book Summit Special Edition: Finding Your Voice.

Join us for the LIVE online conference October 3, 2020. For a limited time, you can register at the Early Bird price of $147. (That’s $100 off this year’s regular price!)

Click this button to see the full program and register today!

This Early Bird offer is only available through August 12, 2020.  Don’t delay. Register today!

We can’t wait to see you there!