Laura Backes - Picture Book Summit Podcast
May 18, 2021 In Podcast

Podcast – Creating Memorable Characters

Laura Backes - Picture Book Summit Podcast

In this episode, Picture Book Summit Co-Founder Laura Backes gives us insight into creating memorable characters for picture books by discussing the cognitive development of kids in the picture book audience. You’ll look at your main characters and how you develop them in a whole new way after this mind-opening episode.

Laura Backes publishes Children’s Book Insider, The Children’s Writing Monthly. Laura and her husband Jon Bard co-own WritingBlueprints.com. She has edited and critiqued thousands of picture book manuscripts. Her credits include Best Books for Kids Who (Think They) Hate to Read (Random House) and articles for Writer’s Digest, The Writer and Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market. She was also the technical editor of Writing Children’s Books for Dummies. Recently, you may have seen Laura on her weekly Kidlit Distancing Socials.

Check out this whole new perspective on creating memorable characters in ways kids can naturally understand.

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PBS 2021 BIPOC Scholarship
April 30, 2021 In Scholarship

BIPOC Scholarship 2021

Great news for you today! Announcing the Picture Book Summit BIPOC Scholarship!

Picture Book Summit is offering 5 scholarships to unagented BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) children’s authors and illustrators to this year’s Summit. Our 2021 Summit will be held on October 2, 2021. Don’t worry if you can’t attend live. The entire conference will be recorded, and scholarships include access to the replays through the end of January, 2022.

PBS 2021 BIPOC Scholarship

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Katie Davis - procrastination and your first 1000 readers
April 27, 2021 In Podcast

Podcast – Digging for Diamonds

Katie Davis - your first 1000 readers

In this fun episode, Picture Book Summit co-founder Katie Davis show us how to dig into research and make our writing sparkle! Did you know research is a integral component in writing fiction and nonfiction? Katie uses two fiction picture books, Renato and the Lion by Barbara DiLorenzo and Shark Nate-O by Becky Cattie and Tara Luebbe, to illustrate how research in fiction can bring a whole new layer to your manuscripts—and maybe a few surprises!

Katie Davis is the author/illustrator of over a dozen traditionally published books for children (picture books, middle grade, and young adult novels). She edited and self-published How to Write a Children’s Book and How to Promote Your Children’s Book, both debuting  at #1 on Amazon.

Katie is a co-founder of Picture Book Summit and is the former director of the Institute of Children’s Literature and its sister school, the Institute for Writers, where, as of this writing, over 470,027 people have taken college-level writing courses and learned to write for both children and adults.

In this episode, Katie uncovers the diamonds in picture book research.

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Matthew-Cordell
April 13, 2021 In Podcast

Podcast – Matthew Cordell

Matthew-Cordell

In The Bridge Between Pictures and Story, Caldecott Medalist Matthew Cordell helps us find the magic of picture books as he explores the bridge between text and image .

Matthew Cordell has illustrated many books for children including works of poetry, novels, and picture books including The Only Fish in the Sea by Philip Stead and the Justin Case series by Rachel Vail. He has written and illustrated several picture books himself including King Alice, Hello! Hello!, Wish, Dream, Explorers, and Hello, Neighbor. Matthew’s books have been recognized as Best of the Year selections by the New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Boston Globe, and his first wordless picture book, Wolf in the Snow, was awarded a 2017 Boston Globe-Horn Book honor award and the 2018 Caldecott Medal.

Listen in as Matthew Cordell breaks down a few of his favorite award-winning picture books to find that special connection between words and images. Matthew even shares his struggle with finding the bridge in his early work. Join us for this magical ride.

 

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blog_featured_image_We-are-Water-Protectors
April 1, 2021 In Caldecott

We Are Water Protectors

Today is the day we celebrate this year’s Caldecott Medal Winner WE ARE WATER PROTECTORS. This is the fifth and final video in our 2021 Caldecott Medal and Honor breakdown series. If you missed the first four installments in the series, catch up here:

Pull up a chair for today’s analysis of 2021 Caldecott Medal Winner WE ARE WATER PROTECTORS illustrated by Michaela Goade and written Carole Lindstrom.

We are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom and Michaela GoadeHere’s a brief description of this poignant book:

Inspired by the many Indigenous-led movements across North America, We Are Water Protectors issues an urgent rallying cry to safeguard the Earth’s water from harm and corruption―a bold and lyrical picture book written by Carole Lindstrom and vibrantly illustrated by Michaela Goade.

“Water is the first medicine.
It affects and connects us all . . .”

When a black snake threatens to destroy the Earth
And poison her people’s water, one young water protector
Takes a stand to defend Earth’s most sacred resource.

As well as receiving the Caldecott Medal, WE ARE WATER PROTETORS was also awarded the Golden Kite Award for Picture Book Text. Talk about the perfect marriage of text and illustration! In this video, Julie Hedlund reveals what makes this book so stunning and why it deserves all the award praise it’s received this year.

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Emma Walton Hamilton and Laura Backes - Revision First Steps
March 30, 2021 In Podcast

Podcast – Revision First Steps

Emma Walton Hamilton and Laura Backes - Revision First Steps

In Revision First Steps, Laura Backes and Emma Walton Hamilton team up to give you tips on approaching the first big revision of your first draft.

Emma Walton Hamilton is a best-selling children’s book author, editor and writing coach.  With her mother, actress/author Julie Andrews, Emma has co-authored over thirty children’s books, eight of which have been on the NY Times Bestseller list, including The Very Fairy Princess series. She is Director of the Children’s Lit Fellows program at Stony Brook University and co-host of the Julie’s Library Podcast.

Laura Backes is the publisher of Children’s Book Insider, The Children’s Writing Monthly, and co-owner of WritingBlueprints.com (along with husband Jon Bard). Laura has edited and critiqued thousands of picture book manuscripts. Her credits include Best Books for Kids Who (Think They) Hate to Read (Random House); articles for Writer’s Digest, The Writer and Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market; and technical editor of Writing Children’s Books for Dummies.

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.

 

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blog Me and Mama by Cozbi Cabrera
March 25, 2021 In Caldecott

Me and Mama

It’s time for the fourth video in our 2021 Caldecott Medal and Honor breakdown series with ME AND MAMA. If you missed the first three videos in the series, catch up here:

Now, it’s time to cozy up with today’s analysis of 2021 Caldecott Honor Book ME AND MAMA written and illustrated by Cozbi A. Cabrera.

Here’s a brief description of this sweet, heartwarming book:

Mama’s love is brighter than the sun, even on the rainiest of days. This celebration of a mother-daughter relationship is perfect for sharing with little ones.

“On a rainy day when the house smells like cinnamon and Papa and Luca are still asleep, when the clouds are wearing shadows and the wind paints the window with beads of water, I want to be everywhere Mama is.”

With lyrical prose and a tender touch, the Caldecott and Coretta Scott King Honor Book Mama and Me is an ode to the strength of the bond between a mother and a daughter as they spend a rainy day together.

In today’s video, Katie Davis shares how these delightful illustrations add even more joy to this sweet girl’s adventures with her mom. If you’ve ever found the extraordinary in an ordinary day with a little one in your life, get ready to treasure this picture book.

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blog A Place Inside of Me by Zetta Elliot and Noa Denmon
March 18, 2021 In Caldecott

A Place Inside of Me

It’s time for the third video breakdown of the 2021 Caldecott Medal and Honor books with A PLACE INSIDE OF ME. If you missed our first two videos, catch up here:

Now, on to today’s analysis of 2021 Caldecott Honor Book A PLACE INSIDE OF ME: A POEM TO HEAL THE HEART illustrated by Noa Denmon and written by Zetta Elliot.

A Place Inside of Me by Zetta Elliot and Noa DenmonHere’s a brief description of this one-of-a-kind book:

In this powerful, affirming poem by award-winning author Zetta Elliott, a Black child explores his shifting emotions throughout the year.

There is a place inside of me
a space deep down inside of me
where all my feelings hide.

Summertime is filled with joy–skateboarding and playing basketball—until his community is deeply wounded by a police shooting. As fall turns to winter and then spring, fear grows into anger, then pride and peace. In her stunning debut, illustrator Noa Denmon articulates the depth and nuances of a child’s experiences following a police shooting–through grief and protests, healing and community–with washes of color as vibrant as his words. Here is a groundbreaking narrative that can help all readers–children and adults alike–talk about the feelings hiding deep inside each of us.

In today’s video, Laura Backes shares the many layers at play in this book that explores and processes all the emotions of the heart. You’ll see the perfect marriage of text and illustration in this award-winning book.

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Brenda Bowen - Picture Book Summit Podcast
March 17, 2021 In Podcast

Podcast – Brenda Bowen

In today’s episode, we feature literary agent Brenda Bowen and snippets from her appearance at Picture Book Summit.

As an agent at Greenberger Associates, Brenda represents authors and illustrators who are national and international bestsellers, as well as winners of Newbery and Caldecott awards. Before becoming a literary agent in the summer of 2009, Brenda held a variety of positions during her 25-plus years in children’s publishing. She has been editorial director of Henry Holt & Books for Young Readers, Scholastic Press, Disney/Hyperion, and Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing.

In Brenda Bowen’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. She also touches on the key components that agents look for in a successful query letter.

Don’t miss getting the inside scoop from this successful author and literary agent.

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