Emma Walton Hamilton – Top 10 Picture Book Summit Moments
Picture Book Summit is 10 years old!
So much has happened in the picture book industry in these past ten years… we’ve said goodbye to some treasured industry colleagues and welcomed many new ones. There has been a long overdue push towards greater diversity in characters, stories, and creators, and a surge in picture books that focus on STEM, STEAM, and SEL. Today’s picture books explore all sorts of fresh ideas and approaches—non-linear narratives and unconventional formats. Topics that were once considered too complex for young readers are now addressed regularly in picture books. And the publishing industry not only survived the challenges of pandemic but proved that picture books play a critical role in young people’s lives and are definitely here to stay.
With all this evolution, one thing has remained constant—the quality of learning at Picture Book Summit. We have been fortunate to have some of the industry’s best and brightest writers, illustrators, editors, and agents deliver memorable and inspiring keynotes and workshops over the past ten years.
In keeping with the theme of our 10th anniversary, here are 10 of my most memorable moments from Picture Book Summits past, and what they taught me…
- Andrea Davis Pinkney’s flip-flop – Andrea swims every morning at the crack of dawn. One day, while doing her laps, the idea for Seven Candles for Kwanzaa came to her—and because she didn’t have her trusty notebook with her poolside, she wrote it on her flip-flop. Never postpone capturing an idea, no matter where you may be!
- Mac Barnett’s page turns – Mac opened our eyes to the power and magic of the page turn. “Page turns are the most important property of picture books,” he said. “Think of a 32-page picture book as, once front matter and back matter are taken into consideration, 13 page turns. And each page turn is a chance to surprise, to change themes, or to amplify the narrative, to have things happen. The space between page turns is a very exciting space. It’s a moment that builds anticipation. Anything can happen between your page turns.”
- Paul O. Zelinsky’s drawing – During Paul O. Zelinsky’s keynote, he drew an illustration for us in real time. He shared his screen and showed us how he chose his brushes, and pencils, and layers… and bit by bit the character emerged before our eyes as he talked us through his process. We were watching a master at work—and he made it look so simple, easy, and elegant.
By Paul O. Zelinksky
- Alvina Ling’s acquisitions process – How often do we get to see what goes on behind the scenes in an publisher’s acquisitions meeting? Alvina Ling walked us through the process a manuscript takes from submissions to acquisition at a major publishing house—all the steps it has to go through, who gets to weigh in, and the specific ingredients that make a publisher say YES.
- Tomie dePaola’s doodle – The legendary Tomie dePaola was brainstorming ideas for a picture book. An editor had suggested he adapt a favorite folk tale, and he came up with “The Porridge Pot Story,” but couldn’t think of how to adapt it… until one day when he was doodling in a faculty meeting. “I was doodling Pulcinella, and Columbina, and all the characters of “Commedia,” and suddenly, on the Pulcinella face, came a little kerchief. And I thought, “Oh, isn’t she cute? And her name is Strega Nona. Instead of the Sorcerer, she’s going to be the strega [after his Italian grandmother.] I’m going to set this porridge tale in Italy, and it’s going to turn into pasta.” And the rest is history.
- Sophie Blackall’s sweet potato – The brilliant Sophie Blackall took us on a tour of her brain… along with her home, her studio, her uniform, her daily routine, and most of all, her collection of inspirations: doll parts, mirrors, souvenirs, stones, old scrapbooks and collages, and photographs of the sea, food, patterns… and we learned that anything, ANYTHING, can be the inspiration for a story—even a leftover sweet potato.
- Betsy Bird’s readaloud – Betsy Bird is a lot of things: esteemed critic, uber-librarian, blogger… but most of all, Betsy is queen of the readaloud. Betsy’s storytime skills have been honed under fire. And this is critical, because as Betsy says, “kids, they’re not going to be polite if they’re bored… you’re not going to have a two-year-old sitting there being like, ‘Wait, give it time, I think this is going somewhere.’ Two-year-olds, when they are bored, will stand up and run away.” Betsy showed us the ingredients of a great read-aloud, both in terms of reading one, and in terms of writing one.
- Rob Sanders’ mind-map – We all know about brainstorming, and we’ve all been told to write what we know. Rob Sanders combined the two by teaching us how to use a mind-map. He led us through a real-time process of mining a topic for connections in order to excavate story gold. I’ll be using this process forever more.
- Kate DiCamillo’s contradictions – Kate DiCamillo is a literary rockstar. And she sat at her kitchen table and told us the intimate and personal story of how and why she became a writer, and how she continues to do the work, “in spite of fears, and doubts, and hopes, in spite of the marketplace, in spite of rejection letters and reviews or the lack of them.” Most of all, she taught us that “writing, much like living a good life, means charting a course through contradictions”… and that “becoming a person and becoming a writer are the same thing.”
- Yuyi Morales’s love – Yuyi Morales makes picture books with her whole heart, and she gave her keynote with her whole heart as well. “Everything that you do,” she said, “put all the love that you have in it. In every word, in every little line that you draw or you paint…just as much as an entire book deserves your love, also every color that you put in there, every word, anything. See what happens if you give all of your love.”
What incredible moments await us at Picture Book Summit 2024? Don’t miss a single one. Join us today!
Picture Book Summit 2024
Perfect 10: Going for Picture Gold!
October 5, 2024
Early Bird Registration ends 9/6/24!
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