Picture Books

Kidlit Social #69: ‘Radical Solutions’ to Beat Fear, Doubt & Criticism and Thrive Creatively

On this inspirational episode, meet award-winning Middle Grade/YA author and creative writing professor Todd Mitchell. Todd joins us to share insights from his new book Breakthrough: How to Overcome Doubt, Fear, and Resistance to Be Your Ultimate Creative Self.

Todd offers up some amazing, radical, perspective-shifting solutions for how to enhance creativity, deal with doubt, procrastination, and criticism, and make creative endeavors more enjoyable and effective.

Kidlit Social #68: Writing Graphic Novels for Beginning Readers

In this edition, meet authors Lola M. Schaefer and Jill Esbaum. Lola and Jill are both part of Simon & Schuster’s breakthrough Ready to Read Graphics series, which introduces young readers to the graphic novel concept.

This is an important trend, and one you should definitely be aware of. Lola and Jill l also share their thoughts on the Easy Reader market and give some great tips.

Kidlit Social #65: Melissa Stewart on Creating Nonfiction for the Classroom

On this episode of The Kidlit Social, meet Melissa Stewart, author of “5 Kinds of Nonfiction: Enriching Reading and Writing Instruction with Children’s Books”, along with dozens of kidlit nonfiction titles currently in use by school districts as part of their curricula.

Melissa discussed creating nonfiction for kids while keeping educators’ needs in mind – a vital skill as schools and libraries are the biggest market for children’s nonfiction.

Kidlit Social #64: Picture Book Author Nadia Salomon on Getting Published & Promoting Your Work

In this episode, meet Nadia Salomon, author of the wonderful, recently released Goodnight Ganesha (Philomel, 2021, ill. by Poonam Mistry).

Nadia joins us to discuss the steps she took to get her debut picture book published, and what she’s done since the release date to assure its success. Expect lots of great tips you can start applying right now to help aid your own publishing journey!

Kidlit Social #63: Writing Books w/ STEM Tie-Ins & Crafting Realistic Animals

Meet illustrator, explorer and children’s book author Katy Tanis. Katy’s work bursts with color, and a true love for every creature on land, in air and under sea. In this episode of The Social, Katy talks about her writing/illustration process, and gives her advice for aspiring illustrators. She also touches on the necessity for authors and illustrators to do their research and accurately reflect the behaviors of animals in children’s book texts (fiction and nonfiction) and illustrations, as well as the environment.

Katy gives some examples of how to do that research, and why this accuracy is important since so many publishers are looking for books with STEM tie-ins (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math).

Kidlit Social #62: Our First Live Editing Session!

It’s our first ever live editing session! We chose seven works in progress from CBI subscribers (both fiction and nonfiction) and we invited award-winning author and editing wizard Bonnie Johnston (instructor for Manuscript Magic and author of The 30 Day Novel Workbook, The 30 Day Romance Novel Workbook, and The Writer’s Guide to Getting Organized) to edit each submission live and in real time!

This is a tremendous opportunity to really understand the “inner game” of editing, and pick up some valuable tips for editing your own work.

Kidlit Social #59 Replay: Beth Anderson on the Changing Face of Picture Book Biographies

Award-winning author Beth Anderson joins us to discuss the wonderful category of picture book biographies. Laura and Beth talk about the “new” picture book biographies and how the genre has changed, and what types of approaches are most appealing to editors today. If bringing history to life for young readers excites you, you need to meet Beth!

Kidlit Distancing Social #51 Replay: Author/Illustrator Julie Rowan-Zoch on the Dance Between Words & Images in Picture Books

In this episode, we welcome Julie Rowan-Zoch (author/illustrator of I’m a Hare, So There! and illustrator of Louis, written by Tom Lichtenheld) to chat about the interplay between words and images in picture books. We also talk about developing a range of styles as an illustrator, how illustrating her own words compares to illustrating texts written by other authors, and what she’s learned about the market from working at an independent book store.

Kidlit Distancing Social #44 Replay: Picture Book Author Tameka Fryer Brown on Rhythm, Rhyme & Celebrating Community

In this episode, meet picture book writer Tameka Fryer Brown, author of Brown Baby Lullaby (Farrar, Straus & Giroux), named by Parents Latina Magazine as one of the Best Latino Children’s Books of 2020 and one of NPR’s 100 Favorite Books for Young Readers.

Laura and Tameka talk about using rhythm and rhyme to pen stories for picture book readers that celebrate family and community, and how Tameka’s books showcase diversity in a way that is accessible and relatable to any reader.

Kidlit Distancing Social #40 Replay: Jennifer Swanson, Melissa Stewart & Cynthia Levinson on Why Kids Love Nonfiction a *Lot* More Than You Probably Think

Three top children’s nonfiction authors talk about the growing significance of nonfiction and why “the nonfiction books of today are not the textbooks of yesteryear”.