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CORRECTION
This morning's Insight contained an error in the Golden Kite Nominees. The Illustrated Book for Older Readers nominee SPROUTING WINGS was co-written by Shari Becker and Louisa Jaggar.
SPROUTING WINGS: The True Story of James Herman Banning, the First African American Pilot to Fly Across the United States, illustrated by Floyd Cooper, written by Louisa Jaggar and Shari Becker, published by Crown Books for Young Readers
| Announcing the Golden Kite Nominees | |
It's time to update your TBR list because on February 14, the SCBWI announced an exciting crop of Golden Kite nominees. You officially have two weeks to place your bets on which books will take home the prize of SCBWI's biggest award of the year.
The Golden Kite Gala will be held virtually on Tuesday, March 15 at 4:00 pm PST / 7:00 pm EST where the winners and honors will all be announced live. The winner will receive $2,500 plus an additional $1,000 to donate to a non-profit organization of their choice. The honor winner will receive $500 plus an additional $250 to donate.
The gala will also feature a keynote speech by the incomparable Jason Reynolds, the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, Newbery Honor winner, Coretta Scott King Honor winner, and New York Times best-selling author of Ghost, Long Way Down, Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks, All American Boys, and Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You.
Here are the nominees in all seven categories:
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PICTURE BOOK TEXT
THE BOY AND THE SEA, written by Camille Andros, illustrated by Amy Bates published by Abrams Books for Young Readers
EVERYBODY IN THE RED BRICK BUILDING, written by Anne Wynter, illustrated by Oge Mora, published by Balzer & Bray/HarperCollins
EYES THAT KISS IN THE CORNERS written by Joanna Ho, illustrated by Dung Ho published by HarperCollins Books for Young Readers
ME + TREE, written by Alexandria Giardino, illustrated by Anna + Elena Balbusso, published by Creative Editions
SOUL FOOD SUNDAY written by Winsome Bingham, illustrated by C.G. Esperanza, published by Abrams Books for Young Readers
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PICTURE BOOK ILLUSTRATION
GLADYS THE MAGIC CHICKEN illustrated by Adam Rex, written by Adam Rubin, published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Reader
KING OF RAGTIME: The Story of Scott Joplin illustrated and written by Stephen Costanza, published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers
OUTSIDE INSIDE illustrated and written by LeUyen Pham, published by Roaring Brook Press
¡VAMOS! LET’S CROSS THE BRIDGE illustrated by Raúl the Third, story by Elaine Bay, published by Versify
WONDER WALKERS illustrated and written by Micha Archer, published by Nancy Paulsen Books
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MIDDLE GRADE FICTION
BETTER WITH BUTTER by Victoria Piontek, published by Scholastic Press
CUBA IN MY POCKET by Adrianna Cuevas, published by Farrar, Strauss, Giroux Books for Young Readers
MIGHTY INSIDE by Sundee T. Frazier, published by Levine Querido
RED, WHITE, AND WHOLE by Rajani LaRocca, published by Quill Tree
STRONG AS FIRE, FIERCE AS FLAME by Supriya Kelkar, published by Tu Books
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YOUNG ADULT
DONUTS AND OTHER PROCLOMATIONS OF LOVE by Jared Reck, published by Knopf Books for Young Readers
LAST NIGHT AT THE TELEGRAPH CLUB by Malinda Lo, published by Dutton Books for Young Readers
THE MARVELOUS MIRZA GIRLS by Sheba Karim, published by Quill Tree Books
PERFECTLY PARVIN by Olivia Abtahi, published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
WHEN YOU LOOK LIKE US by Pamela N. Harris, published by Quill Tree Books
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ILLUSTRATED BOOK FOR OLDER READERS
THE GENIUS UNDER THE TABLE: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain illustrated and written by Eugene Yelchin, published by Candlewick Press
PAWCASSO, illustrated and written by Remy Lai, published by Henry Holt Books for Young Readers
SAMIRA SURFS, illustrated by Fahmida Azim, written by Rukhsanna Guidroz, published by Kokila
THE SEA RINGED WORLD, illustrated by Amanda Mijangos, written by María García Esperón, translated by David Bowles, published by Levine Querido
SPROUTING WINGS: The True Story of James Herman Banning, the First African American Pilot to Fly Across the United States, illustrated by Floyd Cooper, written by Louisa Jaggar and Shari Becker, published by Crown Books for Young Readers
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NONFICTION TEXT FOR YOUNGER READERS
CHILD OF THE FLOWER-SONG PEOPLE: Luz Jiménez, Daughter of the Nahua by Gloria Amescua, illustrated by Duncan Tonatiuh, published by Abrams Books for Young Readers
THE GREAT STINK: How Joseph Bazalgette Solved London’s Poop Pollution Problem by Colleen Paeff, illustrated by Nancy Carpenter
I AM AN AMERICAN: The Wong Kim Ark Story by Martha Brockenbrough with Grace Lin, illustrated by Julia Kuo, published by Little Brown Books for Young Readers
NIGHT BECOMES DAY: Changes in Nature by Cynthia Argentine, published by Millbrook Press
THE PEOPLE’S PAINTER: How Ben Shahn Fought For Justice With Art by Cynthia Levinson illustrated by Evan Turk, published by Abrams Books for Young Readers
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NONFICTION TEXT FOR OLDER READERS
EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT INDIANS BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK: Young Readers Edition by Anton Treuer, published by Levine Querido
A FACE FOR PICASSO: Coming of Age with Crouzon Syndrome by Ariel Henley, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers
FALLOUT: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown by Steve Sheinkin, published by Roaring Brook Press
TOGETHER WE MARCH: 25 Protest Movements That Marched Into History by Leah Henderson, illustrated by Tyler Feder, published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers
WE MUST NOT FORGET: Holocaust Stories of Survival and Resistance by Deborah Hopkinson, published by Scholastic Focus
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How to Mine the Public Domain for Source Material
by Pat Cummings
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After doing my first board book, My Aunt Came Back, my editor encouraged me to find another catchy rhyme to illustrate. Sitting in his office, I thought I’d found perfect material: Great imagery, check. Captivating characters, check. Bouncy rhyme that guaranteed a rollicking read-along, check:
“… in came the doctor, in came the nurse, in came the lady with the alligator purse.”
True, the narrative was thin. But for an audience who sometimes chewed their books, engaging art and the sound of the words was what counted.
That was my pitch.
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Wrestling with Word Counts | |
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Earlier this month, Twitter was ablaze with debate over the book industry (because when is it ever not?), this time in regards to word counts. The discussion began when an agent (in a since-deleted tweet) mentioned their frustration at receiving so many manuscripts shorter than standard length. This led to many authors fearing for the chances of their over-short or over-long manuscripts and sharing instances when they had been rejected on that basis.
So what does this mean if you have a 1,200-word picture book (that’s a little long) or a 50k word young adult novel (that’s on the short side)? When you’ve gotten to the point where you just can’t cut anymore, what if your middle grade is still 5k over standard length? Are you doomed?
The answer is complicated—because, in the publishing industry, there is no one answer.
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Winners announced live at the virtual Golden Kite Gala! | |
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Great Reads. Important Themes.
All-new books by our members.
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The Spark Awards are given annually and recognize excellence in children's books published through an independent or non-traditional publishing route. Two winners and two honor books were chosen from a pool of hundreds of entries.
The winners and honors will each receive free tuition to an upcoming SCBWI conference, the opportunity to feature their book in our conference bookstore, and the chance to teach a digital workshop about their road to publication.
The Spark winners will also receive a $1,000 cash prize:
Picture Book Winner:
Imani's Undersea Adventure by T.M. Jackson
Picture Book Honor:
Read Island, written by Nicole Magistro, Illustrated by Alice Feagan
Book for Older Readers Winner:
Book for Older Readers Winner: Blue by L.E. DeLano
Book for Older Readers Honor:
The Girl in the Triangle by Joyana Peters
Click here to learn more about the Spark Awards.
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Social Media Spotlight: A New Advice Column
by Avery Silverberg
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Welcome back to the Social Media Spotlight! Every month, I answer personalized social media questions submitted by SCBWI members. If you have a pressing social media question, email me at socialmediahelp@scbwi.org for the chance to have your question answered here!
Q: Good morning,
I have been thinking of creating a blog. My question is, where do I go to create the website or have one created for me? How do I get started?
Thanks for any help you can provide.
Valerie
A: Hi Valerie,
Starting a blog is a fantastic way to get involved with the children’s book community; not to mention— unlike Instagram or Twitter— with a blog, you don’t have word-count limits. You have the space and creative freedom to post articles, industry news, job updates, book reviews… the choices are unlimited!
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2022 Winter Conference: Our Favorite Moments | |
Conference artwork by Claudia Ravalli | |
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Nearly 1,800 kidlit creators attended the 2022 SCBWI Winter Conference, a weekend full of creative instruction, inspiration, and industry advice. The weekend event, which lasted from February 11 through February 13, included keynotes by Vanessa Brantley-Newton, Stephanie Garber, Brian Selznick, Kelly Yang, and Paula Yoo, as well as panels from editors, agents, and art directors.
Read in-depth coverage of the conference highlights on the SCBWI Conference Blog.
This year the SCBWI provided conference scholarships to twenty-five promising authors and illustrators. We asked these winners to describe their on-the-ground experience and list some of their favorite moments from the conference.
The incredible Kelly Yang said to depict the world not as it is, but as it could be. This is why I write, to inspire hope.
– Karen Chow, BIPOC Scholarship winner
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Heads Up, Conference Attendees!
Don't forget to take the 2022 Winter Conference Survey--we welcome your feedback!
Attendees of the Winter22 conference received an email from marketing@scbwi.org on February 17. Please check your inbox and spam folder. The survey will be open through March 31.
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Tune into the SCBWI Podcast on Apple Podcasts or scbwi.org. | |
Apply to one of our 34 awards, grants, and scholarships today! | |
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We have great progress to report on SCBWI’s newest publishing project, The Haunted States of America. The anthology, comprised of scary stories from each state in the union and submitted exclusively by SCBWI members, is in active production, after almost a year-long delay. Stories from 35 states have been selected, and the authors have been notified. There are still open submissions for the remaining sixteen states, and we have extended the deadline for submission to March 21. If you live in (or have a strong identification with) one of those sixteen states, please consider sending in your story, as we are actively seeking new material. A reminder that your story should be no more than 500 words, should appeal to middle grade readers, be set in contemporary times, and feature a locale or setting specific to your state. And of course, it should be delightfully scary!
Click here to apply.
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SCBWI Exclusive with... María Camila Correa | |
María Camila Correa is a children’s book editor, author, and translator currently based in New York City. She joined the Random House Books for Young Readers team in 2020, where she worked mostly on beloved brands like Dr. Seuss before making the move to trade picture books. Originally from Medellín, Colombia, Maria aims to publish picture books with universal and lasting appeal and is looking for stories that spark curiosity and wonder. | |
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Draw This! is our monthly prompt word for illustrators. Artists can post their DrawThis! entries on Twitter and Instagram with the tag #SCBWIDrawThis
There is no longer a gallery for DrawThis! View all entries by searching the tag #SCBWIDrawThis.
The February prompt was LOVESTRUCK
The February winners are...
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The March prompt is: BAD LUCK | | |
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Society Of Children's Book Writers And Illustrators | | | | |
