In this episode, we’ll hear from Alvina Ling, vice president and editor-in-chief of Little Brown Books for Young Readers. In this excerpt of Alvina’s Picture Book Summit presentation, she reveals very specific reasons why a manuscript might get acquired or rejected by Little Brown or by any publisher in general. Enjoy this peek behind the publishing curtain.

Find out more about Picture Book Summit at picturebooksummit.com.

Today we are thrilled to bring you Adam Rex. Adam Rex wrote and/or illustrated all the books you like including the New York Times best selling Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich, the New York Times best selling School’s First Day of School, and also a number of titles about which the New York Times has been strangely coy. In this snippet from Adam’s Picture Book Summit presentation, he digs down deep into word choice and rules of humor in creating a funny picture book.

Find out more about this year's Picture Book Summit at picturebooksummit.com.

Adam Rex wrote and/or illustrated all the books you like including the New York Times best selling Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich, the New York Times best selling School’s First Day of School, and also a number of titles about which the New York Times has been strangely coy. In this snippet from Adam’s Picture Book Summit presentation, he digs down deep into word choice and rules of humor in creating a funny picture book.

In today’s episode, we’ll hear an excerpt of Emma Walton Hamilton’s interview with the legendary Jane Yolen at Picture Book Summit. Jane is the award-winning author of over 365 books for children and young adults, including the Caldecott Medal-winning book OWL MOON and the bestselling series HOW DO DINOSAURS SAY GOODNIGHT? In this interview with Jane, she discusses how she manages to be so prolific (she prefers the word “versatile”) and how she finds and develops the unique voice of each of her books.

Find out more about this year's Picture Book Summit at picturebooksummit.com.

The delightful David Shannon joins us in this episode. David Shannon is a bestselling children’s author-illustrator known for perennial classics such as DUCK ON A BIKE, A BAD CASE OF STRIPES, and NO, DAVID! In this segment from David’s Picture Book Summit presentation "It's Done!", he talks about what happens when you’re done with a manuscript, how do you know it’s really done, and what are the reasons to be done. Also, what are some of the challenges you can expect to encounter on the way to getting done? Let’s find out.

Find out more about this year's Picture Book Summit at picturebooksummit.com.

In today’s episode, we’ll hear from Carole Boston Weatherford the award-winning author of numerous books for children including JUNETEENTH JAMBOREE, FREEDOM IN CONGO SQUARE, and YOU CAN FLY! THE TUSKEGEE AIRMAN. In this segment, she talks about premise and point of view and how important they are in picture books.

Find out more about this year's Picture Book Summit at picturebooksummit.com.

RENÉE LATULIPPE

In this episode, we feature children’s author, poet, and founder of the Lyrical Language Lab, Renée LaTulippe. In this segment of Renée’s Picture Book Summit presentation From Drab toFab: Ridding Your Writing of Ho-Hummery, she demonstrates the critical role word choice, or diction, plays in crafting outstanding picture books.

Find out more about Picture Book Summit at www.picturebooksummit.com/podcast.

ANDREA DAVIS PINKNEY

Today’s episode is an excerpt of from New York Times Bestseller and Coretta Scott King award winner Andrea Davis Pinkney's presentation "Nonfiction with a Twist." Andrea is known for picture books such as POEM FOR PETER, MARTIN AND MAHALIA, and biographies of Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald among others. In Andrea’s presentation for Picture Book Summit she shares how she gets her ideas and the unusual role a flip flop played in capturing the voice of her biography of Ella Fitzgerald.

Find out more about Picture Book Summit at www.picturebooksummit.com/podcast.

THE 500 WORD PICTURE BOOK

Picture book texts are getting shorter. In fact, many agents and editors have put a 500-word limit on new picture book manuscripts. But how do you write a story—complete with fully-developed characters, a plot with a beginning, middle and end, and page-turning action— in 500 words? Picture Book Summit Co-Founder Laura Backes gives us advice on how to start writing your picture book so you can stay on track throughout the process and not add too many words to your story.

Find out more about Picture Book Summit at www.picturebooksummit.com/podcast.

TOMIE DEPAOLA

Earlier this year we lost the legendary author-illustrator Tomie DePaola. Tomie wrote over 270 books for children including classic picture books such as STREGA NONA, OLIVER BUTTON IS A SISSY, and NANA UPSTAIRS, NANA DOWNSTAIRS. Today, we celebrate his life by remembering the light and joy he brought us in this Picture Book Summit interview.

Find out more about Picture Book Summit at www.picturebooksummit.com/podcast.