New Podcast Welcomes Readers to Julie Andrews's Library

Julie Andrews lets us into her picture book library.

How do we explain the coronavirus to kids?

Publishers Weekly has a few ideas on how to talk to kids about the virus through a picture book.

There's still time to get in on this amazing webinar on REVISING YOUR PICTURE BOOK
with Harold Underdown. Starts February 15, 2017.

http://www.kidsbookrevisions.com/PB-revision-webinar.htm?platform=hootsuite

What's your Word for 2017?

Ok, picture book lovers the world around, what's your word of possibility this year for yourself? Mine is IMAGINE. As in, IMAGINE A WORLD OF POSSIBILITIES...I'd love to hear your word too. Come on over to @AllChildBooks or https://www.facebook.com/thepicturebookplayground/

or post a pic of your best self on Pinterest on my

2017 THE YEAR OF IMAGINE Board

Is 2017 the year you get your picture book published? Still time to join  this awesome class!!

http://www.childrensbookacademy.com/writing-childrens-picture-books.html 

Picture Book Playground Featured on: Lauri's Stories: Princess Peabody and the Stinky Cheese Comes to Li...

Come on over and see my illustration on Lauri Meyers' blog! Lauri's Stories: Princess Peabody and the Stinky Cheese Comes to Li...: I love, love, love Susanna Hill's contests. But what do I love more than her writing contests? Her illustration contests...

Susanna Hill's Illustration Contest: Yes, you are an illustrator!

When I saw that picture book writer extraordinaire Susanna Hill was running a picture book illustration contest based on slightly off the wall fairy tales from her March Madness contest, I was intrigued. I had been following along with her blog as writers submitted their wacky version of such fairy tales as The Princess & The Pea, Goldilocks, etc. When the call came to illustrate the winning stories, I jumped at the chance. http://susannahill.blogspot.com/

Here you see my illustration for The Princess & The Stinky Cheese, by Lauri Meyers. 

At first, I was not going to submit it because I always second guess my illustrations. Are they good enough? Will I be laughed out of the picture book community? I didn't go to art school and I bet everyone else did. If you know what I am talking about, then I am here to tell you, I AM AN ARTIST + YOU ARE AN ARTIST TOO! If you love to make art, you are an artist. So go ahead and show it off to the world. Who cares if no one likes it? It's a part of you being expressed in the world. And chances are, some kid in some library somewhere who comes across the very illustration you doubted was good enough will be delighted with joy! Don't rob the world of the chance to see your work. Get it out there.

If you write for children, you'll love this manifesto...Print it out. Live it proud!!

10 Declarations for the 21st Century Children’s Author (via http://writeforkids.org)

It’s time for a fresh start.  It’s time to put our priorities in order.   For the moment, forget apps and ebooks.  Forget query letters and page counts.   Let’s focus on the one thing that will make or break your career writing for children…

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