Stacy Innerst wins the 2017 Golden Kite Award for Picture Book Illustration

Winner of the 2017 SCBWI Golden Kite Award for Picture Book Illustration: 

The Music in George's Head, illustrated by Stacy Innerst

The Music in George's Head, illustrated by Stacy Innerst (written by Suzanne Slade, published by Calkins Creek), was honored at the 2017 SCBWI Golden Kite Ceremony for Excellence in Picture Book Illustration. Stacy's dream-like paintings accompany the story of how George Gershwin composed his masterpiece Rhapsody in Blue.

In his acceptance speech, Stacy credited his achievement to the harmony of his collaborative partners:  George Gershwin's music and author Suzanne Slade's manuscript which "illustrated itself, and read like a piece of music."

"My mother used to play the piano. My twin brother and I used to sit on either side of her while she played the music of Gershwin. I still remember the music resonating through the wood of the piano. Suzanne's manuscript brought me right back to that place."

Stacy's artwork for The Music in George's Head also reads like a piece of music (or maybe like a beautiful, unforgettable melody stuck in your head). As Sarah Baker (Director of Illustration and Artist Programs at SCBWI) stated in her introduction, his visual interpretation -- rendered in indigo and sepia-toned illustrations -- invites readers to feel the liveliness of Gershwin's music, and the sights and sounds of New York in the 1920's that inspired his work.

Stacy Innerst’s picture books have earned numerous honors including the BCCB Blue Ribbon, two Parents’ Choice Gold Medals, and a Smithsonian Notable Book Citation. His illustrations for The Music in George's Head: George Gershwin Creates Rhapsody in Blue, written by Suzanne Slade (Boyds Mills), received the 2017 Golden Kite Award for Picture Book Illustration. Visit www.stacyinnerst.com.

MELISSA SWEET ACCEPTS THE GOLDEN KITE FOR ILLUSTRATION!!!

Our lovely and fantastic Melissa Sweet, author and illustrator of many award-winning picture books, is here accepting the Golden Kite for her illustrations of Peter Mark Roget's life and world in The Right Word: Roget and his Thesaurus.

The research for this book began not far from here in Santa Barbara, where Melissa got to see one of Roget's original word books in a private collection. Melissa has illustrated word-centric biographies before, but unlike being able to pull from the imagery evoked in the words of William Carlos Williams, Melissa had to figure out how to visualize Roget's lists of words. 

For the better part of two weeks, Melissa handlettered Roget's original word list in sepia and had a jolly old time doing it. 

Melissa got to handle original Roget pages
like these—without gloves!

Melissa thanks her publisher Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, her author Jen Bryant, and the SCBWI/Golden Kite committee.

"My hope with this book is that readers will be delighted and informed, but most importantly, always find the right word when they need it."

The Golden Kite Luncheon Gets Underway!

Stage... set

Tables... filled

Forks... poised.

David Meissner: Golden Kite Award for Non-Fiction

David Meissner accepts the Golden Kite for non-fiction for Call of the Klondike!

He tells us a couple of hilarious adventure stories, first his five-day hike up the steep, 33-mile trail retracing the trek of so many hopeful goldrushers.

But after the trail hike, David's return to the towns of the Yukon coincided with him being nearly broke. At the time he had nothing but a debit card, so he did what anyone in a financial pinch would do: solicit some campers for gas money, sleep-and-nearly-dine-and-dash at a bed and breakfast, and finally, nearly gamble away his few remaining Canadian dollars at Diamond Tooth Gertie's Dancing and Gambling Hall. It all worked out in the end, David was never thrown into an Alaskan debtor's prison, and we are glad because he is here today to leave us with these four rules:

• Don't ever give depressing acceptance speeches.

• Don't confuse your success as a writer with your self worth.

• Writing is like a garden hose, if you put too much pressure on it, nothing will come out.

• Never leave your own country without a credit card.

David before he was not eaten by a grizzly bear

Peter Brown: Golden Kite Award for Picture Book Illustration

Peter Brown has won for Mr. Tiger Goes Wild! And we have all, indeed, gone wild for Peter's incredible illustrations:

Peter thanks Lin for all of the drink tickets she gave him last night. Which explains a lot.

He went to school for animation not too far from where we are having the conference. Peter found halfway through school that he hated animating and couldn't figure out why, until he tried taking a children's book illustration class and realized that was what he loved because it allowed to tell his own stories. Shortly after this epiphany he found SCBWI. Peter's been a member for 15 years and loves the community of the group and the incredible bank of knowledge he's garnered from the membership resources and conference going.

Way to go, Peter!

Peter will be speaking at tomorrow's always fabulous Illustrator Intensive.

A recent photo of Peter, be sure to say hi to him!

Sophie's Squash by Pat Zietlow Miller Winner of the Golden Kite for Picture Book Text

This year's Golden Kite winner for picture book text has been awarded to Pat Zietlow Miller's wonderful Sophie's Squash. 

"Wow," Pat says when she takes the podium. "And I'll say it again backwards. Wow."

Pat has always wanted to write books. She wrote her first draft when she was 19 years old. After being rejected she went on with her life, working and having a family, but she always thought she'd still write a picture book.

Twenty years later, Pat realized that no one was going to cold-call her from New York and say, "Hey, Pat. We want you to write a picture book."

So she began to study picture books and write. A lot.

The spark that lead to Sophie's Squash was a trip to the store with her daughter. Many items had been thrown into the cart but when Pat went to check out she couldn't find the butternut squash. Her daughter was cradling it like a baby and then took it home and drew a face on it. Needless to say, they didn't eat the squash. 

It took Pat many drafts and revisions to get that anecdote right for the story. The manuscript received many rejections, but Pat says, "One yes is all you need." Sophie's Squash received 4 starred reviews began winning awards. 

"Sometimes the goals we want to most are the hardest to pursue. Because what if we fail?" Pat encourages the room to go for those goals and dreams because you don't know where they'll take you. You might find yourself accepting a Golden Kite Award. 

Golden Kite for Nonfiction: Jeri Chase Ferris

This year's Golden Kite winner for nonfiction goes to Jeri Chase Ferris for NOAH WEBSTER & HIS WORDS.

Jeri has written 12 biographies, this is her first picture book biography.

Jeri defines the word "appreciation" for the crowd before giving her generously offered thank yous.

Originally her manuscript listed her word count on the first page, which was over 2000. When she received it back from her editor, that number was crossed out and next to it read, "Not any more."

Noah was a master of self-promotion. He travelled all across the 13 states, speaking, and giving free copies of his book to librarians and teachers. One only knows what he could have done with Facebook and Twitter.

Everyone knows the one book he wrote that took 20 years (it reminds me of my current work) but he was also a major reason the States stayed united. Language was the tie.

The 2013 SCBWI Golden Kite Luncheon Begins!

The ballroom is transformed...

Nom, nom...

or should it be

chomp, chomp!

or

Slurp

or

Smack!

or

Crunch!

or

munch...

or

glug

or...

???


Tweet at #la13scbwi or comment below with YOUR favorite onomonopia for eating!

A Sid Fleischman Award for Chris Rylander

"If the land of children's literature were a treasure island, Sid Fleischman would have been a treasure chest of gems all by himself," said Cheryl Zach, as she introduced the winner of the award named for the late Newbery Award-winning author.

The 2012 award went to Chris Rylander, the author of THE FOURTH STALL, a Godfather-esque tale for the middle school set. Think more toilets and fewer horse heads.

"The irony of this award is that everything I've ever written is intended to be serious," Chris said. "I never expected to be on stage accepting any award."

Chris thanked the many people who supported him, starting with his parents, who traveled from North Dakota and raised him "with books in my hands ... so that I learned to love to read on my own at a young age."

He thanked his agent Steve Malk, whom he queried in 2006 for an adult book--which Steve does not represent. (He read his query letter to Steve Malk, which included fake endorsements from Steven King, Dr. Seuss and other real authors.)

He thanked his editor Jordan Brown, who helped him transform the book and find its heart, despite the fact that he is a Yankees fan. And he thanked his team at WaldenBooks, and his wife Amanda "for giving me the best feedback I ever got about The Fourth Stall.

"It's really funny. It's really wonderful. But you made one major, major mistake."

"What's that?" he asked.

"Chris, you can't put the F-word in a middle grade book. Especially not 37 times."

"Turns out she was right."

SCBWI Member of the Year

Each year SCBWI honors a member who gives of their time and heart to this wonderful organization and community in extraordinary ways. This year's SCBWI Member of the Year is:

Suzanne Morgan Williams

Congratulations, Suzy! This is a most deserved honor.

The Golden Kite Lunch: An Exercise in Perspective

far away

close up

The Golden Kite Luncheon Starts Out With SCBWI Staff Introductions and Applause!

Lin introduces the SCBWI staff, to the appreciation of the crowd.  (Here's a close up photo from the scbwi website.)

From right to left:  Brandon Clarke, Gee Cee Addison, Kim Turissi, Sarah Baker (holding the newest staff member, baby Anarres - Lin's first grandchild), Chelsea Mooser (who in a profile moment showed us how she's working on Steve's first grandchild) , Sara Rutenberg, Sam Watson, Kayla Heinen and Sally Crock.

And just to show everyone how the SCBWI community is a family, they're sharing the beautiful quilts organized by the Regional Advisors for the babies - with art by an incredible roster of world-class illustrators!

The Golden Kite Luncheon at the 2010 SCBWI Summer Conference Begins!

So I thought to myself, how can I capture the glory of more than 1,100 people who are passionate about children's literature eating lunch in rapt anticipation of the awards presentation?

I took a photo.



But it seemed too anonymous. I needed a close-up.

Lisa Yee's friend Peepy, sitting with Lisa and Arthur A. Levine, was kind enough to oblige.



She said the salad is delicious.

More live blogging from the Golden Kite Awards Luncheon to come...

Richard Peck's special Keynote at the Golden Kite Luncheon

Richard is unbelievably quotable!

You have to read 1,000 books before you write one.

On the benefits of being a writer rather than a teacher:

We can't be fired. We're unemployed.

He's reading some letters from his readers... some of them are really funny, and heartfelt!

On his own reading:

Charlotte's Web was published the year I graduated from High School, so I was
too old for it then. But not now.

And with a final flourish, the room stood on their feet. 1,000 people, cheering for all that wisdom!

Posted by Lee Wind

Golden Kite Awards: Steve Watkins

Steve won the Golden Kite Award for Excellence in Fiction for his novel, "Down Sand Mountain."



He's speaking about the moment when, as a child, he discovered that books weren't just THERE, but that they were written by people...

and that very day, he went home to write his very first book, "The Glisening Sword."

He's telling us the plot... The room is laughing! Applause for the suprise ending!

His parents made copies and distributed it to their family and friends as a Christmas present that year!


40 years later, his second attempt to write for young readers, he had better editors (that would catch things like the missing silent "t" in "Glistening!")

"I'm just so blessed to be a member of this community."

Posted by Lee Wind

Golden Kite Awards: Hyewon Yum

Hyewon Yum won the Golden Kite Award for illustration for Last Night, (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

Winning for picture book illustration, Hyewon Yum spoke of how she wasn't someone who ever lifted her hand to speak in class.

And now she's before almost 1,000 people!

And she gave a very gracious thank you.


Posted by Lee Wind

Golden Kite Awards: A Life In The Wild

Pamela Turner received the Golden Kite Award for Nonfiction for A Life in the Wild: George Schaller's Struggle to Save the Last Great Beasts, by Pamela S. Turner, received the Golden Kite Award for Nonfiction.

Pamela thanked George Schaller, the scientist who allowed her to profile him in her book. He was a scientist who first observed gorillas in the wild. He's now 75 years old and an active scientist and conservationists.

Pamela is donating the prize money and the profits from her book to conservation projects. How wonderful! Go great beasts!

POSTED BY ALICE POPE

Golden Kite Luncheon Awards: Bonny Becker

Bonny Becker received the Golden Kite Award for Picture Book Text for A Visitor for Bear.

Ultimately, Bonny says, we want to show to our kids that despite its woes, the world is a wonderful place. She also wants to show through her books that she likes people (and this comes across in her character Mouse and Bear).

When she writes from a place she loves, she says, the writing is easy.

Work, discipline, training and luck are important.

She quoted E.B. White: I wake up every morning and torn by the desire to improve the world and the desire to enjoy the world. That makes it hard to plan my day. Bonny says she's decided to plan her days writing what she enjoys and urges the audience to do the same.

POSTED BY ALICE POPE

Golden Kite Luncheon

The conference goers have just finished the "rubber chicken" and the festivities of the Golden Kite Luncheon are now beginning.

Portfolio competition winners will be posted shortly. Stay tuned.

Everyone's Getting Ready for the Golden Kite Luncheon!!!

Posted by Lee Wind