I am committed to being open with my readers so let me just say that I picked up a copy of Miss Maple’s Seeds in 2012 solely because of the title! I was so glad I did. It is a … Continue reading →

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Miranda Paul moderates the "Diversity in Children's Books: Challenges and Solutions" panel, (from left to right) Nicola Yoon, Varian Johnson, Brandy Colbert and Joe Cepeda.

(I.W. Gregorio was unable to attend.)

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Another great in-depth interview between SCBWI Team Blog's Don Tate and awesome illustrator Joe Cepeda for you at Don's blog here.

They talk about philosophy, diversity, portfolios, so much more. Joe also shares about his breakout workshop at the conference, "Style Versus Voice: An Illustrator’s View."

The 2015 SCBWI Summer Conference is fast approaching! We hope you'll join us.

Registration and details here.

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

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• http://www.piescansados.blogspot.com
• http://www.wix.com/assunta_tj/assunta

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This week I interviewed an amazing illustrator, Joe Cepeda.  You will find my questions and Joe’s answers amongst the illustrations.  I think you will find it interesting and helpful.  Joe received his BFA in Illustration from California State University, Long Beach in 1992 and also studied Engineering at Cornell University.  He is the illustrator of award-winning picture books such as What a Truly Cool World (Scholastic), Nappy Hair (Knopf), Mice and Beans (Scholastic) including The Swing (Arthur A. Levine Books), which he wrote as well as illustrated.  Mr. Cepeda has illustrated books written by numerous notable authors including Gary Soto, Pam Muñoz Ryan, Arnold Adoff, Monica Brown, Julius Lester and most recently, Toni Morrison.  He has also illustrated book jackets for many titles, including Esperanza Rising.

He was selected to illustrate the cover of Shaquille O’Neal and Reading is Fundamental’s Biggest Book in the World.  Mr. Cepeda received an ALA 2002 Pura Belpre’ Honor Award and the Recognition of Merit Award for 2000 from the George G. Stone Center for Children’s Books.  His work has been accepted to the Society of Illustrators shows in New York and Los Angeles. In addition to his illustrative work, Mr. Cepeda is sought after as a public speaker to schools and other groups. He is the current president of the Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles.  He lives in Southern California with his wife and son.

I asked Joe if he had a studio in his house or if he messed up the family kitchen.  Joes said, “For the last twelve years I’ve kept a studio about two miles away from home.  The picture is below.  Joe  went to Home Depot and bought a cheap door ($28).  He placed it over an existing easel.  It makes a great expansive drawing board.

Question for Joe: I notice you wrote and illustrated “The Swing.” Is this the first book you have written and illustrated?
Answer: Yes, as a matter of fact, I probably got my first book to illustrate because I had a couple of finished illustrations to a story I had an idea for in that initial portfolio. Arthur told me if I finished it, he would publish it. Of course, I still haven’t finished it… although, after too many years, I finally did give him The Swing. Even though I told everyone I wanted to write more, I don’t think I acted like it. I was very busy illustrating in those years and probably defaulted to just making pictures. I’ve changed that now, trying to put it all together. I’m a late bloomer.

Question for Joe: What do you sketch on?
Answer: I sketch my dummies on regular bond. I usually create a template for thumbnails, second drafts and final drafts. My favorite pencil for this kind of drawing is a cretacolor nero #4 or #5 (li

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This year is the 15th anniversary for El día de los niños/El día de los libros! Happy birthday to this wonderful celebration of children and books from all linguistic and cultural backgrounds!

There are lots of celebrations going on and one I’m particularly excited about is the Pura Belpré Celebración at the ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans this June.  Organizers tell us that they’re going to celebrate it as a Quinceañera with a traditional promenade.  It’s going to be fabulous – we only hope we can sneak away from our booth long enough to participate!

For your collections, here are some Spanish and bilingual books to consider for your Día celebrations:

• Ada, Alma Flor and F. Isabel Campoy  ¡MUU, MOO!: Rimas de animales/Animal Nursery Rhymes. Illus. Vivi Escriva. 2010
• Ada, Alma Flor and F. Isabel Campoy TEN LITTLE PUPPIES/Diez Perritos.  Illus. Ulises Wensell. 2011
• Brown, Monica SIDE BY SIDE/Lado a lado.  Illus. Joe Cepeda. 2010
• Dorros, Arthur  MAMA AND ME.  Illus. Rudy Gutierrez. 2011
• Dorros, Arthur  RADIO MAN/Don radio. 1997 (paperback)
• Guy, Ginger Foglesong  BRAVO! Illus. Rene King Moreno. 2010
• Guy, Ginger Foglesong  MY GRANDMA/Mi abuelita.  Illus. Vivi Escriva. 2007
• Lacamara, Laura  FLOATING ON MAMA’S SONG/Flotando en la canción de mamá. Illus. Yuyi Morales. 2010
• Martinez, Rueben  ONCE UPON A TIME/Habia una vez: Traditional Latin American Tales/Cuentos tradicionales latinoamericanos.  Illus. Raul Colon. 2010
• Mora, Pat  BOOK FIESTA! Illus. Rafael Lopez.  2009
• Mora, Pat WIGGLING POCKETS/Los bolsillos saltarines.  Illus. Maribel Suarez. 2009
• Reiser, Lynn  Tortillas and Lullabies/Tortillas y cancioncitas. Illus. Corazones Valientes. 2008

This list is by no means exhaustive (many of these authors and illustrators are prolific with rich and beautiful books in their backlist), but hopefully it’ll help get you started.

And make sure to check out the Día website – there’s a wealth of information about hosting your own Día event, events going

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From the publisher- Children's Book Press:

FROM NORTH TO SOUTH Virtual Book Tour Now Underway

Author René Colato Laínez has organized a two-week virtual book tour for his book, From North to South / Del Norte al Sur. The book tour was launched on Monday with the premier of a video book trailer. Yesterday an interview with Executive Editor, Dana Goldberg was featured. We have lots of other exciting things planned, including a FREE give-away of the book to three lucky winners to be announced at the end of the book tour on Oct. 11th. Just leave your comments on the blogs everyday and you'll be entered to win. Where exactly is this blog tour happening, you ask? Read on to find out!

Monday, Sept. 27
Tales from the Rushmore Kid
by Tina Nichols Coury
http://www.tinanicholscouryblog.com

Tuesday, Sept. 28
On Beyond Words & Pictures
by Megan Frances
http://www.onbeyondwordsandpictures.com

Wednesday, Sept. 29
Write On
by Jeannine Montgomery
http://writeon.margiesrose.com

Thursday, Sept. 30
Sandra’s Book Club
by Sandra Lopez
http://sandrasbookclub.blogspot.com

Friday, Oct. 1
Voces
by Adriana Dominguez
http://adrianadominguez.blogspot.com

Monday, Oct. 4
Mamá Latina Tips
by Sylvia Martínez
http://www.mamalatinatips.com
    
Tuesday, Oct. 5
Out of the Paintbox
by Diane Browning
http://www.dianebrowningillustrations.com

Wednesday, Oct. 6
Christina Rodriguez
http://www.christinarodriguez.com/blog

Thursday, Oct. 7
Lori Calabrese
http://loricalabrese.blogspot.com

Friday, Oct. 8
Examiner
by Mayra Calvini
http://www.examiner.com/latino-books-in-national/mayra-calvani

Monday, Oct. 11-
Many Voices, One World
by Children’s Book Press
http://ww

0 Comments on From North to South/ Del Norte al Sur- Book Trailer and Virtual Book Tour as of 1/1/1900

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The Golden Kite Luncheon & Awards Presentation...

The conference Golden Kite Luncheon took place on Sunday (I'm posting out of order a bit--I used various notebooks that ended up in various places when I packed), during which lots of awards are given out (and I always cry).

After the food (the vegetarian dish was delish) we were entertained a capella by conference-goer Tyler McGroom, who participated in a contest involving singing during last year's event (for which I, as his table mate, got free SCBWI merch from the bookstore) and volunteered to croon once again.

Next SCBWI Illustrator Coordinator Priscilla Burris announced the winners of the portfolio showcase (which, as usual, she did a bang-up job of coordinating). Here they are:

• Best in show: Patricia Cantor (she wins a trip to New York to meet with art directors and you'll see her illustration on the cover of an upcoming SCBWI Bulletin.
• 2nd place: Ken Min
• 3rd place: Hyewon Yum
• Picturebook page winner: Stephanie Roth Sisson

The judges for the event:Left to right: Abigail Simoun, editor with Tricycle Press; Laurent Linn, art director at Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers; my favorite agent, Steven Malk of Writers House; Frieda Gates, coordinator of the annual NY Children's Illustrators Conference; and illustrator Joe Cepeda.

Next Erzsi Deak was named SCBWI member of the year--because she's awesome.

Then there was the crying...

First SCBWI showed a video tribute to the late Sue Alexander who passed away suddenly last month. Sue was a driving force behind SCBWI from the organization's inception, and the first official member. The touching words from Lin Oliver combined with a James Taylor song...tears.

And Here are the Golden Kite Winners:

• Picture Book Illustration: Yuyi Morales for Little Night (made me cry)
• Picture Book Text: Sara Pennypacker for Pierre in Love (made me cry)
• Nonfiction: Ann Bausum for Muckrackers
• Fiction: Katherine Applegate for Home of the Brave

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