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Massive, and I do mean massive blog coverage of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) National Conference in Los Angeles at  The Official SCBWI Conference Blog.

The team-blogging effort was led by Alice Pope, who edits the Children’s Writers and Illustrators Market, the annually updated directory published by Writer’s Digest Books.

I also recommend Diandra Mae’s blog Taking Flight for her attentive and fun  coverage of her experience as an attendee of the four days of panels, workshops, talks and socials .

Before we  get into the blogs,  though, here’s a clip of the great picture book artist and creator Tomie dePaolo being interviewed by SCBW National Executive Director Lin Oliver about the “art of the picture book.”  No, the video’ was not part of the conference but part of an SCBWI “Master Class.” But these are two personalities who loom large over the org.

If you’ve not yet heard of SCBWI or know much about it, here’s an interview from the org’s website where Executive Director (and prolific children’s author and producer of movies based on children’s books) Lin Oliver does a good job of speaking for the now global organization.

D’s posts put you in the shoes of someone packing her bags and heading out to Los Angeles for the big event. She ’s a talented illustrator in the Houston area — a former 7th grade teacher now active with the  Houston chapter of SCBWI .

She catches many good quotes and observations in her blog  Taking Flight, like David Weisner’s remark in an illustrators’  Q&A:

“…He did mention that with all of these portfolios he is asked to view at art schools around the country, he’s noticed that there is a serious lack of drawing ability that often hinders brilliant and wonderful ideas. ‘Take a figure drawing class for goodness’ sakes!’ He reminds us that this ”is not about making precious drawings, it’s about learning the craft’ because ‘observational drawings are at the heart of everything we do.’ “

I  enjoyed reading about what apparently was the first ever Illustrators’ Social at the conference. D writes,“What a wonderful concept! Cecilia Yung, David Diaz, Priscilla Burris were there to facilitate the chaos of portfolio sharing, card swapping and chatting. They talked a little about how we illustrators were only 15% of the attendees, and we needed to band together for support.”

So here you go:  Day One , Day Two , Day Three,
Day Four . Thank you, Diandra Mae  for some wonderful reporting.

The SCBWI LA Conference team blog includes the  Golden Kite Awards/2009 Conference Portfolio Awards along with art from the winners of the SCBWI New York Portfolio Exhibition and the Tomie dePaola Award.

Alice Pope on her own Children’s Writers and Illustrators Market blog (on August 12) includes  a transcript of her own tweets throughout the four days. They’re entertaining  even if you’re not familiar with all of the authors’ and editors’ names.

You can read all tweets from all persons who tweeted in real time on  the event at this Twitter site. (Or you can pull them up on your own twitter page by searching for:  #scbwi09.)  The tweets are nano-quotes from the artist/writer/editors/ agent panels and talks,  breadcrumb trails of “kid publishing” thought.

Team blog carries reportage on talks by the wonderful illustrator Marla Frazee
Dan Yaccarino,  Scholastic Executive Art Director Elizabeth Parisi (on book dummies), Golden Kite Award winner for illustration (for Last Night,  Farrar, Straus and Giroux) Hyewon Yum — and more from David Weisner, like how, for those  lily pad piloting frogs of  his Caldecott Medal winning-picture book Tuesday,  he found frog skeletons to study.

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The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators has announced its 2006 Golden Kite Awards and Honees. The Golden Kite is the only award presented to children’s book authors and artists by their peers.

Gold Kite Award Winners

Fiction

Firegirl by Tony Abbott (Little Brown)
Editor: Alvina Ling

Nonfiction

The Adventures of Marco Polo by Russell Freedman (Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic)
Editor: Arthur A. Levine

Picture Book Text

Jazz by Walter Dean Myers, illustrated by Christopher Myers (Holiday House)
Editor: Regina Griffin

Picture Book Illustration

Not Afraid of Dogs, illustrated by Larry Day, written by Susanna Pitzer (Walker)
Editor: Emily Easton
Designer: Nicole Gastonguay

Golden Kite Honor Recipients

Fiction

Wings by William Loizeaux (FSG)

Nonfiction

Team Moon by Catherine Thimmesh (Houghton Mifflin)

Picture Book Text

Dear Mr. Rosenwald by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie (Scholastic)

Picture Book Illustration

Hippo! No, Rhino! illustrated and written by Jeff Newman (Little Brown)

The Golden Kite Awards, given annually to recognize excellence in children's literature, grant cash prizes of $2,500 to author and illustrator winners in four categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Picture Book Text, and Picture Book Illustration.

Authors and illustrators will receive an expense-paid trip to Los Angeles to attend the award ceremony at the Golden Kite Luncheon at SCBWI's Summer Conference in August. To promote the award winners, the SCBWI will produce a half hour film featuring the four winning books and their creators. The film, which will include interviews with winning authors and illustrators, will be distributed on DVD to 1,000 outlets for promotion, including chain bookstores, independent bookstores, reviewers, and television, radio and print media. SCBWI will also work with publishers to see that Golden Kite recipient books are promoted across all media.

The SCBWI also recognizes the work of editors and art directors who play pivotal roles in shaping the Golden Kite-winning books. Editors of winning books will receive $1,000, and for the winning book in the Picture Book Illustration category, an additional $1,000 will be given to the book's art director/designer.

The Golden Kite Awards are given each year to the most outstanding children's books published during the previous year, and written or illustrated by members of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. Four panels of three judges each (one panel for each category, consisting of author or illustrator members of SCBWI whose own works are that of the category being judged), award the titles they feel exhibit excellence in writing or illustration, and that genuinely appeal to the interests and concerns of children. An Honor Book plaque is awarded in each category as well. A certificate of acknowledgment is presented to the author of the picture book illustration award book and the illustrator of the picture book text award book.

About the 2006 Golden Kite Award Recipients

Tony Abbott, author of Firegirl, is the author of more than sixty children's books, including the popular series The Secrets of Droon.

The Adventures of Marco Polo marks Russell Freedman's sixth Golden Kite Award in the category of Nonfiction; he won his first Golden Kite Award in 1991 for The Wright Brothers.

Walter Dean Myers, author of the Golden Kite Picture Book Text award winning Jazz has received multiple Coretta Scott King Awards and Newbery Honors, and the Michael L. Printz award in 2000 for Monster.

Larry Day, illustrator of Not Afraid of Dogs, has illustrated several picture books while working in the advertising industry creating storyboards for clients like Hallmark and Disney.

About the 2006 Golden Kite Honor Recipients

William Loizeau is the author of stories, essays, and two books for adults; Wings is his first book for childern.

Catherine Thimmesh, author of the Nonfiction Honor recipient Team Moon: How 4000,000 People Landed Apollo 11 on the Moon is the author of several books for children including the New York Time Notable Book Madame President: The Extraordinary, True, (and Evolving) Story of Women in Politics.

Carole Boston Weatherford, author of the Picture Book Text honor recipient Dear Mr. Rosenwald, is the author of many children's books including the Caldecott Honor recipient Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom.

Jeff Newman, illustrator and author of Hippo! No, Rhino! is also the author and illustrator of Reginald.

General Information

Founded in 1971, the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators is one of the largest existing writers' and illustrators' organizations, with over 20,000 members worldwide. It is the only organization specifically for those working in the fields of children's literature, magazines, film, television, and multimedia.

The organization was founded by Stephen Mooser (President) and Lin Oliver (Executive Director), both of whom are well-published children's book authors and leaders in the world of children's literature. Several of the most prestigious children's literature professionals sit on the SCBWI Board of Directors.

The Golden Kite Awards will be presented to the winners on Sunday, August 5th at the Golden Kite Luncheon. This luncheon is part of the SCBWI's 36th Annual Conference on Writing and Illustrating for Children, taking place at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel August 3-6, 2007.

A list of previous Golden Kite Award winners and honor books is available on the SCBWI’s website: www.scbwi.org.