Recommendations!

Vote for the SCBWI Crystal Kite Awards, register for an in-person conference

The SCBWI Crystal Kite Member Choice Awards are given to recognize great books published in 2025 from fifteen SCBWI regional divisions around the world. SCBWI members, vote HERE by July 17, 2026.

Not a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators? Become a member today!

All of these amazing books are in the final round of voting for the Crystal Kite Award. Click the links below to read more about these books.

A1, ace, first-rate, super, tiptop, excellent, don’t-pass-these-books-up!

• The Blue Jays That Grew a Forest

• Firefly Song

• I Am We

• Kai Po Che

• Lighthouse Ladies

• Mamiachi & Me

• Peka Peka

• Seasons on the Farm

• Seven

• Stuck! The Story of La Brea Tar Pits

• Up, Up High

• Whales in the City

• Woody’s Words

Click HERE to see the 2025 Crystal Kite Award winners.

You don’t want to miss this in-person conference!

Join up with fellow writing and illustrating creatives! Attend the SCBWI Wisconsin Engaging Stories conference in Green Lake, Wisconsin October 8-10, 2026.

Keynote!

Engagement Is A Promise Teresa Ho Robeson

As Lisa Cron claims in one of her bestselling craft books, we humans are wired for story. But there are stories, and then there are stories. How do we tell ones that truly touch others? How can we reach across that vast expanse that appears to divide us? How do we engage those who seem so different from us? By definition, to engage is to attract or involve. But it is also a promise. Let’s discover all the HOWs together this weekend to fully engage readers.

3-hour intensives:

Telling It True: Writing True Stories for Today’s Kids Kirsten W. Larson

Writing a Graphic Novel for the First Time Teresa Ho Robeson

Illustration intensive [new info coming soon from Anna Aronson]

Wake Up Your Writing with Poetic Elements Irene Latham

PUBLISH: Earn Enough to Pay Yourself a Salary Darcy Pattison

1-hour sessions

Craft vs Business: The Grudge Match Melissa Manlove (submission opp)

Demystifying Dummies for Author-Illustrators Leah Gilbert

From Print to Page: Picture Book Pagination Kait Feldmann

Getting Giggles in Picture Books Deborah Buschman

How to Write Authentic Characters and Multiple Points of View That Leap Off the Page Liza Wiemer

It All Starts With Structure: Finding the Perfect Framework for Your Picture Book Pat Zietlow Miller

Research Panel Erin Minchk, Samantha Cora, Cindy Schumerth, Jeanne Styczinski, and Liza Wiemer

Reading Images: Components of Visual Storytelling Kait Feldmann (submission opp for illustrators)

What does a Literary Agent do? And why might you want one/need one Liza Voges (submission opp)

Ya Gotta Have Heart... In Picture Books presented by Julie Hedlund

#researching #writing #reading I’m into Earth’s natural wonders. What are you reading, writing, … finding?