In this episode of the SCBWI Podcast, we are joined by Debbie Ridpath Ohi!

Debbie Ridpath Ohi is a children’s book author and illustrator who has helped create over 20 books for young people. She loves her job. She is the author and illustrator of I WANT TO READ ALL THE BOOKS, WHERE ARE MY BOOKS?, and SAM & EVA (Simon & Schuster). Her illustrations have appeared in books by Judy Blume, Michael Ian Black, Linda Sue Park, and others. You can find Debbie on Bluesky, SubStack, Instagram, her Bookstagram, Facebook, YouTube, X,

https://debbieohi.com/

PreOrder Debbie's Book Here:
https://bookshop.org/p/books/i-want-to-read-all-the-books-debbie-ridpath-ohi/21108507?ean=9781481416306

and check out the rest of Debbie's books here:
https://bookshop.org/contributors/debbie-ridpath-ohi-f05414b5-6e3d-4c1b-b0e0-74bae07489b5

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In this episode of the SCBWI Podcast, we are joined by F.T. Lukens!

F.T. Lukens is a New York Times bestselling author of YA speculative fiction including the novels Spell Bound, So This Is Ever After (2023 ALA Rainbow Booklist; 2022 Goodreads Choice Awards nominee), In Deeper Waters (2022 ALA Rainbow Booklist; Junior Library Guild Selection), and the forthcoming Otherworldly as well as other science-fiction and fantasy works. F.T. resides in North Carolina with their spouse, three kids, three dogs, and three cats.

Buy Otherworldy here:
https://bookshop.org/p/books/otherworldly-f-t-lukens/20163013?ean=9781665916257

and check out the rest of F.T.'s  books here:
https://bookshop.org/contributors/f-t-lukens

Follow them on IG here:
@ftlukens

F.T.'s website:
https://www.ft-lukens.com/

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In this episode of the SCBWI Podcast, we are joined by renowned illustrator/cartoonist/graphic novelist Cece Bell!

Cece Bell has written and illustrated many books for children, among them the beloved Sock Monkey books, the Geisel Award-winning Rabbit and Robot: The Sleepover, and the Newbery Honor-winning graphic novel El Deafo. She and her husband, author Tom Angleberger, have also collaborated on the picture book Crankee Doodle and the Inspector Flytrap chapter book series. She lives in Virginia with her family.

Check out Animal Albums here:
https://animalalbums.com/

Purchase it here:
https://bookshop.org/a/19191/9781536226249

and check out the rest of her books here:
https://bookshop.org/contributors/cece-bell-74593ea1-f31a-48fa-9d96-63a49686525b

Follow her on IG here:
@cecebellbooks

Cece's website
cecebell.wordpress.com

Twitter @CeceBellBooks.

A transcript of this episode is available here or if you are a member under Member Resources:  https://scbwiprdstorage.blob.core.windows.net/scbwiprdfiles/attachments/Cece_Bell_Transcript_Final.pdf

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In this episode of the SCBWI Podcast, we are joined by John Schu aka Mr. Schu!

John Schu has made a career out of advocating for the people and things he cares about most: kids, books, and the people that connect them. He was named a Library Journal Mover and Shaker for his dynamic interactions with students and his passionate adoption of new technologies as a means of connecting authors, illustrators, books, and readers. He is the children’s librarian for Bookelicious, a part-time lecturer at Rutgers University, and shares his love of reading with countless educators and students around the world. He served as the Ambassador of School Libraries for Scholastic Book Fairs for almost 6 years. 

He is the author of This Is a School (Candlewick Press, 2022) illustrated by Veronica Miller Jamison, This Is a Story (Candlewick Press, 2023) illustrated by Caldecott Honor artist Lauren Castillo, Louder Than Hunger (Candlewick, 2024) and The Gift of Story: Exploring the Affective Side of the Reading Life (Stenhouse, 2022). He is a contributor to The Creativity Project (Little, Brown, 2018), edited by Colby Sharp. John Schu lives in Naperville, Illinois. 

Buy Louder Than Hunger Here: https://bookshop.org/a/19191/9781536229097

and check out the rest of John's books here:
https://www.johnschu.com/

Follow him on IG here: 
https://www.instagram.com/mrschureads/

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In this episode of the SCBWI Podcast, we are joined by Cátia Chien!

Cátia Chien is a children's book illustrator from Sao Paulo, Brazil. She is currently working in New York City. She graduated from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California in 2004. She has produced work for several publishing companies, including Random House, Penguin Books and Candlewick Press.

Buy The Bear and the Moon here: 

https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-bear-and-the-moon-matthew-burgess/14350474?ean=9781452171913
and her other books here: 
https://bookshop.org/contributors/catia-chien-00827b04-86e9-47f1-82d2-fbf0ddba864e

and check out the rest of her art here:
https://www.catiachien.com/

SCBWI on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scbwi/
SCBWI on Twitter: https://twitter.com/scbwi
Become an SCBWI member today: https://www.scbwi.org/join-scbwi/
Shop the SCBWI Bookshop.org page: https://bookshop.org/shop/SCBWI

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In this episode of the SCBWI Podcast, we are joined by Richard Jesse Watson!

Port Townsend painter, illustrator, and sculptor, Richard Jesse Watson, has received numerous awards and several of his books were New York Times Bestsellers. His paintings hang in museums, corporate and private collections internationally. 

Watson is an accomplished artist and perpetual experimenter. He often breaks out of boxes in his quest for originality. 

"His work is a process of thinking: …to balance and nod to the extremes on either end of an idea.” Kristin Tollefson, Bainbridge Island Museum of Art.

“I love being in this zone coaxing dreams into reality or caressing reality back into a dream.”  

Buy The Legend of Saint Christopher: From the Golden Legend, Englished by William Caxton, 1483 here: 

https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-legend-of-saint-christopher-from-the-golden-legend-englished-by-william-caxton-1483-margaret-hodges/12578003?ean=9780802853608

and check out the rest of his art here:
https://www.rjwatsonart.com/

SCBWI on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scbwi/
SCBWI on Twitter: https://twitter.com/scbwi
Become an SCBWI member today: https://www.scbwi.org/join-scbwi/
Shop the SCBWI Bookshop.org page: https://bookshop.org/shop/SCBWI

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In this Podcast Replay, we are joined by James Ransome, the iconic illustrator of classics like Before She Was Harriet (written by Lesa Cline-Ransome), Uncle Jed's Barbershop, Visiting Day, and so many more incomparable titles. James never does the same thing twice, and in our expansive and focused conversation, we discussed ways of seeing, color and quilts, his mentorship with the great Jerry Pinkney, and how his love of Parliament Funkadelic keeps him experimenting.

Follow James on Instagram: jransomillustr
Follow James on Facebook: James Ransome Illustration
James's Website: https://jamesransome.com

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In this episode of the SCBWI Podcast, we are joined by Kwame Mbalia!

Kwame is a husband, father, writer, a New York Times bestselling author, a former pharmaceutical metrologist, and a publisher with Freedom Fire Books, an imprint of Disney-Hyperion. His debut middle-grade novel, TRISTAN STRONG PUNCHES A HOLE IN THE SKY was awarded a Coretta Scott King Author Honor, and it—along with the sequels TRISTAN STRONG DESTROYS THE WORLD and TRISTAN STRONG KEEPS PUNCHING—is published by Rick Riordan Presents/Disney-Hyperion. He is the co-author of LAST GATE OF THE EMPEROR with Prince Joel Makonnen, from Scholastic Books, and the editor of the #1 New York Times bestselling anthology BLACK BOY JOY, published by Delacorte Press. A Howard University graduate and a Midwesterner now in North Carolina, he survives on Dad jokes and Cheezits.

Buy Rick Riordan Presents Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky (a Tristan Strong Novel, Book 1):

https://bookshop.org/a/19191/9781368042413

and check out the rest of his books here:
https://www.kwamembalia.com/

Follow him on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/mbalia1/

Register for the 2024 In-Person Conference Here: https://www.scbwi.org/events/scbwi-in-person-winter-conference-2024

SCBWI on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scbwi/
SCBWI on Twitter: https://twitter.com/scbwi
Become an SCBWI member today: https://www.scbwi.org/join-scbwi/
Shop the SCBWI Bookshop.org page: https://bookshop.org/shop/SCBWI

Support the Show.

In this episode of the SCBWI Podcast, we are joined by Eugene Yelchin!

Eugene Yelchin is a graduate of the Academy of Theater Arts in St. Petersburg, Russia where he designed sets and costumes for stage productions until his immigration to the United States. 

In Los Angeles, CA, he earned his graduate degree from the USC School of Cinematic Arts after which, he went on to direct television commercials and illustrate advertising campaigns (designing the original polar bears for Coca Cola). His first character designs were for the animated movie Rango, which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, as well as Annie Award for Character Design. 

While illustrating for editorial publications, creating character design for animation, and directing commercials, Yelchin were also painting. His paintings were shown in nine solo and dozens group exhibitions, and today, they are in important art collections in the US, Europe, Australia, and Japan.

In 2006 at the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators conference in New York, Yelchin received Tomie DePaola Illustration Award and began writing and illustrating books for children. 

Since then, Yelchin received numerous awards for his books. Among them are Newbery Honor (Breaking Stalin’s Nose), National Book Award Finalist (The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge co-authored with M.T. Anderson), Sydney Taylor Award (The Genius Under the Table), National Jewish Book Award (The Rooster Prince of Breslov), Golden Kite Award (The Haunting of Falcon House), Crystal Kite Award (Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku), and many more.

Buy The Genius Under the Table: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain here:

https://bookshop.org/a/19191/9781536215526

and check out the rest of his books here:
https://www.eugeneyelchin.com/books

Register for the 2024 In-Person Conference Here: https://www.scbwi.org/events/scbwi-in-person-winter-conference-2024

SCBWI on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scbwi/
SCBWI on Twitter: https://twitter.com/scbwi
Become an SCBWI member today: https://www.scbwi.org/join-scbwi/
Shop the SCBWI Bookshop.org page: https://bookshop.org/shop/SCBWI

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Theo Baker talks with the chart-busting illustrator and book creator, Vashti Harrison, about how she anticipated success, and built her incredible career. Theo even got in a few questions about experimental film. 

For all the latest on Vashti, head over to her website www.vashtiharrison.com, and follow her on Twitter at @VashtiHarrison and Instagram at @vashtiharrison. 

For more info about the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, please visit SCBWI.org. 

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In this episode of the SCBWI Podcast, we are joined by Brandy Colbert!

Brandy Colbert is the award-winning author of several books for children and teens, including Black Birds in the Sky: The Story and Legacy of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, which was the winner of the 2022 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award for Nonfiction and a finalist for the American Library Association's Excellence in Young Adult Nonfiction Award. Her other acclaimed books include Pointe, The Only Black Girls in Town, and Stonewall Book Award winner Little & Lion. Her writing has been published in the New York Times, and her short stories and essays have appeared in several critically acclaimed anthologies for young people. She is on faculty at Hamline University's MFA program in writing for children, and lives in Los Angeles.

https://www.brandycolbert.com/

Buy The Blackwoods here:

https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-blackwoods-brandy-colbert/19646205?ean=9780063091597

and check out the rest of her books here:
https://bookshop.org/contributors/brandy-colbert

Register for the 2024 In-Person Conference Here: https://www.scbwi.org/events/scbwi-in-person-winter-conference-2024

SCBWI on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scbwi/
SCBWI on Twitter: https://twitter.com/scbwi
Become an SCBWI member today: https://www.scbwi.org/join-scbwi/
Shop the SCBWI Bookshop.org page: https://bookshop.org/shop/SCBWI

Support the Show.