Episodes
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In this week's episode we are joined by Claudia Rueda.
Claudia Rueda is a Colombian author and a New York Times Best Seller illustrator of over thirty picture books. Rueda's books have been published in the United States, Mexico, and Spain and have been translated into seventeen different languages. Sheās a 2016 Hans Christian Andersen and Astrid Lindgren Awards nominee. Claudia went to Law and Art school and worked as a political cartoonist in Colombia. She then studied Childrenās Book Illustration at UC Berkeley and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Lesley University in Cambridge, MA. Claudia lives in New York City and teaches a course on picture books at the School of Visual Arts.
Buy her latest book here: bookshop.org/a/19191/9781536236583
Check out her website here: claudiarueda.com
Follow her on IG here: @claudiarueda
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In this week's episode we are joined by Torrey Maldonado.
Torrey Maldonado was born and raised in Brooklyn, growing up in the Red Hook housing projects. He has been a teacher for New York City public schools for nearly 25 years and his fast-paced, compelling stories are inspired by his and his studentsā experiences. His popular novels for young readers include What Lane?, which garnered many starred reviews and was cited by Oprah and the New York Times for being an essential book to discuss racism and allyship; Tight, which won the Christopher Award, was an ALA Notable Book, and an NPR and Washington Post Best Book of the Year; and his very first novel, Secret Saturdays which has been in print for over ten years. Connect on Instagram @torreymaldonado
Buy Torrey's latest book here: bookshop.org/a/19191/9780593624968
Check out all of Torrey's books here: bookshop.org/beta-search?keywords=Torrey+Maldonado
Visit his website here: torreymaldonado.com
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In this week's episode we are joined by Jason Reynolds.
Jason Reynolds is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of many award-winning books, including Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks, All American Boys (with Brendan Kiely), Long Way Down, Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You (with Ibram X. Kendi), Stuntboy, in the Meantime (illustrated by RaĆŗl the Third), and Aināt Burned All the Bright (with artwork by Jason Griffin). The recipient of a Newbery Honor, a Printz Honor, an NAACP Image Award, and multiple Coretta Scott King honors, Reynolds is also the 2020-2022 National Ambassador for Young Peopleās Literature. He has appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Late Night with Seth Meyers, CBS Sunday Morning, Good Morning America, and various media outlets. He is on faculty at Lesley University, for the Writing for Young People MFA Program and lives in Washington, DC.
Buy Jason's latest book here: bookshop.org/a/19191/9798347102372
Check out Jason's website here: www.jasonwritesbooks.com
Check out Heirloom Literary here: www.heirloomliterary.com
www.instagram.com/jasonreynolds83/
www.instagram.com/heirloom_literary/
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In this week's episode we are joined by Selina Alko.
Selina Alko is an award-winning author and illustrator known for blending lyrical storytelling with vibrant mixed-media art. Raised in Vancouver by a Turkish Jewish father and Jewish mother, she grew up immersed in culture, creativity, and diverse perspectives that continue to shape her work. Selina has a degree in art history from University of British Columbia and a BFA in illustration from the School of Visual Arts. She has created more than twenty-five acclaimed children's books, with features in The New York Times, NPR, People, and Time Out New York Kids. A two-time National Jewish Book Award winner, her titles have also been honored as Junior Library Guild Gold selections and Bank Street Best Books of the Year. She is the recipient of the Mills Tannenbaum Award for Excellence in Childrenās Literacy.
Buy her latest book here: https://bookshop.org/a/19191/9780316570633
Check out the rest of her work here: https://www.selinaalko.com/
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In this week's episode of the SCBWI Podcast we are joined by Kate DiCamillo!
In her own words, here is her bio: "I was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, raised in Clermont, Florida, and currently live in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I write for both children and adults and I like to think of myself as a storyteller.
Here are a few more facts about me: I am short. And loud. I hate to cook and love to eat. I am single and childless, but I have lots of friends and I am an aunt to three lovely children (Luke, Roxanne, and Max) and one lovable dog (Franklin).
I think of myself as an enormously lucky person: I get to tell stories for a living."
Buy her books here: https://bookshop.org/beta-search?keywords=Kate+DiCamillo
Check out her website here: www.katedicamillo.com
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In this week's episode we are joined by Shannon Messenger. Shannon Messenger graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts where she learnedāamong other thingsāthat she liked watching movies much better than making them. Sheās studied art, screenwriting, and television production, but realized her real passion was writing for kids and teens. Sheās the internationally, New York Times, and USA Today bestselling author of the award-winning middle grade series, Keeper of the Lost Cities, as well as the Sky Fall young adult series. Her books have been featured on multiple state reading lists, published in numerous countries, and translated into many languages. She lives in Southern California with her family and an embarrassing number of cats. Find her online at shannonmessenger.com and on Instagram, X, and Facebook at @sw_messenger.
Buy her latest book here: https://bookshop.org/a/19191/9781534463400
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In this week's episode, we welcome back Dan Gutman! New York Times best-selling and award-winning author Dan Gutman has written more than 190 books for readers from kindergarten through middle school. Danās My Weird School series includes 100+ titles, and has sold more than 35 million copies globally over the past 20 years. Dan also is the author of the best-selling Genius Files series, the Baseball Card Adventure series, and many more.
Danās books have been named Junior Library Guild Selections and Bank Street Collegeās Best Childrenās Books of the Year, and have been awarded numerous state book awards, including: The California Young Reader Medal, the Massachusetts Childrenās Book Award, and the Iowa Childrenās Choice Award, among others. When heās not writing books, Dan loves to ride his bike, play pickleball, throw Frisbees, and explore New York City where he lives with his wife Nina. To find out more, follow Dan on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can follow him on IG @dangutmanbooks
Purchase his latest book here: https://bookshop.org/a/19191/9780823453856
Check out his website here: https://dangutman.com/
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Rachel RenĆ©e Russell is the author of the #1 New York Times Best Selling book series, Dork Diaries which has spent 331 weeks on the New York Times Bestsellers list for Childrenās Series. Sheās an attorney who prefers writing Tween books to legal briefs mainly because books are a lot more fun, and pajama pants and bunny slippers arenāt allowed in federal court.
Rachel first introduced us to Nikki Maxwell in 2009 and has written 17 books in the Dork Diaries series which have sold more than 55 million copies worldwide. For a peek at some of the books that have been translated into 52 languages in 57 countries, check out the Dorks Around the World section of this website.
Nikki Russell is an artist. She is also the illustrator of the Dork Diaries series, which have sold over 50 million copies and translated over 32 languages.
Buy their latest book here: https://bookshop.org/a/19191/9781665988384
Follow them here: Tiktok and IG @dorkdiaries
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In this week's episode we are joined by Avery Fischer Udagawa
Avery Fischer Udagawa grew up in Kansas and studied English and Asian Studies at St. Olaf College in Minnesota. She holds an MA in Advanced Japanese Studies from The University of Sheffield. She has studied at Nanzan University, Nagoya, on a Fulbright Fellowship, and at the Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies, Yokohama. She writes, translates, and works in international education near Bangkok, where she lives with her bicultural family. She volunteers as Global Translator Coordinator in the Society of Childrenās Book Writers and Illustrators.
Buy Avery's most recently translated book here:
The Village Beyond the Mist
https://bookshop.org/a/19191/9781632063922
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In this week's episode we are joined by SCBWI Golden Kite Winner Ann Bausum.
ANN BAUSUM has written nine National Geographic books for young readers during the past 12 years. Her publication list features six works of social justice history, two presidential history reference books, and a photobiography. She has won numerous awards, including a Sibert Honor Award from the American Library Association and three other national awards for literature.
Purchase her latest book here: https://bookshop.org/a/19191/9781250816573
Check out her website here: www.annbausum.com
Follow her on socials here: @abausauthor
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In this episode, we are joined by author/illustrator Suzanne Kaufman.
SUZANNE KAUFMAN is an author, illustrator, and animator. Over the years she's done everything from animating special effects for Universal Television and the Discovery Channel to animating award-winning video games for children. She's the illustrator of a number of children's books, including Samanthasaurus Rex by B. B. Mandell, Naughty Claudine's Christmas by Patrick Jennings, 100 Bugs! by Kate Narita, and her own book, Confiscated! Learn more about Suzanne online at suzannekaufman.com
Purchase her latest book here: https://bookshop.org/a/19191/9780316311663
Check our her website here: suzannekaufman.com
Follow her on IG here: @suzannekaufman
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In this week's episode of the SCBWI Podcast, we are joined by Nova Ren Suma!
Nova Ren Suma is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling The Walls Around Us and A Room Away from the Wolves, which were both finalists for the Edgar Award. She also wrote Imaginary Girls and 17 & Gone and co-edited the story & craft anthology Foreshadow: Stories to Celebrate the Magic of Reading and Writing YA. She has an MFA in fiction from Columbia University and has taught creative writing at the University of Pennsylvania and Vermont College of Fine Arts. Originally from the Hudson Valley, she spent most of her adult life in New York City, and now lives in Philadelphia. Her new novel Wake the Wild Creatures is out now from Little, Brown.
Check out her website: novaren.com
Buy her latest book here: https://bookshop.org/a/19191/9781616206727
Follow her on IG here: www.instagram.com/novaren
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In this week's episode of the SCBWI Podcast we are joined by Kate Messner.
New York Times bestselling author Kate Messner is passionately curious and writes books that encourage kids to wonder, too. Kate's titles include both fiction and nonfiction; she writes award-winning picture books, easy readers, chapter book series, and novels for young readers. Her books are frequently nominated for state book award lists and have been honored with the E.B. White Read Aloud Award, Golden Kite and Crystal Kite Awards, Riverby Award for Natural History Writing, and Nerdy Book Club Awards. Kate's science themed books have also been selected as finalists for the AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize and named to the NSTA/CBC list of Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12. Kate is a frequent speaker at conferences for writers and educators and visits schools all over the world to talk with students about books, writing, and the power of curiosity.
Purchase her latest book here: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-trouble-with-heroes-kate-messner/21573976?ean=9781547616398&next=t
Follow her on IG here: www.instagram.com/katemessner
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In this weeks episode we are joined by Barbara McClintock!
Barbara McClintock is an American illustrator and author of over 40 books for children. Her books have received numerous awards and citations, including five New York Times Best Illustrated Picture Book Awards, four ALA Notable Book Citations, a Boston Globe/Horn Book Honor Award, a China Times Best Illustrated Books Award, and a British Fantasy Award. One of her books is a best-selling title in Japan.
Her artwork has been exhibited and is in the collections of libraries, museums and galleries around the world.
She has lectured about her work nationally and internationally, and is currently teaching classes on creating childrenās books at Wesleyan University. She has served on the board of directors of the Eric Carle Museum, and chaired the Original Art Show at the Society of Illustrators.
Barbara is self-educated as an illustrator, learning by studying and copying artwork from books checked out of public libraries.
Originally from New Jersey and North Dakota, she now resides in northeastern CT with her partner, the illustrator David Johnson, and their three overly-helpful cats.
Buy her latest book here: https://bookshop.org/a/19191/9781534418509
Follow her here: https://www.instagram.com/barbaramcclintockart/
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This week we are joined by author Kyle Lukoff and illustrator Levi Hastings!
From Newbery Honor and Stonewall Book Awardāwinning author Kyle Lukoff and celebrated picture book illustrator Levi Hastings comes an āapproachable, engagingā (Publishers Weekly, starred review) picture book about how people found community in a time when they had to keep their true selves secret.
āAre you a friend of Dorothy?ā
In a time when the LGBTQ+ community was forced to hide in the shadows, a woman named Dorothy helped her people find each other in the dark and celebrate themselves in the light.
But who was Dorothy? Was she from the neighborhood, someoneās wife, mother, or sister? Was she that clever writer, who threw parties where there were no rules about who you could and couldnāt dance with? Or was she a girl from Kansas, who dreamed of leaving her black-and-white, small-town life and finding a vibrant, colorful world that loved her?
Dorothy might have been all these thingsābecause Dorothy, as known by the post-WWII queer community, wasnāt real. Still, she helped a community find connection and care amidst adversity.Buy the book here: https://bookshop.org/a/19191/9781665931663
Follow Kyle Here: www.instagram.com/kylelukoffwrites
Follow Levi Here: https://www.instagram.com/levihastingsart/
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In this episode of the SCBWI Podcast we are joined by Donna Barba Higuera!
Donna grew up in Central California surrounded by agricultural and oil fields. As a child, rather than dealing with the regular dust devils, she preferred spending recess squirreled away in the janitorās closet with a good book. Her favorite hobbies were calling dial-a-story over and over again, and sneaking into a restricted cemetery to weave her own spooky tales using the crumbling headstones as inspiration. ā
Donna's Middle Grade and Picture Books are about kids who find themselves in odd or scary situations.ā From language to cultural differences in being biracial life can becomeā¦complicated. So like Donna, characters tackle more than just the bizarre things that happen to them in their lives.
Donna likes to write about all things funny, but also sad, and creepy, and magical. If you like those things, she hopes you will read her books!
āDonna lives in Washington State with her family, two dogs and a frog.
āBuy here latest novel:https://bookshop.org/a/19191/9781646144129
And check out the rest of her books here: https://bookshop.org/contributors/donna-barba-higuera
Visit Donna's website here: https://www.dbhiguera.com/
Follow her on IG: https://www.instagram.com/donnabarbahiguera/
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In this episode of the SCBWI Podcast we are joined by Maria van Lieshout!
Maria is a Dutch-American illustrator and graphic novelist.
She was born and raised near Amsterdam, and studied Visual Communications at George Washington University in DC. Maria has illustrated and written 15 picture books for kids. Her graphic novel Song of a Blackbird is inspired by historic events, including those that affected her own family, during the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam. Maria lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and their son.Buy here latest novel: https://bookshop.org/a/19191/9781250869814
And check out the rest of her books here: https://bookshop.org/contributors/maria-van-lieshout
Visit Maria's website here: https://www.vanlieshoutstudio.com/
Follow her on IG: https://www.instagram.com/vanlieshoutstudio/
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In this episode of the podcast we are joined by Maggie Tokuda-Hall!
Maggie Tokuda-Hall has an MFA in creative writing from USF, and BA in art from Scripps College. Sheās the author of numerous award winning, best-selling childrenās and young adult books including Love in the Library, The Mermaid the Witch and The Sea duology, Squad, and The Worst Ronin. She has been called ā... one of the most unflinching voices in contemporary genre literature.ā
Maggie is a founding member and national leader of Authors Against Book Bans. She is the co-host of the Failure to Adapt podcast. She lives in Oakland, California with her husband, children, and objectively perfect dog.
Buy Maggie's books here: https://bookshop.org/shop/MaggieTokudaHall
Check out her website here:
https://www.prettyokmaggie.com/
Follow her on IG here: https://www.instagram.com/maggietokudahall/
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In this episode we are joined by Erin Entrada Kelly!
Erin Entrada Kelly has received numerous awards and recognition for her work, including the 2025 Newbery Medal for The First State of Being, 2018 Newbery Medal for Hello, Universe, a 2021 Newbery Honor for We Dream of Space, the 2023 NAIBA Book of the Year Award for Those Kids From Fawn Creek, and 2017 APALA Award for The Land of Forgotten Girls, among many other honors. She is also a National Book Award Finalist and author/illustrator of Marisol Rainey and Felix Powell, stand-alone stories for younger readers. Her books are New York Times bestsellers.
Before becoming a children's author, Erin worked as a journalist and magazine editor in her home state of Louisiana. She received numerous awards from the Louisiana Press Association and the Associated Press for community service journalism, feature writing, and editing. She has published more than thirty short stories and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and the Philippines Free Press Award for Short Fiction.
Erin has a bachelor's degree in women's studies and liberal arts from McNeese State University and an MFA in fiction from Rosemont College. She lives in Delaware and teaches in the MFAC program at Hamline University.Buy Erin's books here: https://bookshop.org/contributors/erin-entrada-kelly
This episode of the podcast is sponsored by Listen In: conversation & cultivation, a writing program from award-winning authors Elana K. Arnold and Nina LaCour @elanakarnold @nina_lacour
Learn more at ninalacour.comSupport the show
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In this episode we are joined by Neal Shusterman!
Neal Shusterman is the New York Times bestselling author of more than fifty award-winning books for children, teens, and adults, including Challenger Deep, which won the National Book Award, Courage to Dream, a Sydney Taylor Honor Book, Scythe, a Michael L. Printz Honor Book, the Unwind Dystology, which won more than thirty domestic and international awards, and the highly acclaimed novels, Dry, and Roxy which he co-wrote with his son, Jarrod For his body of work, Neal won the 2024 Margaret A. Edwards Award, and the ALAN Lifetime Achievement Award. His novel, Unwind, has become part of the literary canon in many school districts across the country-and has won more than thirty domestic and international awards. Many of his novels are in development as TV series and movies.
Shusterman has also received awards from organizations such as the International Reading Association, and the American Library Association, and has garnered a myriad of state and local awards across the country. His talents range from film directing, to writing music and stage plays, and has even tried his hand at creating games.
Shusterman has earned a reputation as a storyteller and dynamic speaker. As a speaker, he is in constant demand at schools and conferences. Degrees in both psychology and drama give him a unique approach to writing, and his novels always deal with topics that appeal to adults as well as teens, weaving true-to-life characters into sensitive and riveting issues, and binding it all together with a unique and entertaining sense of humor. Neal lives in Jacksonville, Florida, but spends much of his time traveling the world speaking, exploring, and signing books for readers. . Visit Neal at www.storyman.com, facebook.com/NealShusterman, and on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter @nealshusterman
Purchase his latest book, All Better Now here: https://bookshop.org/a/19191/9781534432758
This episode of the podcast is sponsored by Listen In: conversation & cultivation, a writing program from award-winning authors Elana K. Arnold and Nina LaCour
Learn more at ninalacour.com
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