SCBWI Podcasts

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. She’s a 2016 Hans Christian Andersen and Astrid Lindgren Awards nominee. Claudia went to...

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 students’ experiences. His popular novels for young readers include What Lane? , which garnered many...

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 Raúl the Third), and Ain’t Burned All the...

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 Univers...

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 an...

In this week's episode we are joined by Shannon Messenger.  Shannon Messenger graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts where she learned—among other things—that she liked watching movies much better than making them. She’s studied art, screenwriting, and television production, but realized her real passion was writing for kids and teens. She’s the internationally, New York Times, and U...

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. Dan’s 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 B...

Rachel Renée 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 Children’s Series. She’s an attorney who prefers writing Tween books to legal briefs mainly because books are a lot more fun, and pajama pants and bunny slippers aren’t allowed in federal court. Rachel first introduced us to Nikki M...

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, Yok...

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 As...

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...

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...

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...

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 Briti...

This week we are joined by author Kyle Lukoff and illustrator Levi Hastings!  From Newbery Honor and Stonewall Book Award–winning author Kyle Lukoff and celebrated picture book illustrator Levi Hastings comes an “approachable, engaging” ( Publishers Weekly , starred review) picture book about how people found community in a time when they had to keep their true selves secret. “Are you a friend of...

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 janitor’s closet with a good book. Her favorite hobbies were calling dial-a-story over and over again, and sneaking into a restrict...

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 a...

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. She’s the author of numerous award winning, best-selling children’s 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 “... one of the most un...

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 G...

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 intern...

In this episode we are joined by Paul O. Zelinsky! Paul O. Zelinsky grew up in Wilmette, Illinois, the son of a mathematics professor father and a medical illustrator mother. He drew compulsively from an early age, but did not know until college that this would be his career. As a Sophomore in Yale College he enrolled in a course on the history and practice of the picture book, co-taught by an Eng...

In this episode we are joined by Oliver Latsch! Translator and agent Oliver Latsch grew up bilingual in German and English in East Africa and Germany. He trained to be a scientist and had just completed his PhD in Biology in the U.K. when he was asked to help get some best-selling German children’s books published in English. This led to a career as a literary agent and translator. Since then, he...

In this episode of the SCBWI Podcast, we are joined by Erin Lee! Erin Lee is an elementary school teacher and artist living in Long Sault, Ontario. She graduated from the University of Ottawa with an Honors degree in Fine Arts, Visual Arts. Erin has published three award-winning children’s books: Benjamin and the Backyard Beast, Out of Season, and Maggie the Magnificent.  Erin has written short st...

In this episode of the SCBWI Podcast, we are joined by artist John Parra! John Parra is an award-winning artist, illustrator, author, and educator, best known for his, Latino themed, children’s picture books. His work on, Frida Kahlo and Her Animalitos, was named a New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book of the Year. His MTA artcard poster, Birdhouse Subways, was displayed throughout NYC s...

In this episode of the SCBWI Podcast, we are joined by Michael Dante DiMartino! Michael Dante DiMartino is an American animator, producer, writer, and director. He is best known, together with Bryan Konietzko, as the co-creator of the animated TV series Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, both on Nickelodeon. He has also written for podcasts and has authored novels.  You can purcha...