Liz Bicknell is one of the most celebrated editors of children's books ever! She began her publishing career at Harcourt Brace Jovanovich in 1986, joined Candlewick as editor-in-chief in 1997. Among Bicknell’s coups was signing Jon Klassen, who burst out of the gate with his Caldecott Medal-winning I Want My Hat Back and Caldecott Honor-winning This Is Not My Hat. Liz cultivated work by creators as wide-ranging as popup makers Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart, illustrator Ekua Holmes, and fantasy author Gregory Maguire. She edited M.T. Anderson’s National Book Award-winning The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing; Carole Boston Weatherford’s Newbery Honor-winning BOX: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom, illustrated by Michele Wood; and Laura Kvasnosky’s Geisel-winning Zelda and Ivy: The Runaways. Other authors and illustrators who worked with Bicknell won Caldecott Honors, Printz Honors, the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award, and more. In our wonderful interview Liz and I talk about her life and her career, and her thoughts on choosing and publishing picture books.
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Trends in KIdslit: A Discussion with Harold Underdown
Harold Underdown has worked as an independent editor and publishing consultant, providing developmental edits and strategic consulting; and as an in-house editor with Kane Press, McGraw-Hill Education, Charlesbridge, and Orchard Books. He also mentors individual authors - me included! Harold speaks and gives workshops through the Highlights Foundation and SCBWI's national and regional conferences. He wrote The Complete Idiot's Guide to Children's Book Publishing, now in its third edition. He founded and runs "The Purple Crayon," a respected web site with information about the children's publishing world at www.underdown.org.
In this, our third discussion, we talk about Harold's upcoming workshop for Highlights on trends in kidlit, and how our process of working together evolved.
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Sven Völker, "The Museum of Shapes" (Cicada Books, 2025)
Welcome to the Museum of Shapes. Alma is the curator of the museum. She decides which shapes should go where. Triangles have three sides and three angles. Can you help Alma find all the triangles on the shelves? Almas favorite shape is a circle. All the points on the edge of a circle are the same distance from its center. Not all shapes are geometric. Some lines are wiggly and messy. Can you make a wiggly line with your body?
The Museum of Shapes (Cicada Books, 2025) is an engaging and informative book about the shapes that make up our world. The narrative framework is complemented by interactive texts and gorgeous, minimalist illustration, shedding new light on the beauty of geometry.
Sven Völker is Professor for Experiment and Strategy in Graphic Design at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam. He studied at the University of Art in Bremen and received an master degree from Middlesex University in London. In 2004 he was appointed professor for graphic design at the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Karlsruhe and since 2010 tought at the Burg Giebichenstein University of Art in Halle.
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Suzy Levinson, "Dinos That Drive" (Tundra Books, 2025)
Suzy Levinson is a children’s author and poet whose work has been featured in numerous anthologies, including A World Full of Poems (DK Children), I Am a Jigsaw (Bloomsbury Education), and Shaping the World (Macmillan), and magazines, including Highlights and Cricket. Her critically acclaimed debut picture book–length poetry collection, Animals in Pants (Abrams), was published in 2023. In our wonderful interview we talk about her brand new book, Dinos That Drive (Tundra Books, 2025) illustrated by Dustin Harbin, which hits the shelves...tomorrow! And she’s got more books on the way! Originally from Massachusetts, Suzy now lives in New York with her sweet husband and spicy cat.
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Friederike Ablang and Roseanne Baxter Frank, "O'Win and the Moon" (Wonder House Books, 2025)
Friederike Ablang is an award-winning children's illustrator. She was born in East-Berlin and studied photography and design in the United Kingdom and Germany. She has illustrated dozens of picture books and school books. In our conversation we discuss the recent book which she illustrated, O'win and the Moon by Roseanne Baxter Frank, published in March, 2025 by Wonder House Books. We also talk about her process, her journey to success, and her advice for aspiring illustrators.
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New Zealand