Liz Garton Scanlon is the author of numerous beloved books for young people, including picture books Everyone Starts Small; Full Moon Pups; Kate, Who Tamed the Wind; the Caldecott-honored All the World; and many others, all illustrated by some of the very best artists in the business. She’s also co-authored several books with her pal Audrey Vernick, including the hilarious Bob, Not Bob and The World’s Best Class Plant. Scanlon’s middle grade novels are The Great Good Summer and Lolo’s Light, and her chapter book series Bibsy Cross debuts this June. Liz has taught at Austin Community College, Whale Rock Workshops, the Writing Barn, and at countless schools and conferences. She serves on the faculty of the Writing for Children and Young Adults program at the Vermont College of Fine Arts, and lives in Austin, Texas. Find more at Liz’s website.

Judy Y Faulkner: Welcome Liz, we’re so glad you’re here today to inspire us at Kite Tales! A friend who is a visual artist was once told by an art critic that the secret to success is to be prolific. You’ve published more than thirty books in twenty years. It seems safe to say you’re a prolific writer. Is there a secret to being prolific? 

Liz Garton Scanlon: First, a caveat so as to be totally transparent: I’m an exceedingly slow writer and am only prolific over time. But if there is a secret, I think it’s nurturing a bottomless sense of awe and curiosity. I honestly never run out of things that baffle or surprise or wow or stun or inspire me.

JYF: You write in multiple formats including picture books, chapter books, novels, and poetry. What are the joys and challenges of writing across those lines? Do you feel your themes change completely for the different audiences or is there a constant that carries through and connects the work? 

LGS: This is a good follow up to the previous question because these varied forms are some of what baffle and wow and inspire me. Each one asks something different of me—more precision, more plot, more language or layers or sophistication. But across categories, it’s all about paying evermore attention to who the books are for, and what those particular young readers want and need. I try to keep my eye on that as my constant—I try to pay attention to my audience, letting them know I see them, and love and respect them, and hold the highest hopes for them and the world they are walking into.

JYF: Chapter books are a recent addition to your body of work—and the subject of your breakout session at the Writers Day conference in March. Tell us a bit about the process of adding this form to your repertoire and coming to Bibsy Cross. 

LGS: I cannot overstate the steepness of my learning curve. I kept apologizing to my editor for learning how to write a chapter book series while I wrote a chapter book series! Chapter books are closer to novels than they are to picture books in terms of developing characters and narrative arcs, and I think novels are hard. And then there’s the particular challenge of building stories while maintaining continuity across a series—also hard. That said, the chapter book audience is eager and, in many ways, joyful, and that joy and eagerness became part of my process. I’ve just wrapped book four, and I already miss Bibsy.

JYF: We’re looking forward to getting better acquainted with Bibsy at the conference. You’re also giving a keynote titled “Twenty Years, Twenty Take-Aways: Lessons Learned Looking Back.” What has kept you writing for twenty years and what keeps you writing now? 

LGS: Well, the most obvious answer is that I haven’t run out of passion or inspiration for the work. But it is also true that there aren’t that many other things I’m good at besides walking my dog and making great breakfasts. 

JYF: Another of those other things is teaching, of course, which also seems an integral part of your career. What draws you to it? 

LGS: I’m an introvert, which is lucky for me because I’ve chosen a very solitary profession, but teaching is the necessary human antidote to all that alone time. Plus, there is nothing like having to think about and articulate the mysteries of storytelling to really hone your own chops. I absolutely get as much as I give when I teach. 

JYF: As a teacher and a writer, what do you hope our Bud to Blossom attendees will take away from the conference that they may not have brought with them going in? 

LGS: I hope folks walk away with more confidence in (and comfort with) both their craft and their community. That’s the very best that this kind of gathering can do.

JYF: Will you share one insight our readers can use to take their skills to the next level—wherever they may be right now?

LGS: I don’t know if there’s an easier, more effective way to improve your own work than by reading it aloud at every turn. From picture books to novels, read your work aloud. It will reveal itself to you! 

JYF: Thank you, Liz!

Writers and illustrators will have the opportunity to hear Liz speak in person at Bud to Blossom. How to Grow Stories and Nurture Creative Inspiration, the 2024 SCBWI-L.A. Writers Day conference, on March 9, 2024, at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.

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Author photo by Elizabeth McGuire. Charlotte Huck Fest photo by Jennifer Pryor. All images courtesy of Liz Garton Scanlon.