
Erin Dealey is the author of more than a dozen children’s picture books. Today, she shares information about how her journey has evolved over the years.
Continue reading15 Wednesday Sep 2021
Posted in Author's Perspective

Erin Dealey is the author of more than a dozen children’s picture books. Today, she shares information about how her journey has evolved over the years.
Continue reading25 Wednesday Aug 2021
Posted in Great News!

SCBWI loves celebrating our members’ successes and noteworthy news, and there are many! Read on to find out who’s got something to shout about. Digital high-fives welcome in the comments!
11 Wednesday Aug 2021
Posted in Contests & Grants, SAG, Writers Days
by Brenda Scott Royce, SCBWI-L.A. Contest Coordinator
We’re thrilled to announce this year’s Sue Alexander Grant winner—Christine Van Zandt—for her nonfiction picture book, Butterfly Dreams. The book’s inspiration came in May 2020, when Van Zandt and her daughter bought their first milkweed plant, “unaware that a mother monarch had sent us home with a surprise—actually 26 surprises,” she says. “Soon, our plant was covered in adorable caterpillars. We excitedly watched them grow, . . . until all perished.”
The sad turn of events led Van Zandt to research monarch declines, plant milkweed, and educate others by writing this lyrical story.
Here’s what our judges had to say about her manuscript:
Continue reading04 Wednesday Aug 2021
Posted in Toot Your Horn!
Tags
biography, middle grade, picture book, published, publishing, SCBWI community, SCBWI members, young adult

SCBWI members’ publishing news is something to celebrate here at Kite Tales! Check out whose book is coming to a platform near you or around the world. Horn-tooting and digital hi-fives welcome in the comments!
28 Wednesday Jul 2021
Posted in #KTIllustrates
It’s that time of year again! Kite Tales invites all our illustrator members to participate in our annual KTIllustrates Contest: we give you a prompt and you show us your best take.
The illustration can be in any medium, for any age range, and any genre. It can be conceptual or literal, spot or spread, as long as it keeps the idea of the prompt as it would apply to children’s books. (If you’re inspired to create a cover illustration instead, go for it!) All are welcome, as long as the final entry follows the guidelines posted on the entry page.
Continue reading21 Wednesday Jul 2021
In SCBWI-L.A.’s latest Twitter Banner Contest, illustrators were asked to submit their most creative response to our prompt: NIGHT FLIGHT. The winning contestant’s artwork is featured on the Los Angeles Region SCBWI Twitter profile until the next contest, with a feature article published here on Kite Tales. Illustrator Hannah Shafiroff won this year’s contest!
Read on to learn more about Hannah, her tips and tools, and what has kept her inspired through the pandemic.
A recent graduate of Cal State Long Beach, Hannah Shafiroff lives in the South Bay and can often be seen with a sketchbook in tow. Her heartwarming and magical illustrations can be found at HannahShafiroff.com and on Instagram @ThatGalWhoDraws.
Continue reading16 Wednesday Jun 2021
Posted in Community Corner, Great News!, Toot Your Horn!
Have a topic you’d like to share with your fellow kidlit community? Want to share your process and inspire other writers or illustrators? Or maybe you have a list of incredible authors you’d like to interview but no idea where you can publish it? Let Kite Tales be your outlet for creative community and discussion!
Continue reading02 Wednesday Jun 2021
Posted in Great News!

SCBWI loves celebrating our members’ successes and noteworthy news, and there are many! Read on to find out who’s got something to shout about. Digital high-fives welcome in the comments!
12 Wednesday May 2021
Posted in Toot Your Horn!
Tags
biography, middle grade, picture book, published, publishing, SCBWI community, SCBWI members, young adult

SCBWI members’ publishing news is something to celebrate here at Kite Tales! Check out whose book is coming to a platform near you or around the world. Horn-tooting and digital hi-fives welcome in the comments!
17 Wednesday Feb 2021
Posted in Toot Your Horn!

SCBWI members’ publishing news is something to celebrate here at Kite Tales! Check out whose book is coming to a platform near you or around the world. Horn-tooting and digital hi-fives welcome in the comments!