Picture Book Alchemy with Rachel Bright - The Art of Books for Children (and their grown-ups!) and the ingredients that make them magical

Saturday, December 13th

Time: 1.30pm-3pm ET, 10.30am-12pm PT, 6.30pm-8pm British time

1hr presentation with 30min Q&A.

Registration will close at 1 PM on Friday, December 12th, 2025

In this far reaching, inspiring talk, Rachel Bright, much-loved, multi-award-winning and internationally multi-million-copy, best-selling author and illustrator delves into the magical world of books for families and the very particular ingredients that make them special.

She will explore the (perhaps infinite!) opportunities to find ideas in the world and enjoying rhyme and rhythm as well as developing the skill of creating the perfect space between where the words end and the pictures start. She also speaks on making sure every word and brush stroke earns its place on the page and it’s time in precious adult-child reading time.

Touching on tackling big, universal ideas, perfectly presented in small, intriguing packages, she will draw from her 17 years of experience and her journey publishing more than 44 books across many major publishing houses, (now translated into more than 50 languages), as well as comparing collaboration with world-leading illustrators and illustrating and designing her own author-illustrated titles. Perhaps most importantly of all she will inspire you to find – and trust - your own voice in the world – and share it with many. A talk to spark every imagination!

Short overview of topics covered (though there will be more!):

- Inspirations, heroes and the evolution of children’s books through time

- My journey into writing & illustrating children’s books (quite a few twists and turns!)

- Rhyme, rhythm & humour – why playfulness with words is so appealing

- How every word must earn its’ place on the page (the editorial process)

- What is special about picture books and early reading and how we bring this into our creative practice with reverence

- Narrative arcs and pacing

- Knowing the ‘rules’ so you can bend (and break!) them

- The right book in the right hands at the right time – why good children’s literature is a symphony of story lovers (not a solo or duet) and the power of librarians, teachers, booksellers, parents and caregivers in the world of children’s books – teamwork makes the dreamwork and community is everything.

- Author-illustrating and collaborating – the wonderful benefits of doing both

- Translation, stories that travel and seeing stories leap beyond the page into other formats (TV, theatre etc.)

- Starting now – and keeping going for as long as it feels joyful – almost irrespective of the outcome (Purpose, Pleasure, Challenge). If you have words in your soul – the world will hear them

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You can find your confirmation and the Zoom link on your member home page under My events. The button is located between your News feed and Resources buttons.

If you do not receive your registration confirmation, please email [email protected] with “(name of event) registration issue” in the subject line. Emails must be sent no later than 24 hours prior to an event to ensure a response.

A link to a recording of this event will be emailed the day after the webinar and will be available to registered attendees for 30 days.

Premium member price: $15

Regular price: $30

You must be an SCBWI member and logged in to your SCBWI member account to register.

Not a member yet? Learn more here.

Critique price: $70

(Critiques are non-refundable)

Details for Critiques:

You can submit either a Word Document or PDF book dummy (but note that critique will be mostly on writing).

Maximum word count 800 words, or for dummies up to 800words/40 pages.

Please send your submission in as one either Word or PDF document under 5MB.

Manuscripts need to be submitted by December 15th to Mirka Hokkanen at [email protected].

Name your file in this format: Lastname_manuscript (Example: Jones_manuscript)

Note: if you have a current paid SCBWI membership, you are now a Premium Member.