Finding Your Feet - Tita Berredo

Tita Berredo volunteering for SCBWI at the Bologna Children's Book Fair 2023

Hello again, everyone! 

Are you ready to know about my story with SCBWI? Here we (FINALLY) go!

I joined SCBWI as soon as I finished my Master's. I was yet again in a new country, this time Scotland, knowing zero people and without a clue of where to start. Suddenly, I was more than “not alone”, I was surrounded by peers — extremely talented people at different career levels — who welcomed me simply because I wanted to be part of it. I think most of us know how that feels; we’ve all been there. If you’re here reading this, you certainly have.

My first connection with SCBWI was through the Glasgow local group. We would meet once a month in a library, share our manuscripts, exchange experiences, and share, well, our feelings. That sense of belonging was such an important one on many levels. It kept me active, it kept me engaged, it kept me working and networking. And I quickly realised something else about it and about myself: I liked sharing in that space, and I liked making those moments happen and last.

The more I participated in events, the more I thought, “hey, I could organise something like that too”. The thing about organisations run by volunteers is that everyone helping each other. Everyone is keen on sharing, collaborating, and giving space to those who are proactive and have time and experience to offer.

That’s when things really expanded. I went from helping locally to hosting the Picture Book Retreat — one of my favourite SCBWI experiences ever. Bringing together authors, illustrators, and industry professionals for a weekend of deep creative focus felt like the perfect blend of everything I love: community, craft, and a good dose of organised chaos. I also became involved in SCBWI conferences, helping plan sessions, support speakers, and create spaces where people could learn and connect. Soon I was being called to volunteer at international events, like in Bologna, and I was lucky enough to pair that on the same year that one of my projects was selected to be featured at the Bologna Children's Book Fair. Being part of the SCBWI presence at the BCBF was a whole different level of energy — international, inspiring, and a little overwhelming in the best possible way. Helping run those events, meeting creators from all over the world, and representing our region on that stage was one of those “wow"moments of thinking volunteering really takes you places.

I kept “graduating” through different levels of volunteering, just like when you start a job as an intern and then work your way up until you are the manager. The more I shared, the more experience I gained to share, and the more people wanted to collaborate with me. From speaking up in a local group, I went to hosting meet-ups, to organising book launches, to interviewing publishers, to being featured in an online magazine (and then helping run it!), to hosting conferences, to being a guest speaker!

This year I had my very own panel at the SCBWI NY Winter Conference, and it was so rewarding to see so many people recognising me from the dozens of other events that I participated and hosted. The more I put myself out there, the more opportunities came, and the more experienced and confident I became to do more of it. That’s the thing about confidence: you gain it by doing things!

The best thing is that, at the same time I was doing all of these things, the more people were getting to know my work by extension. Remember last week, when I said that I kept chasing different ways to share my art and expand my network? Now I can say that the best way, in my opinion, was becoming a SCBWI volunteer. It's such great spotlight for creators, which generates a natural self promotion. Also, publishers looove creators who like to show up beyond their work.

I am not saying that you should be volunteering, or that you must network all the time. This kind of self exposure suited my personality, but it can be a lot to ask of creators. So if it's not your cup of tea, don't feel pressured or guilted to do it – your priority is your craft, everything else comes after that. What I am saying is that volunteering in this community is such a big part of who I am, because it suits so much who I’ve always been.

The funny thing is... you find your feet by walking.

Next Thursday will be my last piece of writing for this series, and I'll do my best to make an extra special finale.

See you then, beijos!

Tita Berredo is a Brazilian children’s writer and illustrator. She holds an MA in Children’s Literature and Illustration from Goldsmiths UOL and a BA in Marketing from PUC-Rio. Her work has been recognised internationally, including a London's House of Illustration award and selection for the Bologna Children's Book Fair. She has illustrated books for the US and Brazil, and is making her author–illustrator debut with a Seuss Studios early reader published by Random House Children's.

Tita is the Illustrator Coordinator for SCBWI International Central, and a Picture Book reviewer for My Book Corner. 

Find Tita's work at www.titaberredo.com follow her on Instagram: @titaberredo

Combatting "Resistance"

Hello, my friends! 

How are we all doing out there? I hope that you are creating as best as you can! The new year has started and as resolutions go— New year, new you...right?

For me? I am feeling pretty angsty about it all. Or as I've come to call it "Resistant", with a capital "r." I've been showing up to my work, yes, and working toward my goals, yes...but there is still a bit of paralysis, resistance and clunkiness. And in talking to my art friends, they are feeling somewhat same thing. 

Knowing that I have goals, deadlines and accomplishments to—well—accomplish, I thought back to a book my mentor gifted me that has help me push pass some of my hang ups about my art and my creative life. With all of these feelings cropping up, and being a solutions-based person, I decided it was time for a revisit.

Introducing— The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. A book that my high school theater teacher assigned to his classes, he gave me a copy as I was making my way into the creative sphere, at that point as a professional dancer and musical theater artist.

This book has reshaped and rewired my brain around the thought of being a creative and what it means to push through the "war" that all artists are destined to wage with, what Steven Pressfield calls, Resistance ("self-sabotage, procrastination, fear, arrogance, self-doubt"). Though I am halfway through a reread of Pressfield's book, here are some quotes that I've highlighted to share with you.

“The most important thing about art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying.”

Just show up. Show up. Show up. This is, sometimes, the hardest part. As a perfectionist myself, I know I try to wait for the "perfect" routine to recreate the "perfect" environment to create the "perfect" work but I can't think of all that. I just need to sit down and meet the work. This is a bug war I wage with my anxiety and perfectionist brain and it is a great reminder to just "work."

And once you sit down to try your hand at whatever you set out to do, this next quote comes into play:

“This is the other secret that real artists know and wannabe writers don’t. When we sit down each day and do our work, power concentrates around us. The Muse takes note of our dedication. She approves. We have earned favor in her sight. When we sit down and work, we become like a magnetized rod that attracts iron filings. Ideas come. Insights accrete.”

Below there is an interview where Steven Pressfield spoke about the Muse and how, we as artists function as sort of conduits to the creative—the ideas, sparks of inspiration, and art making being funneled into, and channeled out of us due to our dedication to sit and create. When we sit, we tell the universe we are ready to receive that spark. 

"Creative work is not a selfish act or a bid for attention on the part of the actor. It’s a gift to the world and every being in it."

When asked to say a few words about the word "art" in the interview below, this is what Steven had to say: "In many crazy, mysterious ways, it's the highest form of a human gift that one can give to other human beings..." 

When you remember why you create art, and whom its for, I think it helps tap you into a different sense of being and purpose. Art is the gift we give to one another, and I know we all understand and feel that on a molecular level—that is is the highest and most precious gift we can give to other human beings...especially the small ones in which we create for.

So as my predecessor, Lee Wind, used to say—"ILLUSTRATE AND WRITE ON!" 

Entering the World of Children's Books

Tita Berredo and the girl from her picture book, The Dress

Hello everyone, it's nice to see you again!

Alright, recap: I moved to the UK, took a Master’s in Children’s Literature and Illustration, and then I was out there in this new world with a portfolio under my arm.

I think it's important to share some really valuable lessons I took from my MA. One of them is how much weight we carry in the social responsibility of making books for children: how we can positively affect their lives with character shaping, sharing windows and mirrors to the world and offering a safe and empowering space to deal with their own emotions. 

The other one is how much you learn about yourself by experiment and play. It might seem contradicting but the more you share your work with peers and follow other’s works, the more you learn about how different you are and can be. What I mean in practical terms is that we all start drawing or writing for ourselves. Once we take it seriously we start thinking we must draw and write for others, only to find out that most of it is noise and you can only really connect to the other by doing it for yourself.

6 yo me wearing a dress I made of wrappings 

2017 developing my style with colours at Goldsmiths UOL

As human beings, our first instinct when arriving at a new environment is to mimic the others there. It’s safe and natural, but the more we get comfortable in such an environment the more we can show our differences in order to be authentic. Though, to get comfortable one must take risks and try to expand which brings me to the next step of my journey.

The first thing I did when I was out in the world as a recent “kid lit”  graduate was to share my work at any opportunity I had. That’s when I saw that the London Book Fair had a paid space for illustrators to showcase their artwork. It was provided by the Association of Illustrators and you could pay to put up two large canvases with your work printed on. I became a member of the AOI to get a discount, and that actually led me to an incredible community of artists for which I would end up volunteering, like SCBWI. Anyway, that two canvas option was a great one, because it meant that I could play it safe and take a risk. I then chose to exhibit two very different styles: a cutesy and traditional one with perfectly connected outlines filled with colourful anthropomorphised animals, that I thought would please publishers; and an edgy and expressively artsy one with rough brushstrokes and splashes of one bold colour, that pleased ME. 

Goldsmiths University of London Degree show 2018

London Book Fair 2019

My traditional cutesy more commercial style

My edgy and artsy more ME style

If I had to choose only one style to showcase, there’s a big probability I would have gone with the safe traditional style that was similar to every other children's illustrator, and would have been lost in the crowd. Don't get me wrong, the more traditional style is also full of me, and I still use it for some commercial work – and, most importantly, it pays bills whenever I have to compromise. But it is so important to keep a space where  you can develop something just for you, because it will set you apart and make you stand out. Showing both sides of me – of what I could do and what I wanted to do – was key for my creative career. I wish I could tell my younger self what a smart move that was at the time. It led me to my first professional jump: being scouted by my agent – who fell in love with… the ME style!

There’s another important lesson here: you should always show your work at any stage you are, even if you think you are not ready. As creators we are incredibly attached to our egos and surprisingly blind to our own potential. That affects our decisions about when, how, and if we share our work. The best favour we can do for ourselves is to doubt our insecurities and let other people judge our work for themselves. I was still quite raw and needing some shaping on the narrative side, but my agent saw the potential of my work and bet her chips into mentoring me. Because, as a professional, she could see beyond the stage I was and knew exactly what I needed to get there. So, when you do show your work as is, you allow others to decide what’s ready, what's appealing, or in need of development themselves – and trust me, they are better at it and more forgiving than you.

My agent, Sorche Fairbank, and I during a meeting at the Bologna Children's Book Fair 2023

After this change of perspective, I realised something similar about contests, showcases, submissions and reviews: it's all so very subjectively personal that you have to keep looking for people who share something with you personally. In other words, it's the people who are a bit like you who will connect with the you in your work. So the main point of submitting your work is multiplying the chances of your work being seen by the people like you! I applied this perspective to my own goals, which also helped to overcome any fear rejection. If someone is not into my work, they're either not enough like me or I might not be showing myself that well through my work in some way – and I can always revisit my work under this healthy perspective.

As you can see, even after being agented, I kept chasing different ways to share my art and expand my network. The best way in my opinion, was yet to come... which will bring me to SCBWI.

I know that's where I stopped last time, but you are watching it unfolds as we go.  ;)

See you next Thursday! Beijos!

Tita Berredo is a Brazilian children’s writer and illustrator. She holds an MA in Children’s Literature and Illustration from Goldsmiths UOL and a BA in Marketing from PUC-Rio. Her work has been recognised internationally, including a London's House of Illustration award and selection for the Bologna Children's Book Fair. She has illustrated books for the US and Brazil, and is making her author–illustrator debut with a Seuss Studios early reader published by Random House Children's.

Tita is the Illustrator Coordinator for SCBWI International Central, and a Picture Book reviewer for My Book Corner. 

Find Tita's work at www.titaberredo.com follow her on Instagram: @titaberredo

Golden Kite Awards 2026

To kick off the 2026 Virtual Winter Conference, on February 6th, SCWBI held the Golden Kite Awards ceremony for the best children's literature published in 2025.

Open to the public, with opportunities to mix and mingle with the Golden Kite finalists and winners in a virtual "afterparty," it was a wonderful celebration of these outstanding book creators and their books! 

Watch the recorded live stream HERE on SCBWI YouTube.

*  *  *

Sid Fleischman Award for Humor

Honoree

Big Changes for Plum! 

by Matt Phelan 

(Greenwillow Books) 

Winner

Never Take Your Rhino on a Plane 

written by KE Lewis and illustrated by Isabel Roxas

(Clarion)

*  *  *

Picture Book Text

Honoree

Fireworks 

written by Matthew Burgess and illustrated by Catia Chien 

(Clarion)

Winner

We Go Slow 

written by Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie and illustrated by Aaron Becker 

(Atheneum)

*  *  *

Picture Book Illustration

Honoree

Fireworks 

written by Matthew Burgess and illustrated by Catia Chien 

(Clarion)

Winner

When Alexander Graced the Table 

illustrated by Frank Morrison and written by Alexander Smalls and Denene Millner 

(Denene Millner Books)

*  *  *

Nonfiction Text for Younger Readers

Honoree

One Girl's Voice: How Lucy Stone Helped Change the Law of the Land 

written by Vivian Kirkfield illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon

(Calkins Creek)

Winner

Some of Us: A Story of Citizenship and the United States 

written by Rajani LaRocca and illustrated by Huy Voun Lee

(Christy Ottaviano Books)

*  *  *

Nonfiction Text for Older Readers

Honoree

A World Without Summer: A Volcano Erupts, A Creature Awakens, and the Sun Goes Out

written by Nicholas Day and illustrated by Yas Imamura 

(Random House Studio)

Winner

White Lies: How the South Lost the Civil War, Then Rewrote the History

written by Ann Bausum

(Roaring Brook Press)

*  *  *

Middle Grade Fiction

Honoree

Gabby Torres Gets a Billion Followers

by Angela Dominguez 

(Roaring Brook Press)

Winner

Once for Yes

by Allie Millington 

(Feiwel and Friends)

*  *  *

Illustrated Book for Older Readers

Honoree

Lu and Ren's Guide to Geozoology

by Angela Hsieh 

(Quill Tree Books)

Winner

Song of a Blackbird

by Maria van Lieshout

(First Second)

*  *  *

Young Adult Fiction

Honoree

Island Creatures 

by Margarita Engle 

(Atheneum)

Winner

Song of a Blackbird

by Maria van Lieshout

(First Second)

Congratulations again to the finalists, honorees, and winners! To purchase books from the SCBWI Golden Kite Award finalists, honors, and winners, visit The SCBWI Bookshop page! 

A Whole New World: Changing careers to fulfil your passion

Tita Berredo - Children's Writer Illustrator

Hello everyone, I am so excited to be a guest here! \o/

For those who don’t know me I’m a Brazilian children’s writer and illustrator, based in Scotland (I married a Glaswegian and someone had to move). Since I moved to the UK I have been actively engaged with the kids lit community, volunteering for SCBWI, the Society of Authors, and the Association of Illustrators. There’s no doubt that I was able to explore and expand the most with SCBWI by becoming a volunteer from the get go. I was Illustrator Coordinator of the British Isles for years, and now that I am moving back to Rio I am the IC for the International Central.

Connecting with this community has been a great joy for me, and through the years it’s proven to be an excellent way to exercise a myriad of skills I actually use for the career I've chosen. Whether it is practicing communication, networking, writing articles, hosting events, meeting people from different countries and backgrounds, learning, sharing... all of that makes me be a better creator. Books after all have everything to do with human connection. So, when the lovely Justin Campbell asked me to write a four part blog post I thought that the best thing I could share is how I found myself and grew by nurturing these connections.

SCBWI at the Bologna Children's Book Fair  2025

SCBWI British Conference 2024

Interestingly, but not uncommon in this industry, this wasn’t my first profession. Like most people, I was very young when I had to make a choice of what to study and work with. In my late teens all I knew was that I hated maths. I was good with art and literature, but that was not considered a good enough foundation for a normative profession by my parents or the society I lived in. They weren't wrong, but they also weren't right. I was good at many things, was theatrical and entertaining, very sociable, and no doubt a  creative. So as a middle ground between what I was good at and what was acceptable, I ended up in social communications at PUC University in Rio. In retrospect, it was a great foundation to what was to come later. I was able to experiment in different areas like cinema, journalism, and marketing. Ironically, on every area I worked with I would always end up drawing and making stories: in marketing I made logos and commercials; in journalism I wrote journeys and illustrated the editorial headers; and in cinema, well, I’d often work with animations. So…, I guess we can agree there were a few clues on the way, huh?

Me at the age of ten, I was always drawing 

Anyway, I was already into a mixed career in publicity and marketing when one thing really changed my life (and it’s not even a thing): my husband. Martin was living in Singapore when we met on a trip to Chile with friends (yes, very international, very romantic). Jump ahead a little bit and suddenly I was living in Singapore, speaking a second language, and reinventing myself under adulthood’s autonomy – away from parents' and cultural expectations. 

Autonomy means freedom in many levels. For me it meant freedom to play again with my original passions. Everyday I would draw something different and make a little story about it for Martin, until he said the obvious thing that I actually had never heard from outside my head before: you love this, and you have a talent, go take it seriously. That was the very start of what would become a happy and fulfilled life based on a career that deeply reflects who I am.

In my studio in Glasgow, with my cat Juca 

I was already deeply focused on children's publishing and picture book making when we moved to London in 2017. There I enrolled in a Master’s degree in Children’s Literature and Illustration at Goldsmiths. Note, I did a Master’s because I also wanted to teach – you don’t need that to make books and become published. But that really opened up my horizons and helped me develop my art along self expression rather than pleasing a public (hmm, I should have learned that but then, wasn’t this the whole point of changing careers?). When I finished the MA we moved to Glasgow in Scotland, and there I was: a new beginning, in a different country, in a different language, and a new career knowing zero people. Then I met SCBWI.

MA at Goldsmiths with Axel Scheffler 2017

Early sketches for the MA degree show 2017

Well, I shall leave a gap between then and now so I can share it in different ways on the next posts (I still have three to go, and there’s a whole lot of fun to explore). The point is: I took a long circuitous path to end up where I always was supposed to be, and this probably made me better at it. I was able to reinvent (or, in this case, rescue) myself and grow in a completely different industry from scratch within a few years. That’s to say that wherever you are in your life, you can always change your career, you can also work with different things that reflect you or not, or keep a side job that allows you to pursue a passion. Our priorities change, our limits shift, and we should always be open to changing our minds. Because there’s no doubt that you will always be who you are, even if you don’t end up where you were meant to be. It might be a cliché, but “be yourself” is never overrated.

Presenting for SCBWI at the Bologna Children's Book Fair 2025

Whoah, that was a philosophical trip down memory lane! Next time I’ll jump ahead and talk about more recent discoveries, how I was able to generate new opportunities and learn to deal with them professionally. 

See you then! Beijos! (that’s kisses in Portuguese)

Tita Berredo is a Brazilian children’s writer and illustrator. She holds an MA in Children’s Literature and Illustration from Goldsmiths UOL and a BA in Marketing from PUC-Rio. Her work has been recognised internationally, including a London's House of Illustration award and selection for the Bologna Children's Book Fair. She has illustrated books for the US and Brazil, and is making her author–illustrator debut with a Seuss Studios early reader published by Random House Children's.

Tita is the Illustrator Coordinator for SCBWI International Central, and a Picture Book reviewer for My Book Corner. 

Find Tita's work at www.titaberredo.com follow her on Instagram: @titaberredo