Illustrators Share: How Writing Inspired Their Picture Book Art

Hi there! I’m Veronica Miller Jamison, and I’ve been the SCBWI guest blogger for the month of March. I’m a picture book illustrator, and my author-illustrator debut, The Stories In You: Inspired by the Wisdom of Toni Morrison (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) will be released later this year.

This month I’ve been blogging about how great writing can inspire the illustration process. I started by going behind the scenes of the first book I illustrated, A Computer Called Katherine, written by Suzanne Slade. Then I dove into the artistic process behind This Is A School, written by John Schu. Last week I talked about how I developed the main character design for Up Periscope! How Engineer Raye Montague Revolutionized Shipbuilding, written by Jennifer Swanson.

This week, I reached out to some illustrator friends to ask them how great writing inspired their book projects. 

Selina Alko - The Keeper of Stories

I met writer and illustrator Selina Alko when we both served on the board of ICON: The Illustration Conference between 2016 and 2018. Selina is a powerhouse - a prolific, award-winning picture book maker who creates vibrant, stunning artwork. Her latest book, Otherwise Known as Judy the Great, is an illustrated collection of poems celebrating author Judy Blume.

When we served on the ICON board together, I was working on my first picture book and stressing out a little – okay, stressing out a lot. Selina gave me the best piece of advice: “Let go of perfection.” That was permission enough for me to loosen my grip on my work and get back to having fun with creating, and I’ve carried that with me ever since. Any time I get stuck on a project, I come back to our conversation from all those years ago. So thank you, Selina!

Selina shared with me her process behind creating the art for The Keeper of Stories, written by Caroline Kusin Pritchard.

A passage from the manuscript that inspired Selina's artwork:

The people looked up at the wounded building, the one they had trusted for years.

They knew the truth.

That this keeper:

their keeper,

trusted them, too.

They couldn't let it down.

Hundreds of students and teachers, rabbis and pastors,

neighbors and strangers became "Operation Booklift."

They wound up the staircase like the flames had before,

forged together by stories.

Hand

over hand

over hand

over hand

they passed one drenched book down, then the next.

For two weeks, they lifted and reached, together:

An unbreakable human chain.

   Outstretched hands, keep our stories alive.

How Selina approached the art for this passage:

I depicted a diverse human chain in the cross-section of the charred building–- purposefully making the image almost abstract so the eye could focus on the zig zag of the staircase following the flow of helping humans. I wanted to get the feelings of seriousness and urgency across by using somber colors and rusty, burnt textures in the mixed media art. 

Interior spread for The Keeper of Stories, illustrated by Selina Alko.

Alleanna Harris - Oshún and Me: A Story of Love and Braids

Alleanna is my tri-state buddy (I live near Philadelphia, she’s in Southern New Jersey) and is a veteran illustrator of picture books about Black history and culture. Alleanna’s work is imbued with warmth and connection, and celebrates all corners of the Black diaspora.

Alleanna’s latest book, Prayer Is, written by Tameka Fryer-Brown, introduces young readers to prayer and its many different meanings. And her author-illustrator debut, O Holy Night: A Modern Day Christmas Carol, debuts with Bloomsbury Kids this fall!

Here, Alleana tells us about her work in Oshún and Me: A Story of Love and Braids, written by Adiba Nelson.

A passage from the manuscript that inspired Alleanna:

“The cowrie shells told Oshún how to help the people she loved. And because I love you, I put the cowries in your hair so you carry her protection with you. When you’re scared or sad, you can just touch your cowrie shell, and it will give you the strength and power of Oshún, the most beautiful and loving goddess.”

How Alleanna approached the art:

Creating the art was a straightforward, yet fun process. I wanted the illustration to be a literal representation of Adiba’s words, so I had to show little Yadira touching her cowrie shell and Oshún showing up to protect her. However, It was the very first time in the picture book where Yadira and Oshún interact directly, so I also looked at the passage as the perfect chance to symbolically show Oshun’s strength. 

I ended up illustrating Oshún behind Yadira, and touching her shoulder as if she was actively supporting her. I wanted to show Oshún’s power and strength as a sun-kissed, glowy, enveloping space, so I decided on having a golden yellow and orange background. I painted light emanating from Oshún’s gold gele, but I wanted the light to have movement and rhythm, so I sketched in a geometric pattern based on Yoruba Adire textiles. I also illustrated sunflowers growing around them because Oshún is always associated with sunflowers.

Interior illustration for Oshún and Me: A Story of Love and Braids, illustrated by Alleanna Harris.

Thank you Selina and Alleanna for sharing your work and process with us! And thank you to the good folks here at the SCBWI Blog for hosting me as your guest blogger for the month. I’ve enjoyed sharing my experience as a picture book illustrator and talking about the creative process with other artists. Until next time... keep creating! :)

• • •

Veronica Miller Jamison is surface pattern designer, fashion educator and illustrator of picture books. She is the illustrator of A Computer Called Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Helped Put America on The Moon (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2019), This Is A School, written by John Schu (Candlewick Press, 2022), and Up Periscope! How Engineer Raye Montague Revolutionized Shipbuilding, written by Jennifer Swanson (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2024). Veronica’s author-illustrator debut, The Stories In You: Inspired by the Wisdom of Toni Morrison, will be published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers in Fall 2026. Veronica lives near Philadelphia, PA. You can visit her at veronicajamisonart.com.

The Jewell Parker Rhodes Fellowship for Emerging Voices: An Interview with Jewell Parker Rhodes

The Jewell Parker Rhodes Fellowship for Emerging Voices

An Interview with Dr. Jewell Parker Rhodes

Dr. Jewell Parker Rhodes is a best-selling author and educator, whose breadth of work spans many genres. Dr. Rhodes has won the American Book Award, the Black Caucus of the American Library Award for Literary Excellence, and the Jane Addams Peace Association Book Award, and her works have been translated into many languages. 

Much like the stories she writes, full of empathy, collaboration and community, Dr. Rhodes has announced the Jewell Parker Rhodes Fellowship for Emerging Voices, securing her legacy and moving the dial forward for the next generation of authors and artists. We are so thankful to have Dr. Rhodes here on the blog to talk to us about her journey, her inspirations, and about this amazing award!

Thank you for joining us on the blog! Though you don't need an introduction, in your own words, please tell us about yourself.

I was a junior in college when I discovered black women wrote books! This was a revelation. Growing up, I read books all the time but they were always white worlds written by white authors. Discovering writers who looked like me and told stories about the African American community inspired me.  

 

I always knew I wanted to write for youth but for over 30 years, I wrote for adults. I was practicing my craft, but I was also waiting for the call--a voice I could hear inside my head. Dreaming about the devastation from Hurricane Katrina, I woke, hearing, "They say I was born with a caul, a skin netting covering my face like a glove. My mother died birthing me. I would've died, too, if Mama Ya Ya hadn't sliced the bloody membrane from my face." My character, Lanesha, was born. The first four pages of Ninth Ward burst out of me, effortless. Finally, a twelve year old girl was telling me her story. Since 2010, I've only written for youth.

I’m ASU’s Virginia G. Piper Endowed Chair in Creative Writing. For decades, I’ve been privileged to mentor hundreds of writing students. My writing journey has had its share of hardships, upheavals, setbacks as well as much success. I’ve learned the key is to keep doing what I love best—writing.  Persistence is the ultimate expression of resilience.

 

On influences & inspirations: Who are your writing inspirations? What influences your storytelling?

 

My grandmother was an oral African American storyteller. I’m always trying to capture her rhythms and honor the spiritual and ancestral traditions she shared with me. Toni Morrison, Virginia Hamilton, Walter Mosely, and Walter Dean Meyers are also inspirations for telling cultural stories through dialogue and narrative structure to enhance their social justice themes.

Tell us about this amazing award. What made you want to create this generous, and life-changing fellowship?

 

The Emerging Voices Fellowship honors my grandmother, my publisher Megan Tingley, and the entire Little Brown Books for Young Readers team. My hope is that a fellowship winner will feel seen, appreciated, and will grow in their craft, as I have, with professional editorial support. Grandmother taught me the power of love. This fellowship is my way of sharing love with fellow storytellers.

What are your thoughts on equity in the publishing world, and why it is important?

 

For decades, my work has been buffeted by racism and bias. I ignored rejections, knowing I only needed one "yes." Most importantly, I never stopped writing and I kept focused on the next project. And the next. Nothing good can happen if a writer doesn’t write.  

 

Today, publishers (along with teachers and librarians) are battling book bans and inspiring readership. I’m grateful. However, readership statistics still provide ample evidence that there is still a paucity of diverse stories. Every child deserves "windows and mirrors." How else will we be able to inspire the much needed next generation of writers?

 

 

If you had this opportunity as a young creative, how do you feel it would have impacted you today?

As a young creative, a fellowship would have provided financial relief for myself and my growing family. Significantly, it would have given me confidence and quieted demons of imposter syndrome. I might have achieved my goals sooner and with less anxiety. 

Before we go, tell us, what are you working on now?

I'm preparing to write the sequel to my novel, Treasure Island, Runaway Gold.

Open to submissions: February 25th , 2026

Closed to submissions: April 17th , 2026

Announce/inform winner: On or about August 3 rd , 2026

The Jewell Parker Rhodes Fellowship for Emerging Voices will award an annual $10,000 grant to an unpublished or self-published writer creating works for children. Created to honor Jewell Parker Rhodes’s legacy as a groundbreaking children’s author, the Fellowship uplifts emerging voices while addressing inequities in the publishing industry. This initiative aims to address inequities in the publishing industry by supporting writers whose work explores lesser-known histories of historically underserved communities for young readers.

Submission Requirements

1 The first (3) chapters of a novel targeted at a middle grade audience;

2 A comprehensive synopsis of the novel. 

Please submit materials as pdf, doc, or docx.

Eligibility Criteria

1 Applicants must be unpublished or self-published writers, as well as unagented.

2 Applicants must be a legal resident of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia.

3 Applicants must be 18 years of age or older as of February 25, 2026.

Award Details and Grantee Support

1 Grant Amount: $10,000

2 Professional Development: A U.S. $1,000 stipend to be utilized for a trip to New York City to meet with an LBYR editor and receive two rounds of feedback on their submission.

3 Submission Opportunity: The grantee will have the opportunity to have the submission reviewed by an LBYR editor for consideration of publication. Hachette waives any commitment to publish the selected manuscript.

Winner Selection

On or about July 13th, 2026, three (3) finalists will be selected by a panel of one (1) representative from the Sponsor’s Editorial team, one (1) representative from We Need Diverse Books, one (1) representative from Literary Agents of Change, and one (1) representative from The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI).

On or about August 3rd, 2026, one (1) winner will be selected from the pool of finalists by author Jewell Parker Rhodes using the following criteria:

1 Literary excellence, originality, voice targeted to the intended audience of the writing sample, and ability to reflect both middle grade and historically underserved experiences: 50% 

2 Clarity of vision for how the Grant will advance the winner’s writing career: 25%

3 Impact and relevance: Does the story offer representation or insights that are currently missing or underserved in middle grade literature? 25%

Judges’ decisions will be final and binding in all matters related to this Contest. In the event of a tie, the judges will reconsider the tied Submissions using the judging criteria stated above to determine one (1) Award winner. Sponsor reserves the right to not provide the Award if, in its sole discretion, it does not receive a sufficient number of eligible and qualified Submissions. Sponsor will not reveal the judging scores for any Submission.

Personality in Action: How Effective Characterization Inspires Main Character Design

Happy Thursday! I’m Veronica Miller Jamison, picture book illustrator and soon-to-be-published author-illustrator. I’m happy to join you as the guest blogger for the SCBWI Blog this month.

Last week, I shared how a few short lines in John Schu’s This Is A School inspired my first sketches for the book, and helped me create the visual narrative. This week, I’ll be going inside the process of creating the main character and one of my favorite illustrations from Jennifer Swanson’s Up Periscope: How Engineer Raye Montague Revolutionized Shipbuilding.

Up Periscope!: Personality in Action

Up Periscope! was a delightful manuscript to read and a fun book to research. Another American “hidden figure,” Raye Montague (much like Katherine Johnson) was a brilliant Black woman whose mind for math and computers helped push engineering forward. She was the first person to design a U.S. naval ship using a computer.

In reading both the manuscript and Raye Montague's biography, Overnight Code, I learned that Raye was gutsy, tenacious and spirited, which informed the way I designed and applied action to her character. One of my favorite details is that Raye took a job at the Navy as a typist, fully intending to teach herself the skills to become an engineer (whether her bosses liked it or not!). 

Jennifer captured Raye's ambitious spirit in her writing, demonstrating her tenacity as Raye tackled several obstacles throughout the story. The author emphasized Raye's moxie with this refrain: "Raye knew she could learn anything, do anything, and be anything!" So my goal was to bring that pluckiness to every piece of artwork. (Raye's bright eyes and gap-toothed smile made that an easy task!)

Character design for young and grown-up Raye Montague

The other “character” in the book is the UNIVAC computer, the first American computer designed for commercial business use. This thing was massive and intimidating. The interface was complicated, with all sorts of buttons, switches and knobs, and the rest of the equipment took up entire rooms. I collected just as many research images of the UNIVAC and people using it as I did of our heroine, Raye.

Image via Wikipedia.

Image via Wikipedia.

A spunky main character and a formidable piece of computer equipment come together in one of the turning points in the biography. Raye, who hadn’t been able to use the UNIVAC in her office but had been secretly taking classes at night, suddenly needed to jump in for a whole staff of engineers. Jennifer Swanson writes it like this (emphasis mine):

One day, all the men who ran the computer were too sick to come to work. Raye jumped up and took over. Although she’d never touched the machine before, she knew which buttons to push, which levers to flip, and which instructions to type to get the UNIVAC to solve calculations.

What would it look like for one woman to take over for a whole team of engineers? While my research photos showed multiple people working on the computer at once, I imagined Raye, with her boundless ambition and energy, “jumping up” (in Jennifer’s words) to fill all of those roles. The verbs “push,” “flip,” and “type,” led me to the different actions Raye could be doing around the computer, in a flurry of activity.

The original thumbnail sketch for this scene.

A smidge more detail. Emphasis on "smidge."

When it came to deciding on color, I wanted to use a more limited palette than my previous projects. Starting with my personal faves, cobalt and phthalo turquoise and naples yellow, I developed a range of hues and shades. The olive and chartreuse tones weren’t used in the book; I added pops of lilac and orange (complements of yellow and turquoise) instead.

Color swatches from my sketchbook. Acrylic paint was used here.

So for this spread, I thought orange was the perfect color to emphasize Raye’s flurry of movement around the aqua-colored UNIVAC equipment.

The final artwork!

The idea of Raye independently moving around the UNIVAC appears one more time, later in the story. This time though, she’s on deadline and exhausted. Dark purple is the predominant color here, and the color scheme is mostly monochromatic, as Raye is essentially living in this room and has become one with the UNIVAC. The one pop of color comes when the telephone rings with an important call.

Same idea, different scene, different stakes.

It was fun to play with this concept - one woman doing many jobs - in different scenes with different emotional states. And it was all inspired by the way the author used her words to describe a tenacious young woman proving how capable she is.

The bright-eyed and ambitious Raye Montague!

SCBWI Resources: Awards & Grants

Hello all!

I'm back with another entry where I share and highlight some of the fantastic resources that SCBWI has to offer to its members. Since joining in 2020, I still find new and exciting ways to engage, connect and grow as a member of SCBWI and the greater KidLit community. 

Today, I want to highlight:

AWARDS & GRANTS

With so many awards and grants, there is something for everyone. From the Emerging Voices to Featured Illustrator, there are awards and grants geared toward all facets of the community. 

Some of the awards are reoccurring, with some fast approaching, so be sure to visit the Awards & Grants page to check them out!

Here are a few with approaching deadline! 

 Karen Cushman Late Bloomer Award

Award info

The Karen and Philip Cushman Late Bloomer Award is for authors over the age of fifty who have not been traditionally published in the children’s literature field. The grant was established by Newbery Award winner and Newbery Honor Book recipient Karen Cushman and her husband, Philip Cushman, in conjunction with the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.  The award is open to unpublished children’s book authors or author/illustrators over the age of fifty, and one winner will be chosen from the pool of those who have submitted material for the SCBWI Work-in-Progress Awards. The winner will receive $500 and free tuition to any SCBWI conference anywhere in the world.

(Conference tuition includes tuition to the general conference, and does not include transportation, hotel, and expenses.) SCBWI reserves the right not to confer this award in any given year. 

Submissions NOW OPEN through March 31, 2026.

Work-in-Progress Awards

Award info

The SCBWI Work-In-Progress (WIP) Award assists children’s book writers and illustrators in the publication of a specific project currently not under contract. One winner per category will be selected. SCBWI reserves the right not to confer this award in any given year.

SUBMISSIONS NOW OPEN!

Submissions open March 1--March 31, 2026.

Don Freeman Grant

Award info

To assist illustrators in the completion of a book dummy or portfolio.

Don Freeman was a renowned illustrator and an early supporter of SCBWI. He established this award to enable picture book illustrators to further their understanding, training, and work in the picture book genre. Two grants of $1,000 each will be awarded annually. One grant to a published illustrator and one to a pre-published illustrator. The money may be used in any way to help you complete your project. Acceptable uses include: purchasing art supplies, enrollment in workshops or conferences, courses in advanced illustrating or writing techniques, travel for research or to expose work to publishers/art directors, or childcare. In any given year, the SCBWI reserves the right to withhold either or both of the grants for that year.

Submissions NOW OPEN through March 31, 2026.

Words That Evoke Emotion and Inspire Illustrations

Hey there! I’m Veronica Miller Jamison, picture book illustrator and soon-to-be-published author-illustrator (!). I’m happy to be the guest blogger for the SCBWI Blog this month.

Last week, I kicked off this series by sharing how Suzanne Slade’s writing in my first book project, A Computer Called Katherine inspired how I developed the art. This week I’ll be discussing the process of illustrating my book with the wonderful John Schu, This Is A School.

This Is A School: Leading with emotion

John Schu’s This Is A School is a loving poem that celebrates the school community and the spirit of learning. In this text, there is no narrative; instead the words describe the kinds of people a young student meets and the emotions they may experience as they connect and learn with others.

When I read the manuscript, I was reminded of that warm, first-day-of-school excitement by this passage:

Some days we get so excited,
We can’t wait to try something new.

These two lines inspired my first sketches for the book. I created a character (inspired by childhood photos of my husband) who is unabashedly excited about learning. My initial drawings show him bounding up the steps toward school and enthusiastically raising his hand in class. 

Top: Initial sketches of the character "DJ" in This Is A School. Bottom: A newspaper clipping of the real-life DJ in elementary school.

From there, I created a character map, brainstorming words to describe his personality and traits, and how he would react to different situations throughout the book. Mulling over the phrase “can’t wait to try something new,” I decide this character would be a budding scientist, who is awestruck as he tackles his first experiments (with safety goggles, of course!) in the classroom.

When I started work on This Is A School, I was in the middle of a couple of creative explorations. First, I had been experimenting with a collage technique that combined traditional and digital tools. I created swatches of colors and texture using watercolor and acrylic paint, then scanned those swatches into my iPad so I could build collaged illustrations in Procreate. 

Secondly, I had come across the charming work of French illustrator and author Alain Gree. I was absolutely enchanted by his warm, joyful colors and adorable, cut-out-like characters. 

An illustration by Alain Grée.

When it came time to send a piece of sample art to Candlewick, I created an illustration of my first character that combined my hybrid technique with my newfound source of inspiration.

A sample character illustration I created for This Is A School.

Once I was clear on my visual direction, I fleshed out the visual narrative of the book by creating more characters. As mentioned above, the text for This Is A School is an ode to the universal experiences of starting school as a young child; the artwork would create a cast of students, each of whom would have their own journey throughout the book. As I did with my first character, I brainstormed the traits and personality of each subsequent character. 

Though they are not shared in the book, each character has a name. (Some of them have changed since the initial sketches.) It’s fun to watch Mr. Schu reveal the names when he discusses This Is A School in his presentations.

There’s Noah, who is shy and anxious about his first day of school, and who finds his gifts as he makes friends.

There’s Callie, modeled after my niece, who is super-friendly and outgoing, and faces a challenge when she needs to stay home from school for a few days.

There’s the first character created, DJ, who is enthusiastic about learning and loves science.

There’s Evie, who I like to think of as a future president - confident and determined, and born to be a leader. She’s inspired by the daughter of a good friend.

There’s Imani, who is comfortably introverted and observant, and doesn’t mind going on solo explorations. 

There’s Nate, who is sweet and energetic, but has some learning challenges. He blossoms when he learns he can count on his teachers and friends.

There’s Ava, whose curiosity gets her into a bit of a pickle in the classroom.

And there are the twins, Sam and Nat, who I had so much fun animating in each spread. You can get a sense of their infectious energy whenever they show up.

The last ingredient was developing the color palette for This Is A School. As mentioned above, each time I read the manuscript, I became enveloped in that warm, happy, first-day-of-school feeling. So I chose colors that would be warm, saturated, bright, and welcoming. I experimented with different color mixtures, and then created larger swatches of paint that I scanned into my iPad.

Color palette blobs.

While I started with an intention to use primary colors (including my favorite, Naples yellow), it wasn’t long before turquoise and orange emerged as the main colors for our school community. They appear in almost every spread - at the front entrance of the school, in the hallways, in the library, and in the gym.

Turquoise and orange are also the main characters in the endpapers, where, as I mentioned in my previous post, I admittedly have a lot of fun. 🙂

Ahhhh, endpapers! :)

So there you have it! A poetic line about a familiar feeling inspired a journey of creative explorations that coalesced into the artwork for This Is A School. My hope is that young readers recognize the different emotions that they feel when starting a new school year, and that for them, school becomes a place of learning, curiosity and acceptance.

SCBWI Resources: SCBWI University

From SCBWI:

We're excited to announce the launch of SCBWIU this April-a brand-new learning series designed exclusively for SCBWl members! Kicking off with a dynamic series of online classes via Zoom, this is an exceptional opportunity to learn from top industry experts and elevate your skills in children's literature.

Over the course of three consecutive weeks, we'll explore a different genre each quarter, beginning with Picture Books. The first mini-intensive will feature three 90-minute sessions, focusing on refining your writing craft and deepening your understanding of the genre. 

Led by renowned industry professionals, award-winning authors, and celebrated illustrators, our dynamic program empowers you to hone your craft, build meaningful connections, and gain the confidence to bring your stories to life. These sessions will leave you well-equipped to prepare your work for submission or publication by the end of the series.

Every quarter, we'll introduce a new track of three classes, each carefully designed to take your writing and/or illustrating to the next level.

The full three-week course is available to members for $199. Please note that the series is not available for individual class purchase. Don't miss out on this fantastic chance to invest in your creative growth with SCBWIU!