I’m excited to tell you about a great idea that hopefully spreads to picture book lovers and students everywhere!
About two years ago, I received a group email sent by Carolyn Crimi, one of my favorite picture book authors (whose latest picture book JADEN NOTICED is awesome btw!) Carolyn was reaching out to a wide range of local folks to see if they would be interested in meeting regularly to talk about picture books.
The idea came from a spontaneous encounter at a local bookshop. In the children’s section with the store’s owner, Carolyn and a third person began pouring through bunches of current picture books. “It’s been hard to keep up with what’s being published now,” Carolyn says, “and it was so fun to talk about picture books, I wanted a way to keep the conversation going.”
I’ve heard the same complaint from many industry insiders (like book editors, marketers, and public relations folks). Before social media splintered, anyone interested in children’s books could follow a few trusted blogs or Kidlit Twitter to learn about the newest, buzziest picture books from educators, librarians, indie bookstores, and others who LOVED the genre (and were not being paid to promote certain books!) As social media changed and grew more heavily monetized, quality information about the newest books scattered. The information about current trends is no longer in one or two places, it’s in one or two hundred places!
After that first spontaneous conversation, Carolyn put together a regular group that she (with author Pamela Dell) started calling The PB Jammers! (PBJ and it’s kind of a jam session, get it?) It’s a group of up to twenty folks who attend a monthly picture book discussion at The Book Stall, a local independent bookstore; but the meeting is open and welcoming to anyone who shows up.
Here’s how the group works:
-Meetings are held monthly at a local bookshop for an hour. No pressure, attendance varies.
-At each meeting, a member volunteers to be the book chooser for the next meeting.
-That person brings in five CURRENT (or newish/unusual) picture books. These can come from bookshop purchases, personal collections, or a library.
-After 10-15 minutes of chit chat, the book chooser reads the first book.
-The group discusses what they noticed in both text and art, liked or didn’t like.
-Everyone laughs, thinks, and learns about new books (and each other!) The conversation often continues over dinner at a local restaurant.
That’s it. Sounds simple? It is! But like a picture book there are many layers at work here. First, it creates community among local picture book creators. Second, it provides opportunities to share information and advice with current books as models. Third, it keeps people aware of other perspectives. Fourth, it supports a local bookstore. And last, if you love picture books it IS super fun!
Travel and school visits have prevented me from attending often, but I recently stopped in and participated in a lively discussion with a group of published and pre-published writers (a few talented folks illustrate also). Here’s what they had to say about their participation:
“It slows down my reading,” said Leslie Johnson Piotrowski, debut picture book author of the upcoming, The Northbound Train, “and helps me analyze picture books in a new way.”
“I feel like newer books take more chances,” said veteran author Bev Patt whose latest book MORE THAN A THIEF takes on the legend of Lizzie Borden.
This group “shows me my own blind spots” commented author Zach von Zonk. His hilarious book OLD MACDONALD HAD A FARM E-I-UF-O is out from Chronicle now!
In addition to reconnecting with local authors I’ve known for years, a new friend, Allison Souter, introduced me to some fiction picture books I may not have seen any other way:
“Cat Nap” by Brian Lies, Greenwillow Books
“The Dictionary Story” by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston, Candlewick
“A World of Kisses” by Marta Morros Serret and Mariona Tolosa Sisteré, Nubeocho
“The Humble Pie” by Jory John, HarperCollins
“I Go Quiet” by David Ouimet, Norton Young Readers
Talking about picture books is essential to writing them, illustrating them, or using them in the classroom. Is there a bookshop in your area with a children’s department? Is there a way you can meet on a video conferencing platform? Then I hope you grab a bunch of book buddies and ‘Jam’ about picture books on a regular basis!
THE WINNER of the March 3rd giveaway of HOUDINI’S LIBRARY is…Heather Fagan! CONGRATS to Heather, I’ll be sending a book out to you soon!
What a fun group! I wonder if anyone has tried this online?
This sounds great and I love the idea of doing this in person. I will be doing it online for the first time in May with picture books that have been chosen for our group. I can hardly wait. It certainnly is an awesome way to find comps.
I just KNOW it will go well Deb, have fun!
That’s great! What a wonderful idea! Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome! They’re a great group!
Colby Sharp and Betsy Bird and two of my go-tos for new book recommendations. It can be hard to meet IRL. This book community sounds awesome!
Even folks like Colby and Betsy are hard to follow in the same way now, I miss the days of the random Book Twitter recs, especially the teacher community as a NF writer , but maybe that’s just me.
Love this idea.
Hope you find or found a group!
It IS fun! And enlightening! And we usually continue our conversations down the street at a local restaurant, because we love, love , love talking picture books.
Thanks for the shout-out, Barb! There’s a goodreads giveaway on my book right now if anyone is feeling lucky:-)
Write on!
Thanks for that fun evening, Bev!
I love Carolyn Crimi and ALL her books! I wish I lived closer so I could join the PB jammers.
Her new book is GREAT Kathy!
I love this idea and am turning ideas around in my head. Community is the best part of the kidlit world, in my opinion! Great post, Barb! And great idea, Carolyn!
Always wish I had more book community! Carolyn had a great idea here!
How FUN!! Such a great idea.
It was very fun!
You should try, Robin!
A brilliant idea by Carolyn! It’s hard to keep on top of new releases, and hearing about them from a jam of friends who are fellow book creators is a double-win!
I, too, miss the old days when we had online networks both national and in Iowa where everyone could share resources and announce new books and finds and encourage each other. What treasures those were! BUT I also want to share what our PB group has been doing for years now because we have a structure that really works for us, and it may work for you. We started as an “in-person group,” but during the pandemic, we switched to online, and have remained so. I am now in a different state, so it really works for me! We meet the second Wednesday of every month. There are usually between four and six of us. Once a year, we select themes and months when we will be the “presenter.” What that means is that, for example, I have picture book biography in June. I research the PB bios that have come out in the last two years–and yes, it takes time and there are many sources, but it is a great adventure. (We try to focus on text only for selection; there are no illustrators in our group.) After I’ve identified my favorites–and I may make my selections not only on language, story development, interest, etc. but also on variety and new approaches as well as back matter–I look to see which of the books have either read-alouds and/or are in the local libraries of the members of our group. We have chosen to select between four to six books a month plus one or two “bonus books.” I send out an email letting group members know which books we will be discussing. When we meet, we take the books one at a time, and we discuss them. Because it’s my month, I’m a kind of facilitator of the discussion, but really, we pretty much just take turns sharing our comments and then move on. I should share that we have a standing joke in our group that, basically, almost no book escapes this process unscathed. As picture book writers ourselves, we are extremely critical, but it is in the spirit of learning how to write better. We also, of course, highlight what we like about each book. This has worked or us for many years, so maybe it will work for some of you.