EVENTS SCBWI Picture Book Retreat 2024

'What can I say about my first SCBWI picture book retreat… ‘Oh blimey!’ (obviously said in Tita Berredo’s funny phony accent)" Karen Barrett reports from the latest SCBWI Picture Book retreat.

 

After enjoying a G&T at the nearby pub with the first of many friendly faces, I was welcomed to Holland House with cake, before we assembled in the chapel for introductions. Surprisingly, greeting 25+ like-minded creatives all at once was not intimidating at all, and we were soon cheering Tita’s recent publishing success like old friends. With no time to waste, we enjoyed our first evening meal before a talk from the lovely Molly Littleboy, Senior Editor at Hachette Children’s Group, where we learned the journey of a manuscript from acquisitions to marketing can often take around two years.

 

For some of us, Saturday started with a rather soggy run before we were absorbed in three hours of experimentation with the talented author/illustrator/designer, Chris Haughton, combining two opposing styles of artwork or writing. After lunch, we had a workshop with the award-winning author, Caryl Hart, who, even after 80+ published books to her name, still sometimes questions if her own work is any good. Caryl explained that creating stories for children is challenging, and we should not be complacent in an ever-changing industry. Caryl reminded us that our stories should have heart, be believable and have emotional honesty, and told from the perspective of the audience we are writing for. Reasons for rejection vary too; a submission might be out of fashion momentarily, not the right style for that agent/publisher, or too like something else which has just been accepted.

 

 

Saturday afternoon allowed some of us free time to reflect, read, write, draw, chat, or sleep (!), while others had their 1-2-1s. Before dinner, we were invited to a workshop with the motivational Juliet Clare Bell to create a story in just 30 minutes! After dinner, everyone’s enthusiasm and energy continued into the evening as we broke into critique groups to share our work. There was wine, blown fuses, romantic lighting, and a lot of laughs, but most importantly, honesty, understanding and openness. Candy Gourlay prompted us to think about how we were using cause and effect in our stories.

 

 

Sunday started early again with a run or another opportunity to create a story in an hour following Juliet Clare Bell’s direction (her Picture Book Den blog is well worth a read). After breakfast, Caryl Hart read The Princess and the Shoe, speaking about its strengths, and revealed that most books will be based on those which publishers can take to either Bologna or Frankfurt. She also encouraged us to fill our stories with heart (finding our ‘unmistakable me’ as suggested by Candy Gourlay) and think about how we wanted our audience to feel. We were then allowed to play with dinosaurs! After we had de-pooped the sand and undressed the dinosaurs, we headed to the dining room for Sunday lunch.

 

 

The afternoon began with an inspiring one-hour workshop by Chris Haughton where he explained his journey from design to illustration, and the years of hard work that went into creating his first non-fiction book, The History of Information (available 5th September, 2024). When I didn’t think I could possibly absorb any more, Tita blew us away with some Instagram knowhow, including how to add pictures to highlighted stories, how to find our archived stories, and how to find out who our favourite agents and publishers were following!

 

Our last evening meal was bittersweet as we reminisced about the retreat so far. By 8pm, we were buzzing with excitement to find out who would win the story pitch competition (Zoe Damoulakis), who would win the picture book quiz (Maureen Lynas), and who would win the paper plane competition (Will Ottley and Mike Brownlow). As the sun melted away and left its red-orange embers simmering in the sky, I didn’t think the day could get any better until Netta Geff blessed us with a beautiful rendition of ‘Fast Car’ on the ukulele.

 

 

Tears were shed, bananas were shared, bad habits were broken, and friendships made. The retreat allowed many of us to escape the rat race and revel in the the kindness and expertise around us, helping us to become more confident picture book creators. Funnily enough, the whole weekend could be compared to a picture book:

 

• It was well structured
• There were relatable, honest, and emotional characters
• It had a strong beginning, middle, and end
• There were 12 spreads… of food, on our plates and in our bellies!
• There was conflict as the quiz got underway
• It had heart, and lots of it!
• There was an unexpected twist when a quiet drink turned into a singalong (We’ll Write Again), and
• We were even encouraged to act like 5 years olds when asked to play (luckily, no one had to be put in the ‘Oh No, George’ box of shame)

 

 

Thank you to Tita Berredo, Paul Morton and Natascha Beibow for all their hard work, and kindly leaving us with this invaluable take away advice:

 

“Sometimes you are looking for the same thing everyone is looking for instead of trying to find those who are looking for you! Books go far beyond the UK, Europe, and there’s someone looking for your style out there that is not obvious.”

 
— Tita Berredo, author/illustrator, Illustrator Coordinator of SCBWI British Isles, and Art Director of Words & Pictures magazine Scottish Committee member of the Society of Authors, event hostess for the Association of Illustrators, picture book reviewer for My Book Corner.

 

“Be committed and approach it as a profession. There’s nothing superficial about children’s books that’s going to be successful. Never see it as a hobby unless that’s what you want but be committed to it if you want to be successful.”

 — Paul Morton, author/illustrator, and founder of Hot Frog Graphics

 

“Join in and be brave – share your work and yourself and you never know who you might meet or what it may lead to.”

    

— Natascha Biebow, MBE, children's book creative writing editor, coach, mentor, author, workshop leader, and founder of Blue Elephant Storyshaping

 

Thank you to Molly Littleboy, Caryl Hart, and Chris Haughton for educating us, thank you Clare Bell for enlightening us with her morning practices, and thank you EVERYONE for proving that there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to writers and illustrators, and that being wonderfully unique is what makes us all incredible creatives. In Tita’s words, ‘Be yourself’. 

Happy writing and illustrating!

 

 

*Header image: In-house collaboration between Ell Rose and Tita Berredo 

 

*

 

  

Born in Cambridge, England, Karen Barrett had administrative jobs for 13 years before realising that colour-coding emails was just not creative enough. Being described as “the most organised author I have ever worked with” by a Pan Macmillan editor encouraged her to turn her literary dream into a reality. When she is not writing stories, poetry, or to-do lists, you will find her enjoying the Devonshire countryside with her family, who she considers to be the most precious thing in her life.

*

Ell Rose is the Illustration Features Editor of Words & Pictures. Contact them at illustrators@britishscbwi.org

Tita Berredo is the Illustrator Coordinator of SCBWI British Isles and the Art Director of Words & Pictures. Contact her at: illuscoordinator@britishscbwi.org