The Global Community for Children’s Book Creators

Our annual Winter Portfolio Showcase and the Tomie dePaola Mentorship are career-launching opportunity for children's book illustrators! Congratulate the winners and learn more about their artwork on SCBWI.org!

SCBWI-branded merchandise is now available! Get your water bottles and multi-sized sweatshirts and t-shirts online now.

Congratulations to our #SCBWIDrawThis winners! Practice your craft and build you portfolio by participating in monthly art prompts. Member Illustrators can post their DrawThis! entries on Instagram, Bluesky, and on the Illustrator Gallery with the tag #SCBWIDrawThis to enter and have your art seen by industry pros. The DECEMBER 2025 and JANUARY 2026 prompt is DREAM.

SCBWI is proud to join with fellow organizations in defending every young person’s right to read freely and discover stories that reflect the world around them. Together, we affirm our commitment to protecting the freedom to read and ensuring that all voices can be heard.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to be a hot topic in children’s publishing. Publishers Weekly recently spoke with SCBWI Executive Director Sarah Baker about Google’s AI Gemini Storybook app, which lets users create personalized, illustrated storybooks with read-aloud narration.

This Giving Tuesday, donate to The Amber Brown Grant to give young readers an unforgettable learning experience! This community grant facilitates in-person school visits for students to meet an author or illustrator for the first time.

Get to know this month’s illustrator – their techniques, how they got started, and how they navigate the publishing industry. Take the Featured Illustrator Challenge and apply now to be the next Featured Illustrator!

SCBWI will return to the Bologna Children’s Book Fair in 2026! We connect with a global audience of publishers, agents, and illustrators at the fair, and we hope to meet you there. The booth highlights our illustrator awards, features industry sponsors, and is a wonderful place to meet the SCBWI global community. There are so many exhibitions, presenters, books, and people to see. We hope you will join us!

Congratulations to Masoud Gharehbaghi for being the 2026 Bologna Scholarship Winner! Each year, a panel of judges reviews submissions to this grant online. One winner receives a ticket to the Bologna Book Fair, travel fare, and a stipend for accommodations. The winner will have an opportunity to show their portfolios to publishing professionals, display their portfolio at our industry party in Bologna, and attend the prestigious fair.

Ellen Hopkins is the award-winning author of 20 nonfiction books for children and 15 New York Times best-selling young adult novels-in-verse, 2 middle grade novels, plus 4 novels for adult readers. She is also a longtime member of the SCBWI Advisory Council and member of the SCBWI Anti-Censorship Committee.

Debbie Ridpath Ohi was awarded the Stephen Mooser Member of the Year award at our 2025 Summer Conference.

A foundational figure of SCBWI for more than two decades, Kim brings a legacy of dedication, innovation, and unwavering support for members to her new leadership role.

On May 20, SCBWI joined forty-seven organizations in a public statement condemning the firing of Dr. Carla Hayden, the fourteenth Librarian of Congress, and urging Congress to intervene.

This thought-provoking 85-minute special was hosted on May 27, featuring Lin Oliver, Maulik Pancholy, Ann and Ben Brashares, Winsome Bingham, Linda Williams Jackson, and more special guests.