KidLit Summer Camp Day 1
We’re starting KidLit Summer Camp with three fabulous guest interviews!
Author Vivian Kirkfield talks about engaging with the KidLit community and how it’s never to late to start your writing journey. This conversation is so uplifting - there’s a reason we’re starting camp with this one.
Author and writing instructor Laurie Calkhoven breaks down the differences between picture books, early readers, and chapter books. Laurie is a pro through and through and she generously shared a lot of valuable information. Be ready to take notes.
Certified book coach and editor Christy Yaros explains the differences between middle grade and young adult and offers tips to determine where your book fits in the market. Christy does a great job exploring the ambiguity in MG, YA, and the overlap in these age categories.
Ways you can thank our guests for their generosity:
follow and thank them on social media (don’t forget to tag them and you can use #kidlitsummercamp to refer to this event)
buy their books or request your library buy them
leave a positive review for their books, podcasts, YouTube channels, etc.
Vivian Kirkfield
Writer for children—reader forever…that’s Vivian Kirkfield in five words. Her bucket list contains many more words – but she’s already checked off jumping out of a perfectly good airplane, walking under the ocean, and going around the world in less than 80 days. When she isn’t looking for ways to fall from the sky or sink under the water, she can be found writing picture books in the picturesque town of Bedford, New Hampshire. A retired kindergarten teacher with a masters in Early Childhood Education, Vivian inspires budding writers during classroom visits and shares insights with aspiring authors at conferences and on her blog where she hosts the #50PreciousWords International Writing Contest and the #50PreciousWordsforKids Challenge. Her nonfiction narratives bring history alive for young readers and her picture books have garnered starred reviews and accolades including the Silver Eureka, Social Studies Notable Trade Book, Best STEM Book K-12, Bank Street College of Education Best Book of 2022, and Junior Library Guild Selection.
Connect with Vivian on her website, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Vivian’s books are available in the KidLit Summer Camp book fair.
Vivian mentioned a Zoom call offer for anyone who wishes to purchase 3 of her books through her local bookstore. Contact Vivian for more details on this.
Other resources mentioned in this interview:
12x12 Picture Book Community, SCBWI, Susanna Leonard Hill’s Making Picture Book Magic
Laurie Calkhoven
Laurie Calkhoven is a book coach and the author of more than fifty children's books. Her fiction and nonfiction titles range from early readers and chapter books to middle grade and YA. Prior to becoming a full-time writer, Laurie worked in book publishing. She was the founding editor of the TeenPeople Book Club and and Executive Editor with the Scholastic Book Clubs. She has never swallowed a frog or battled ghosts with slime and stink bombs like her character Roosevelt Banks, but she loves to talk about all things kidlit.
Connect with Laurie through her website, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Laurie has written more than 50 books for young people. You can find some of Laurie’s books in the KidLit Summer Camp book fair.
Click here to find Laurie’s handout on book categories for young readers.
Christy Yaros
Christy Yaros is a certified book coach and story editor, working with serious middle grade and young adult writers who want to create stories that engage, encourage, and empower young people. She happily spends her days talking craft and coaxing stories out of her clients. Previous iterations of Christy have done pretty much all the things in the educational publishing world, from proofreader to managing editor to author. Christy holds an MFA in Writing for Children from Simmons University. Christy is also a Co-Assistant Regional Advisors for SCBWI New England and cohost of the Coaching KidLit Podcast.
Connect with Christy through her website, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
Christy co-hosts the Coaching KidLit podcast with Sharon Skinner.
Christy has a six-month group coaching program for MG and YA writers.