What Makes A Great Picture Book? A Conversation with Betsy Bird

Summary

Betsy Bird is the Collection Development Manager of Evanston Public Library and the former Youth Materials Specialist of New York Public Library. She writes for the School Library Journal blog A Fuse #8 Production and reviews for Kirkus. She is the host of the Story Seeds podcast as well as the co-host of the Fuse 8 n' Kate podcast that she creates with her sister. Betsy is the author of nonfiction, picture books, anthologies, and the historical middle grade novel Long Road to the Circus (Knopf, 2021), illustrated by David Small. Her new picture book Pop Goes the Nursery Rhyme is out Fall 2024. You can follow Betsy @fusenumber8 on Instagram, Threads and TikTok or @fuse8.bsky.social on BlueSky. In our animated conversation, we talk about what makes a great picture book.

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Mel Rosenberg

Dr. Mel Rosenberg is a children's book author and cofounder of www.Ourboox.com, a website and platform for creating interactive picture books. Mel's debut picture book in North America, EMILY SAW A DOOR, will be published by Penguin Random House in February, 2026 and is available for pre-order. He is represented by the Liza Royce Literary Agency.

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