Discover Shadra's secrets on generating story ideas and developing the bones of a picture book. Plus, learn industry tricks to prepare your book for proposal. Bring your creativity to life in a picture book that will delight children and publishers everywhere!

Shadra Strickland studied design, writing, and illustration at Syracuse University and has an M.F.A. at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. She won the Ezra Jack Keats Award and the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent in 2009 for her first picture book, Bird, written by Zetta Elliott. Strickland co-illustrated Our Children Can Soar, winner of a 2010 NAACP Image Award. Her books have received recognition from the American Library Association, Junior Library Guild, and other prominent literary organizations. Shadra currently heads the illustration department at Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland and acts as an agent-at-large for Painted Words Represents. Her online picture book course, The Art of the Picturebook is available at craftsy.com.