Name: Saturday Closing Session: Playful Picture Books featuring Kari Lavelle, Deborah Marcero, and Rhode Montijo
Start: 2026-10-03T15:30:00-0400
End: 2026-10-03T16:30:00-0400

Saturday Closing Session: Playful Picture Books featuring Kari Lavelle, Deborah Marcero, and Rhode Montijo

Saturday October 3, 2026 3:30pm - 4:30pm EDT

Hyatt Regency Buffalo | Grand Ballroom A-D

From optical-illusion nonfiction to the simply, sweetly macabre comics to the layered, poetic beauty of nature - picture books engage the youngest readers in varied and dynamic ways.

Join Kari Lavelle (Butt or Face Volume 5: Rainbow Butts), Rhode Montijo (Skully's Best Día Ever!) and Deborah Marcero (The Great Escape) for a discussion of what it means to create a playful picture book. How does the concept of "play" influence a picture book, from conception to creation to publication?

Speakers

Derek Ivie Reed

Youth Services Coordinator, Suffolk Cooperative Library System

Derek Ivie is the Youth Services Coordinator at the Suffolk Cooperative Library System where he works with youth services librarians from across the county. For the American Library Association, Derek has served on YALSA's Quick Picks for Young Adult Reluctant Readers Committee and... Read More →

Rhode Montijo

Creator

Rhode Montijo is the creator of Sí. ¡No!, Más. ¡Menos!, and Hola. ¡Adiós!, the first three books set in Skeletown, a fun, imaginative world inspired by Día de los Muertos. He is also the author and illustrator of the Gumazing Gum Girl! chapter book series, as well as the p... Read More →

Kari Lavelle

Creator

KARI LAVELLE is the award-winning author of many children’s books. She has always had a love for words: as a kid reading books, as a speech pathologist helping children communicate, and now as a writer creating stories. Kari lives in Austin, Texas with her husband, their two children, and dogg... Read More →

Deborah Marcero

Creator

Deborah Marcero is the author and illustrator of the picture books In a Jar, which was called “stunning” in a starred review from Kirkus Reviews and “beguiling” by the Wall Street Journal; Out of a Jar, which was an Entertainment Weekly Best Book of the Year and an ALA No... Read More →

Sponsors

National Institute 2026

Derek Ivie Reed

Rhode Montijo

Kari Lavelle

Deborah Marcero

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Penguin Young Readers

Sourcebooks

Get help with the event

Sign up or log in to save this to your schedule, view media, leave feedback and see who's attending!

Get help with the event