The Art and Soul of Picture Book Illustration
Written By Mackenzie Reagan-Hadley
As appearing from left to right: Caron Levis, Selina Alko, Nina Crews, Pat Cummings, Stephen Savage, Andrea Davis Pinkney from The Art and Soul of Picture Books panel, The New School, 2025.
Everyone’s journey into the wonderful world of storytelling is different. This is something that has become abundantly clear during my first few months at The New School as a Creative Writing for Children/YA MFA student. Whether you’re after a change of career, personal creative refresh, or, like myself, are an illustrator wanting to add narrative writing to my storytelling skillset–there’s no wrong or right way to start your voyage to authorship. This was made evident at The Art and Soul of Picture Book Illustration panel on panel (10/15/2025). Moderated by Professor Andrea Davis Pinkney, the panel featured an excellent array of author/illustrators who shared their own unique journeys into the world of picture books. Selina Alko, Nina Crews, Pat Cummings and Stephen Savage all had a treasure trove of experience and inspirational advice to offer to the mix of authors and illustrators in their audience that evening.
Selina Alko (photo courtesy of her website https://www.selinaalko.com/)
With over 25 acclaimed children’s books, author/illustrator Selina Alko studied illustration at the School of Visual Arts here in New York and kickstarted her career as a studio assistant for fellow panelist Pat Cummings. With paint, collage, collected ephemera, and any other material that provides a tactile feel, Alko integrates her own personal style with topics centered around nonfiction events and/or people that draws from her love for sketchbook journaling. With space being tight here in New York, as many of you know first hand, Alko works in her home studio and composes her pieces only slightly bigger than that of her printed books (this not only helps with the conservation of physical space, but is an excellent way to save on shipping costs). Her biggest piece of advice for authors and illustrators is to find your own voice as a storyteller. Keep a journal and explore the slew of resources that are at your fingertips, such as the SCBWI podcasts and KidLit TV.
Nina Crews (photo courtesy of her website at https://ninacrews.com/)
For panelist Nina Crews, her career as an award winning children’s book author/illustrator is within the “family business”. As a second generation author/illustrator, Nina Crews received a BA in art from Yale University and worked a career in animation for a time before breaking into the world of picture books. Having started with a more photography based style, Crews has recently evolved her work to be more centered around digital illustration, collage and poetry. When considering the market and genre behind the creation of a book, Crews finds it important that while working, you always keep what your readers (children) would be thinking about in mind. What and how you write depends on the age range of your audience and will dictate the simplicity/complexity of your work, and therefore your picturebook’s timelessness. To get a good feel for this, Crews advised the audience to look and see what’s currently out there on shelves, read those books aloud and find out what about them holds you. She also suggested making a habit of keeping up with what’s happening in the industry, through resources such as Publisher’s Weekly and other related digests.
Pat Cummings (photo courtesy of her website at https://www.patcummings.com/)
Growing up overseas in Europe and Asia, where fantasy is closely woven in with reality, Pat Cummings has had a love for storytelling and art from a young age, finding them both pivotal ways to connect with where she’s lived and the people she’s met. While studying at Pratt Institute here in Brooklyn, Cummings got her start doing freelance posters for children’s plays and eventually worked her way into writing and illustrating her own books. Now working as a professor at Parsons, Cummings shares her passion for children’s picturebooks with future professionals and urges all authors and illustrators to really think about what it is they can bring to the table of storytelling that is special. Whether that be pulled from their own experiences or those surrounding them, inspiration can come from anywhere. She also highlighted the importance of agents, editors and colleagues needed to help navigate the ever shifting world of publishing and the wealth that comes from getting others’ eyes on your work. Cummings prompted the audience to join organizations such as the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and attending events such as the Original Art Show (Society of Illustrators) and the ones frequently held at Books of Wonder that will expand one’s knowledge of children’s picture books while also feeding one’s ever growing curiosity.
Stephen Savage at the Brooklyn Book Fair, 2013 (photo courtesy of his website https://www.savageillustrator.com/)
Multi-award winning author/illustrator Stephen Savage grew up loving all sorts of locomotives, and has no qualms with being known as “The Truck Guy”. This, mixed with his ability to identify with the chaos and mess of kids, are strong influences on his work. Savage attained an MFA from The School of Visual Arts (where he currently teaches as a Professor of Illustration) and soon thereafter began a career in editorial illustration as well as one with The House of Scholastic as a book illustrator. When starting out in picture books, the visuals had come easy with his background, but the words he had to learn through experience, each new book an opportunity to discover something new. For Savage, art is a happy, calm and clean space, so when he creates, he strives to replicate that for others. He is also a firm believer in the need for community within the world of children’s picture books. He encouraged the audience to send emails, attend events and foster conversations with their fellow peers and professionals as a way to cultivate meaningful friendships and support systems to aid in their growth as authors and illustrators.
I don’t know how the rest of you who were in attendance of this panel felt after being left with this wealth of knowledge surrounding the significance of community, authenticity, perseverance and passion that Selina Alko, Nina Crews, Pat Cumming and Stephen Savage gifted to us that evening. But I, for one, recall having a hard time leaving the room afterwards. I had wanted to talk everyone’s heads off, my thoughts brimming with inspiration and my body restless with excitement.
Illustration by Mackenzie Reagan-Hadley, 2025
I remember wishing I could pour everyone in the room a hot cup of tea, so that we could all settle in for a long conversation over a shared adoration for children’s picture books. So, in lieu of that, have this little illustration and a small toast:
Cheers to storytelling and to picture books! Cheers to art and cheers to writing! And cheers to everyone’s unique journey into the wonderful world of them! And of course, a special thank you to Selina Alko, Nina Crews, Pat Cummings and Stephen Savage for sharing their time and their encouragement!