a few (of the many) highlights of highlights picture book retreat 2023!
last summer, i received a scholarship to attend “summer camp in fiction” at the highlights foundation retreat center in the scenic wilderness mountains of pennsylvania. (yes—as in that highlights magazine! this place is run by the founders’ great-grandson on the family farmland!)
this year, thanks to a “grant” from mine own wonderful mom, i got to return: this time for a picture book retreat!
as ever, every moment was exhaustingly inspiring and perfect and delicious and the people might just be the best thing about it… which, for introvert-me, is saying MORE than a lot!
(if you’d like to donate to the highlights scholarship fund to help other authors and illustrators and storytellers take advantage of highlights’ wonderful programs, you can find that link HERE.)
as the highlights foundation is a 12+ hour drive from my home in south carolina, and the retreat began on wednesday evening, i took two days to make the drive.
re-usable coffee mug in hand, i spent the drive listening to writing and shakespeare podcasts and singing wildly off-tune to some of my favourite peppy broadway cast recordings… (since only God and i can hear me, we’ll call it a “joyful” noise.) ;)
one of the very best things about highlights is just how accomodating they are. while there are plenty of excpetions, most authors are introverts. (yours truly checking off all the boxes for the high-sensitive introvert type, btw.) what’s BeauTIFuL about your arrival on the highlights campus is not just how much they prepare you with maps and info and an illustrated suggesting packing list, but your key is in the door of your cabin when you arrive…! so you don’t have to “check in” when you drive up. you get to settle in before meeting anybody!
(they also have train/bus/airport shuttles, but as i drove myself, i got the “introvert’s welcome” by letting myself in to my new home!)
you can stay in a personal cabin, the (quite-possibly-haunted) farmhouse, or the lodge when you come to highlights. how could i say no to my own tiny (perfect) cabin?!
i got to stay in cabin no. 9… the nikki grimes cabin! not only was it filled with prints of her book covers, her awards and certificates, but also a whole bookshelf full of her books and poetry. (although that right there is my own TBR stack on the nightstand. of which i only finished one that week! was up too many hours working on new ideas!)
so many authors and illustrators have come through these cabins and workshops… reading each cabin’s guestbook is like a who’s-who of the history of book-making.
nikki’s poster here reads:
DEAR
LIBRARIAN
As a child, the library
was my safe haven,
the quiet corner where
I learned to dream
through Story. Today,
the library is the vault
housing the stories I create
for young readers
as hungry as I was
for teh hope and the dreams
that stories stir.
Thank you for fighting
to keep my stories of hope
on your library shelves
for new readers to discover
when they need them most.
what a legacy to continue, huh?!
each cabin has a writing desk (also perfect for bunny spotting!)… caffeinated baby yoda made the journey with me, too.
have i mentioned how scenic this place is?
before heading to the barn where the people would be, i walked the path through the wildflowers and around the solar panels that feed the campus’ electricity.
there’s something about the fresh air and landscape that just calm you down. (also possibly because your phone doesn’t get a signal out here? it’s lovely.)
unlike last year’s summer camp in fiction, this retreat afforded us a little more time for taking advantage of the grounds… so after smelling the wildflowers, i settled in on “the barn” porch to get some words down for one of the picture books i’d brought with me to work on.
(you can read about my experience at last year’s trés busy summer camp in fiction in 2022’s blog post here!)
after dinner on wednesday night (arrival day), we did a round of bookish speed dating.
as in, we’d each brought a favorite picture book (sentimental or otherwise), and had 60 seconds to tell the person across from us why we loved it!
i’d brought WOMBAT, a very word-play clever, eccentric, silly paper collage book about animals of the same name by australian author-illustrator philip bunting. (link to the book on bookshop.org right here!)
i’m glad i’d been studying some of my favorite picture books before this trip. (complete with post-it notes to myself as to WHY i happened to love them inside the covers!)
fun fact no. 1: i hadn’t brought this book by intention, but an EDITOR (hi, eileen!) from charlesbridge, the publisher of WOMBAT, was one of our advisors/special guests that week! while she wasn’t this book’s editor, she did read it aloud during storytime to us later!
fun fact no. 2: i would recommend “bookish speed dating” for authors learning how to pitch their own books to strangers and readers. (you’ve got it down by person #8!)
this activity would probably also work for bookclub as it’s like musical chairs, but less mean. and the conversation is focused, so no awkward silences or small talk required.
fun fact no. 3: this exercise inspired one of the NEW features coming to the crayon box this month and moving forward…! *insert secret keeper emoji face!
after dinner (& dessert), we gathered around the fire on the barn porch— the only night that wasn’t thwarted by rain or mosquito swarms. making new book friends is fortunately a lot easier than making new stranger friends. :)
(i mean, look at me! here i’m talking with tamla— a picture book author and new friend from canada! she’s a full-time kindergarten teacher and mama of 2 under 5 and i don’t know how she does it!)
as i mentioned, this retreat included storytime! after every meal, our faculty advisors would read us a book— one they’d written, or one they loved!
from left to right: leslie helakoski reading her book, WOOLBUR; charlesbridge editor eileen harrison reading BIG by vashti harrison (nbd, but this week i made friends with a nyt-bestelling picture book author-illustrator because she was one of the attendees here too… teehee!); and darcy pattison reading THANK YOU, OMU by oge mora (the art in this one is incredible!!)
one rainy afternoon after lunch, i donned my raincoat and meandered over to the “art coop” to do some drawings!
all around this beautifully naturally-lit cozy space are drawings and doodles left behind by the authors and illustrators who have been here before you. erin entrada kelly is always there with the most-encouraging and affirmation-wondrous art! :)
while i’d packed three pen and pencil bags and five notebook/journals, it was FREEing to get in the art coop and doodle with the available art supplies. (imagine being let loose in your elementary school’s art room—find stuff! make stuff! have fun! uh, yes, please!!)
it’s always healthy to PLAY with no intended PURPOSE for a particular drawing… and i was proud of myself for “let[ting] it be easy!”—enjoying the process and not just the result.
gorgeous, right? (this is walking from my cabin to “the barn” where all meals and lectures are. also the path towards the original farmhouse and creek!)
ah, sunset.
apparently, star-gazing from the lodge porch is pretty legendary, but i crashed my first night there and the next two nights were rainy (& therefore too cloudy for stars.) and also i’m afraid of wild animals in the dark.
big fan of bunnies by daylight, though.
i’ll put a reel up about it later, but vashti, kristin, scott and i all visited the (haunted?) farmhouse where the highlights founders originally lived… the library is full of all sorts of antiques and books… and we will not talk about the crawl space, basement, or the attic. becasue no thank you and also i’d escaped to the porch by then…
this photo greeted you at the top of the stairs. if you’re looking to write a horror story for kids: you’re welcome! also, look right and you’ll see yourself in the hallway mirror. do not open the attic door behind you as you gaze upon your reflection, though.
fact: editor eileen is my person. she had the kitchen bring her dessert first every night. (because what if you run out of room?!) and because this particular evening, our choices were carrot cake or rainbow sprinkle vanilla cake… well, as accomodating as they are: we were allowed to try both.
*cue fred astaire singing ‘heaven, i’m in heaven….!’
one morning, darcy and leslie lead us in making “dummies” of the books we’d been workshopping in group critique while we were there. we cut up our manuscripts to pace out page-turns and leave room for the illustrations… there was scissor- and tape- and staple-sharing and it was loads of fun, and i can’t wait to make my book real! :D
(the crayon box got a sneak peek of developing this idea back in august… and there’s more to come this month! but boy-oh-boy did my group critique sessions at highlights make my manuscript better— and that brief time in the art coop and around campus and in my cabin - an even on my hotel on the way- all further developing characters and illustration ideas!)
i’m preeeetty sure molly took this photo our last morning: while eileen was reviewing our “blind” first page submissions for editorial feedback… i love it because we all look like WE’re on a fancy author panel… ;D someday! :)
left to right: fidelis, me, tamla, and bonnie!
see? here’s me and molly: program coordinator extraordinaire!
picture book retreat 2023 group photo in the word garden! i chose the word “may.”
not only is may my birthday month, but i MAY tell my stories. (& illustrate them, too!)
and as theodore’s word garden poem reminds us all… there’s so much we MAY do.
we may travel. we may grow. we may shine. and we may persevere. (probably in that order, but do what you want!) :)
theodore and i were obviously reluctant to say g’bye to our new bookish friends and the cozy heaven that is the highlights foundation…
one last “hike” to the creek. (vashti got closer to nature than i did. pretty impressive for a fellow city gal! ‘sup, bklyn!)
we investigated (the probably also-haunted) old stable/now yoga space, talked to some bunnies, and then i…
… managed to pack up the cabin (TBR and new books included) without too many tears… just a few. teddy bear hugs help.
i know this doesn’t begin to encapsulate all the lessons learned while i was there.
but what a gift of time and fresh air (& delicious farm-to-table veggie food for me!)
i’m back home in south carolina, and actively working on my to-do list i cobbled together while at highlights. action-items to make these new books happen! :D
but first, some thanks:
to highlights: thank you as ever for making such an inspiring, self-care-tastic safe-space for we creatives of all sorts.
to my fellow picture book retreaters: thank you for the feedback, the widsom, the laughs, the insights, and getting me inside a haunted house by daylight.
to molly: for being camp paparazzi and making us all feel author-famous. your kindness, organizational skills, and art are incredible.
to eileen: for the honest feedback and critiques and for encouraging dessert first. (actually, i could write a whole blog on the kindness and wonders of eileen, but hopefully that’s a conversation she and i can have together later. just know that great people still exist in book publishing and it’s not JUST a big business/profit-maker to everybody working in the industry and suited up in the publishing houses…!)
to mom: i’m adding another “iou infinity” to those forthcoming book dedications…
and to YOU? i hope you get to visit highlights someday, too—and that you have the opportunity to write and draw and inspire a child (or few) who needs your art and your stories as much as you do.
for now,
xo,
*hallie
helpful links:
learn more about the highlights foundation (in-person and virtual learning) & scholarships here
support author-illustrator me in the crayon box for in-the-studio fun, exclusive art-making posts, monthly confetti-filled artsy happy mail, and agent and publishing updates here
links to my recommended reading lists on my bookshop.org page here (buying books online while supporting independent bookstores!)
all other name links above go to the person’s instagram page!
you can find my instagram (weekly reading book review videos, travels, my art, & more) at @halthegal_storyart and my author-artist-illustrator website is right here where this blog is: halthegal.art