From the visual storytelling of picture books to the subtle design elements in middle grade novels and the fully integrated panels of graphic novels, the relationship between text and image plays a defining role in how a narrative is experienced. Each format requires writers to think differently about how meaning is conveyed—and how words and visuals work together to shape the reader’s understanding.

In Where Words Meet Images: Integrating Text and Art Across Children's Formats, Newbury Honor winning author/illustrator Eugene Yelchin guides participants through the unique interaction between art and text across three distinct formats: picture books, middle grade novels, and graphic novels. Through a comparative approach, the session explores how storytelling shifts depending on form, and how writers can make intentional craft choices that allow both words and images to carry narrative weight.