Yesterday I attended the Jewish Literature for Children Western Regional Conference. This fabulous annual event was held at Sinai Temple is Los Angeles. In attendance were authors, teachers, librarians, and more. The theme of this year’s conference was “Focus on Illustration,” and included an impressive line up of speakers. The event opened with Lois Sarkaissian from Every Picture Tells a Story, a local art gallery which represents numerous book illustrators. Lois offered an historical overview of children’s illustration that informed and enlighted us all. Next came the wonderful panel of speakers including Melissa Moss, Elisa Kleven, Amalia Hoffman, and Steven Sheinkin.

After a delicious lunch, I attended a session on collage with Elisa. She explained that collage is a great medium for those of us who think we can’t draw – which is exactly why I chose the session! We cut, glued, and created our pieces with abandon! Collage is a terrific way to get those creative juices going. The final event was a storytelling by Amalia Hoffman. Her retelling of a Purim folktale was charming and captivating. What a terrific way to spend a Sunday. Plus, I had the chance to catch up with old friends and make some new connections, too! I can’t wait until next year.

Many thanks to Susan Dubin, Lisa Silverman, Judy Cohn, Ellen Cole, Sinai Blumenthal Library, Association of Jewish Libraries, and Association of Jewish Libraries of Southern California