Kutztown University Children's Literature Conference

I spent this past Saturday, as I had previously mentioned, at the Kutztown University Children’s Literature Conference.  It’s a great place to hear from authors and illustrators about their writing process, how they became writers and their upcoming work.  This year’s presenters included Mara Rockliff, William Low, Elisha Cooper, and Gary Schmidt.  Along with these four presentations, there was also time to get books signed by all the authors and illustrators as well as a book review presentation after lunch that I mentioned here.
I think of the four presenters, my favorite was William Low – he’s very funny and not only gave us a look into his writing and illustrating process, but a look into his life as well.  He also showed us how he created his artwork with both the usual methods of paper and brush, but also using computer software to create a very similar look.  It was fascinating to watch him take a photograph and begin to replicate it using brush tools in Adobe Photoshop with a Wacom tablet.  If you’re interested in seeing how he works, definitely check out his YouTube videos!  If you want to see more of his work and the books he has written and illustrated, check out his website!  I was also really excited that I was able to find Daytime Nighttime in a board book format that I was able to get signed!
This conference is on a much smaller scale than most I’ve been to.  It’s focus is mainly on education students at Kutztown University, but is open to the public and costs only a small fee to attend.  It’s exciting to be able to get the chance to hear from these successful authors and illustrators in a small auditorium, rather than the HUGE ballrooms you encounter at ALA.  If you live near Eastern PA, it’s definitely worth a Saturday!