Hi! I just got back from the American Library Association Annual Conference in Chicago. What a great town! Here are a couple of highlights from the trip:
On Friday morning I went on a field trip with members of the Pura Belpré Book Award committee to the National Museum of Mexican Art. The museum holds one of the nation's largest collections of Mexican art. I think it's important for people to understand that all Mexican art is not the same. Although there are some great pieces of folk art, the museum's collections also include photography, paintings, textiles, sculptures, and drawings. It was a nice surprise to see a painting by the winner of the 2000 Pura Belpré Medal for illustration, Carmen Lomas Garza. 
Garza, Carmen Lomas, Harriet Rohmer, and David Schecter. Magic windows.San Francisco, Calif: Children's Book Press, 1999.
After touring the museum, we ate lunch at an amazing little restaurant called Nuestra Léon. My entire meal cost only six dollars!
