This last weekend was a great experience at a Picture Book Conference in Alpine, Utah put on by Amy Finnegan from bookshoptalk.com . One of the speakers was Mary Kate Castellani an editor from Walker. It was one of the most informative conferences I’ve attended. Kristyn Crow, Sharlee Glenn and Nathan Hale also gave great presentations. It was a great opportunity to be around people who love picture books. Here are a few gems not quoted exactly: Mary Kate: Picture books need to be so, so clever because of the market. Push your writing. Sharlee Glen had some great quotes on what a picture book was. Kristyn Crow told us that the first rule of rhyme was “Don’t do it”. Nathan Hale talked about his blog and the benefits of blogging.