Workshops
Joshua M. Edelglass, the illustrator of popular Jewish comics and graphic novels like José and the Pirate Captain Toledano, Brother’s Keeper. The Beast and the Booth, and The Tomb of the Broken Amulet, is available for an array of dynamic book talks and workshops. Josh can present alone, or together with author Arnon Shorr, with whom Josh has collaborated on many graphic novels/comic books and a great many presentations and workshops. An experienced educator with decades of experience working with kids and teens at Camp Ramah New England, Josh can tailor his presentations to a variety of different age-groups, including 2nd graders and older, middle school, high school, college and adult audiences.
Programs
Jump into Drawing Comics!
60 minutes, all ages.
Let’s draw! Join illustrator Josh Edelglass for this fun workshop exploring the magic of comics! We’ll investigate how comics work and uncover the special language of comics through a series of fun cartooning exercises. Then, every participant will get to draw a short one-page comic of their own! This workshop is open to kids of all ages and all skill levels.
Dive into Jewish Comics!
60 minutes, all ages – with Arnon Shorr.
A fun multimedia presentation that explores how Arnon and Josh found themselves collaborating on Jewish comic books and graphic novels. It begins with a screening of The Pirate Captain Toledano, Arnon’s award-winning short film, and includes a behind-the-scenes look at the multi-step creative process of creating a comic book with examples from José and the Pirate Captain Toledano. Josh and Arnon discuss what it means to tell Jewish stories, and why they’re passionate about including diverse Jewish characters in their works. We’ll conclude with a short, fun cartooning activity that gives a taste of how comic book storytelling works!
Beyond the Golem: Fantastic (Jewish) Beasts and Where to Find Them
60 minutes, all ages – with Arnon Shorr.
Jewish folklore is full of monsters! In this presentation, Josh and Arnon explore some wild Jewish monsters from Biblical and Talmudic texts and stories, as well as later mythological texts, and talk about inventing new Jewish creatures for their one-shot comic books, The Beast and the Booth and The Tomb of the Broken Amulet. Includes a hands-on creative activity in which students get to design & draw their own Jewish mythological creatures!
Iconography and Storytelling
60 minutes, middle school and older – together with Arnon Shorr
A fascinating deep dive into the art and craft of comics, with a behind-the-scenes look at the creative choices that went into telling the real-life 1948 war story in Josh & Arnon’s one-shot comic book Brother’s Keeper, and a hands-on creative exercise to learn about the use of iconography and visual storytelling in comics.
Creative Arts Workshop: Creating a Comic Book Page!
This program can run anywhere from 1-3 hours.
An illustration workshop in which students are guided through the process of designing and illustrating a comic book page! We’ll start with a series of fun short activities, exploring how comic book and graphic novel storytelling works, during which Josh will share lots of tips of the trade! We’ll then move onto an in-depth program in which participants will have the opportunity to learn all the steps of creating a comic book page of their very own!
Alternatively, Arnon and I can launch a program together and then split participants into different “art workshop” tracks, with my running the above “Creating a Comic Book Page” program and Arnon’s running a “Cultural Heritage Sandbox” program, which is a creative writing workshop in which students write fictional short stories that draw inspiration from their family history or cultural heritage.
Fee Structure
- $300 per one-hour program or add-on.
- A copy of one of our books purchased for all program participants. (Minimum order: 20 copies.)
- The Tomb of the Broken Amulet – 24 pg comic book – $5 – An all-ages Pesach mummy story.
- The Beast and the Booth – 24 pg comic book – $5 – An all-ages Sukkot werewolf story.
- Brother’s Keeper – 24 pg comic book – $5 – Brother’s Keeper tells a true story from Israel’s 1948 War for Independence. It’s available in English and Hebrew. Click here to read our educator’s guide and click here to read an article in The Forward exploring the true story behind this comic book and its unexpected resonance post October 7th. Brother’s Keeper was nominated for “best historical narrative” at JewCE 2024.
- Brother’s Keeper: Hebrew Edition – 24 pg comic book – $8
- José and the Pirate Captain Toledano – 96 pg graphic novel – $9 cover price. Educators who purchase a minimum of 25 copies can order the Toledano from Kar-Ben Publishers at a discounted price of $6.25. The book is also available at Amazon, often at a discounted price. José and the Pirate Captain Toledano is a story about Jewish pirates; it’s a fictional coming-of-age story that’s based on the real, mostly unknown story of Jewish pirates in the years after the expulsion from Spain. It was nominated for “best historical narrative” at JewCE 2023. Click here to read a great feature article on us and the book from The Jewish Journal in California!
- Mileage reimbursement, travel and/or lodging for programs 50+ miles from Boston, as-needed.
Interested? E-mail Josh to schedule a phone or Zoom conversation to start talking about the possibilities!
