THERE AND THEN

I sat at my drawing table this morning staring, yes, staring at a nearly completed illustration. Wondering. How do we even attempt to illustrate there and then. It's a concept I was told not to even attempt to write about for children under age 9-10 or thereabouts. (Early days of kiddie-lit, and those rules might have changed.)
I love historical fiction and keep hoping the interest could translate well into a PB or atleast a picture storybook. And so I keep plugging away at mine, set in preWWII Europe against the backdrop of KRISTALLNACHT, the night of broken glass. So Ilook at my MC's grandfather, blowing the shofar in a PRE WAR aynagogue. Where would he have stood. In front of the bimah? Are the curtains of the Aron Kodesh (literally holy closet, containing the Torah scrolls). I know European synagogues were beautifully ornate, their destruction yet another travesty of the war, but I have as resource pics only black and white. So I ponder; if I wasn't there, can I illustrate it?
Back to doing research, I came upon an amazing article about the TRIANGLE shirtwaist factory fire. I've read compelling adult fiction written with this subject as it's theme. FOR THE LOVE OF MIKE by Rhyss Bowen, immediately comes to mind. Maybe the key is in research, or love of the subject. And maybe it's being patient.
Whatever it takes, I'm back to the drawing board to poke at it until it feels right.