12-10-11 Kid Chef Eliana demonstrates 2X2 Chicken Fajita Soup from her cookbook

Friends:

My 11 year old daughter, Kid Chef Eliana, did a cooking demonstration and book signing at Barnes & Noble in Metairie, Louisiana. She demonstrated her 2X2 Chicken Fajita Soup from her cookbook, Eliana Cooks: Recipes for Creative Kids.

12-10-11 Kid Chef Eliana pours cumin into her soup

People were lining up for samples and bought lots of books. She even inspired some teen chefs!

12-10-11 Kid Chef Eliana takes a picture with fan, Savannah

It was a fun event. Thank you to Jennifer Simon for organizing it and thanks to our fabulous assistant, Stacey, for dotting all the I’s and crossing all the T’s!

Until next time…

Warmly, Dianne

5-17-11 Dianne de Las Casas and her cast for There's a Dragon in the Library

Friends:

On Tuesday, I had a special presentation of There’s A Dragon in the Library at Barnes & Noble in Mandeville, Louisiana. It was my debut of the book in Mandeville. I had such a great crowd! Marita Gentry, the illustrator, was supposed to be there but unfortunately, she couldn’t make it. She did, however, send me signed artwork to give away and this lucky little girl won it!

5-17-11 It was a special day for this little cutie ... she graduated from kindergarten AND she won the Dewey the Dragon original art by Marita Gentry!

After my performance, the kids made Dewey the Dragon puppets. I love how these come out!

5-17-11 Little fan make Dewey the Dragon paper bag puppets from There's a Dragon in the Library

Here’s a close-up of the puppet and the precious little boy who made Dewey the Dragon!

5-17-11 What a cute little dragon with a cute little boy!

Thank you to Barnes & Noble Mandeville for hosting this wonderful event.

5-17-11 Dianne and a fan pose... Smile!

I had a great time with all the kids and look forward to returning in the Fall with my new books!

Until next time…

Warmly, Dianne

5-14-11 Signing books at Barnes & Noble in Metairie, LA for the St. Clement of Rome School book fair. Love The Cajun Cornbread Boy Artwork on the wall!

Friends:

On Saturday afternoon, I had a book event at Barnes & Noble in Metairie, Louisiana. It was a celebration of The Cajun Cornbread Boy.

5-14-11 The sign!

St. Clement of Rome School had a big crowd! They created wonderful artwork that adorned the wall behind the stage in the children’s section. I performed the story and we had a great time! Afterwards, I taught the kids how to make The Cajun Cornbread Boy’s Louisiana Cookbook, turning a single sheet of paper into a six-page book. Then they designed their own Cajun Cornbread Boy!

5-14-11 A fan designs her own Cajun Cornbread Boy!

Here is a fan who was caught reading! I love these moments when kids are full immersed in a book and the world around them ceases to exist… it’s magic!

5-14-11 Caught Reading! Madame Poulet and Monsieur Roach at Barnes & Noble, Metairie, LA

Thank you, Barnes & Noble Metairie and St. Clement of Rome School! I had a ton of fun!

Until next time…

Warmly, Dianne

4-30-11 Kid Chef Eliana gets ready to teaching a Mother's Day Breakfast cooking class at Barnes & Noble in Harvey, LA

Friends:

This past Saturday, Kid Chef Eliana had a big cooking class at Barnes & Noble in Harvey, Louisiana. She taught kids how to make a Mother’s Day Breakfast. She made Cup O’Breakfast and Sparkling Pomegranate Punch from her cookbook, Eliana Cooks! Recipes for Creative Kids.

4-30-11 Kid Chef Eliana sautees her garlic cumin potatoes

I showed the kids how to fold a fancy napkin and how to create a breakfast tray from a pizza pan or a cookie sheet.

4-30-11 After teaching kids how to fold a napkin, the food is presented on a pizza pan turned into a breakfast tray. Gorgeous!!

Her food was sooo tasty and the kids and their moms had the opportunity to make their own.

4-30-11 Moms and their kids make Cup O'Breakfast at the Kid Chef Eliana food station

It was so much fun and Kid Chef Eliana did a phenomenal job!!! What an incredible child! Woo hoo for you, Eliana!

Until next time…

Warmly, Dianne

4-9-11 Fans hold Dianne de Las Casas' books

Friends:

On Saturday, April 9, 2011, right after my book signing for French Quarter Fest, I headed to Barnes & Noble in Harvey, Louisiana. I had a special event for National Library Week, sharing my story, There’s a Dragon in the Library. We had a nice crowd, and the kids designed dragons and received crowns. What a blast!

4-9-11 Dianne tells the story, There's A Dragon in the Library, at Barnes & Noble in Harvey, LA

A special thank you to Stacey Hensley for organizing the event!

Until next time…

Warmly, Dianne

4-8-11 Dianne with the winner of the Design a Dragon contest

Friends:

On Friday, April 8, 2011, I had a big book event at Barnes & Noble Perkins Rowe in Baton Rouge. To celebrate the start of National Library Week, Barnes & Noble and Denham Springs Junior High had an art exhibit. The art teacher in charge, Sharon Loyd, a good friend of mine, had the students create mythological creatures inspired by Marita Gentry’s dragon art in our book, There’s A Dragon in the Library.

4-8-11 The wall of dragon art at Barnes & Noble Perkins Rowe in Baton Rouge

The students did such an amazing job!! I was asked to be the judge of the contest. Here is the winning illustration. It is done by Sarah Fontenot, in the 6th grade. I love the paisley pattern on the dragon and how she cleverly incorporated all of my books into the picture! Way to go, Sarah!

4-8-11 The Winning Entry by Sarah Fontenot for the Mythological Creatures Art Contest using my book, There's A Dragon in the Library, as inspiration

I told the story of There’s a Dragon in the Library with lots of great helpers.

4-8-11 Telling the story of There's a Dragon in the Library

It was a fun event and I was so honored!! Thank you Barnes & Noble, Sharon Loyd, Sarah Fontenot, and Denham Springs Junior High. You rock!

Until next time…

Warmly, Dianne

12-11-10 Marita Gentry illustrates The Gigantic Sweet Potato as Dianne de Las Casas tells the story with help from kids in the audience

Friends:

It was such a busy weekend of book signings! On Saturday, I had two book signings: one in uptown New Orleans at a children’s boutique called Little Laughter. It is located next to Slice Pizza and Whole Foods Market on Magazine Street. I signed books with the incomparable Johnette Downing, award-winning children’s musician and author extraordinaire. She is one of my best friends and it was so much fun being able to sign books with her! We tag-teamed, selling each other’s books as the “Leading Ladies of Louisiana Kidlit,” a title bestowed upon us by our publisher, Pelican Publishing.

12-11-10 Johnette Downing and Dianne de Las Casas sign books at Little Laughter in New Orleans

After lunch with Johnette at Slice Pizza, I dashed off to Metairie for a book signing at Barnes & Noble. I was scheduled to perform and sign books at 3:00pm. Marita Gentry, my illustrator, had a terrible sinus infection and laryngitis so I did all the talking (not a problem for me! LOL). We performed The Gigantic Sweet Potato with Marita illustrating live as I told the story with interactive audience participation. Students and teachers from Bissonet Plaza Elementary were there to cheer me on! Yay!

12-11-10 Marita Gentry illustrates The Gigantic Sweet Potato as Dianne de Las Casas tells the story with help from kids in the audience

After the performance, we had a nice crowd line up for autographs.

12-11-10 A big crowd lines up for autographs from Dianne & Marita at Barnes & Noble in Metairie, LA

My day ended at a friend’s Christmas party. It was a hectic but super fun day! Thank you to Kim Elms of Little Laughter, Jennifer Simon, CRM of Barnes & Noble, and the Barnes & Noble staff for your hospitality! Happy Holidays!

Until next time…

Warmly, Dianne

12-10-10 Dianne de Las Casas signs books at Barnes & Noble Citiplace in Baton Rouge

Friends:

On Friday night, Kid Chef Eliana and I had a book signing at Barnes & Noble Citiplace in Baton Rouge. Kid Chef Eliana was so adorable in her chef uniform and sold quite a few books!

12-10-10 Kid Chef Eliana signs books at Barnes & Noble Citiplace in Baton Rouge

After a vote by the audience, I performed The Gigantic Sweet Potato. It was a ton of fun!

12-10-10 Dianne de Las Casas tells The Gigantic Sweet Potato at Barnes & Noble Citiplace in Baton Rouge

The Barnes & Noble staff was dressed for pajama story time and Cajun Cornbread Boy took a picture with this adorable penguin!

12-10-10 A Barnes & Noble staff member in penguin jammies dances with Cajun Cornbread Boy

I had a blast and Abby Hannie, the Community Relations Manager of this Barnes & Noble, is a sweetheart!! I just LOVE doing events at her store!

Until next time…

Warmly, Dianne

12-4-10 Dianne de Las Casas with Papa Noel at the Pitot House Museum holiday book signing

Friends:

Saturday was such a busy day! I had a book signing in the morning at 9am at the Pitot House Museum Holiday event in New Orleans. I even got to take pictures with Papa Noel! My friend, Denise McConduit, the children’s book author of the DJ series of books (DJ and the Zulu Parade, DJ and the Debutante Ball, DJ and the Jazz Fest) was also there. We couldn’t resist taking a picture together!

12-4-10 Pelican Authors Denise McConduit and Dianne de Las Casas at the Pitot House Museum holiday event

After two hours of busy and constant book signing, I had to go to Baton Rouge to perform The Gigantic Sweet Potato with illustrator Marita Gentry and to sign books at the Barnes & Noble on Bluebonnet in Perkins Rowe. Carron Fillingim, the CRM, was there to greet me. Kid Chef Eliana also had a signing!

12-4-10 Marita Gentry and Dianne de Las Casas present The Gigantic Sweet Potato at Barnes & Noble Baton Rouge in Perkins Rowe

We had a lot of fun! I performed the story with the help of the kids in the audience as Marita illustrated live. She is so amazing!

12-4-10 The kids line up with Marita's awesome drawings to create a scene in The Gigantic Sweet Potato

We signed a TON of books and sold out of every title except The Gigantic Sweet Potato. Woo hoo!

12-4-10 Dianne de Las Casas and Marita Gentry with Destiny, our pretty fan with flaxen, gold-spun hair! Just gorgeous!

Kid Chef Eliana also signed books and sold quite a few copies.

12-4-10 Kid Chef Eliana's Cookbooks are displayed and she's signing books too!

It was a full but fun day and we ended the night by going to the Cinemark Theater to see Tangled. What a great movie! It was a great twist on the traditional Rapunzel. Loved it!

Until next time…

Warmly, Dianne

11-16-10 Dianne enlists the help of the audience to pull The Gigantic Sweet Potato

Friends:

Marita and I did a special presentation of The Gigantic Sweet Potato, our new Fall 2010 book, at the Barnes & Noble store in Mandeville, Louisiana. The story time area was packed with little fans, both old and new!

11-16-10 Wonderful audience at Barnes & Noble Mandeville, Louisiana

Marita worked her illustration magic on her sketch pad while I busied children from the audience with fun participation.

11-16-10 Marita Gentry illustrates Kitty Cat in The Gigantic Sweet Potato

They were so little and so cute! Here they are holding up all the illustrations, to create a scene from the book of everyone pulling the gigantic sweet potato.

11-16-10 The illustrations create a scene in the book!

It was a a lot of fun and I enjoyed seeing all my little friends again!

Until next time…

Warmly, Dianne