8-10-11 Performing the story of The Emperor's Dragon, a draw and tell tale from my book, Handmade Tales

Friends:

Yes, it has been nearly a month since this workshop! I took a break from blogging to get some writing done and to work on other projects (developing an iPad story app). I actually thought that I had posted this blog!

So last month, I had the pleasure of doing a day-long in-service for PK teachers in Lafayette Parish. It was so much fun. I began the workshop with an ice breaker in which participants had to create a self-portrait from items in their purses, bags, or wallets. I love a woman who carries chocolate in her purse!

8-10-11 A self-portrait made from items in a workshop attendee's purse. Yay for chocolate!

The morning session was dedicated to Handmade Tales. We began with a draw and tell story called Catching a Pest in 7 steps. It’s from my book, Handmade Tales: Stories to Make and Take, and is great for teaching numbers and sequencing.

8-10-11 Catching a Pest in 7 Steps - A draw and tell tale

Then they learned the story of “The Emperor’s Dragon,” another draw and tell tale.

8-10-11 The Emperor's Dragon drawn by a workshop participant

Then it was time for a cut and tell story. The PK teachers learned the story of “Joseph Had a Little Overcoat.” They were having fun “cutting up.” LOL

8-10-11 Joseph Had a Little Overcoat, a cut and tell story

They learned how to make a Russian nesting doll just by folding paper. It’s so cute!

8-10-11 A Russian nesting doll made out of paper from my book, Handmade Tales

I showed them how to make a 6 page book out of a single sheet of paper. It’s a very versatile origami craft that can be used to showcase ABCs, used as an “About Me” book, or turn little ones into authors and illustrators.

8-10-11 The six page book from the story, The King's Advisor

The teachers learned the story of “Papa’s Teepee,” which features a coffee filter that is magically turned into a snowflake. Then the teachers created a snow blizzard. I always love this part!

8-10-11 Creating a snow blizzard out of coffee filter snowflakes from the story, Papa's Teepee

They learned another cut and tell story that resulted in a perfect 5 point star!

8-10-11 Lafayette PK Teachers are stars!

We had a blast with the story, “Bandana Man,” and I love this picture of the PK teachers becoming old women with their bandanas!

“Bandana Man” is another rendition of “The Gingerbread Man,” except he’s made out of a bandana and one hand becomes all the animals in the story (a spider, a snake and a fox). When they learned how to make Bandana Man, there were lots of oohs and ahs. He is pretty cute!

8-10-11 Bandana Man!

Then it was time to learn some string stories. I told the string story of “The Stubborn Turnip,” which has a cool magic trick in it. These PK teachers were great with their strings!

8-10-11 The string figure bowl from the string story, The Stubborn Turnip

They even learned how to make a star out of string. Talk about wowing kids!

8-10-11 Making a star out of string! Cool!

After lunch, it was time for the second half of the workshop featuring “A is for Alligator: Draw and Tell Tales from A-Z” and “Picture Book Make and Takes.” “A is for Alligator” is a book with Marita Gentry published by ABC-Clio. We take every letter of the alphabet and turn them into animals using storytelling as the device. It’s really amazing and kids of ALL ages LOVE it.

8-10-11 A is for Alligator from my book of the same name illustrated by Marita Gentry

The stories from A is for Alligator are great for teaching the letters of the alphabet and the sounds that they make.

8-10-11 E is for Elephant from my book, A is for Alligator, illustrated by Marita Gentry

This is “W is for Whale.” How precious is that?! You can see how the teacher highlighted the “W” in the drawing with a different color.

8-10-11 W is for Whale from my book, A is for Alligator, illustrated by Marita Gentry

The second half of the afternoon focused on “Picture Book Make and Takes.” I showed the teachers all the cool activities that are downloadable for free from my website in the “Book Activities” section. They made a Cajun Cornbread Boy puppet and Madame Poulet and Monsieur Roach story shaker.

8-10-11 The story shaker from Madame Poulet and Monsieur Roach

They did a baby bear collage from Mama’s Bayou, created Ma Farmer’s Down Home Cookbook from The Gigantic Sweet Potato, and created an accordion dragon puppet from There’s a Dragon in the Library.

8-10-11 The accordion dragon from There's a Dragon in the Library

It was a great way to spend the day and I really enjoyed myself with the PK teachers of Lafayette Parish schools. A special thank you to Christine Duay for bringing me in!

Until next time…

Warmly, Dianne

4-14-11 Dianne de Las Casas at TLA with Dewey the Dragon from There's A Dragon in the Library

Friends:

Last week, I signed books at the Texas Library Association conference with my children’s book publisher, Pelican Publishing Company, and my professional book publisher, Libraries Unlimited, an imprint of ABC-Clio.

4-13-11 Dianne de Las Casas signs books at ABC-Clio Libraries Unlimited at TLA

I went to the conference with Marita Gentry, illustrator of several of my children’s books. We have a new book out this Spring, There’s A Dragon in the Library, and it went over very well at the conference!

4-13-11 Marita Gentry and Dianne de Las Casas pose with TX librarians at the Pelican Publishing Booth at TLA

I didn’t get to do as much as I wanted to at the conference because I was constantly signing books. I had a back-to-back, packed schedule with both of my publishers.

4-13-11 Dianne de Las Casas, Dewey the Dragon and Nina Fancher at TLA

Marita and I had a fabulous time. I love the fact that our new book gave us an excuse to wear tiaras because of its fairytale theme. The tiaras and Dewey the Dragon stole the show!

4-13-11 Marita Gentry and Dianne de Las Casas signing books at the Pelican Publishing Booth at TLA

This year I didn’t get many pictures with author friends! I got to hug Phil Bildner and say hi to my Texas storytelling friends. Lucky me, when I went to dinner at Guero’s with my phenomenal team at Pelican Publishing (thank you Caitlin and John), I also got to dine with the fabulous children’s book team of Jan Peck and David Davis. We ran into Jeanette Larson and Melanie Hope Greenberg and they joined us. On another night, I had dinner at Moonshine with my incredible team at Libraries Unlimited (much love to Sharon, Debby, Blanche, Shannon). Kristin Fontichiaro and Alexey Root, both Libraries Unlimited authors, are sweet as pie, and I hung out with them at dinner with the LU team.

4-14-11 Dianne de Las Casas and Melanie Hope Greenberg taken at Guero's Restaurant in Austin, TX (iPhone pic)

I managed a bit of shopping and met a wonderful husband and wife team at GSH Designs, where I bought lots of great jewelry for my daughters and for friends. Thank you Rosa and Johnny!

4-15-11 Rosa and Johnny of GSH Designs jewelry. Such nice people!

It was a wonderful conference and I love the city of Austin. I wish I could have seen more of it! A big hug to Marita Gentry for making my TLA conference such a special one.

Until next time…

Warmly, Dianne

3-25-11 Love these STAR librarians!

Friends:

Today was the final day of my Kansas Summer Reading Workshop tour. South Central Kansas Library (SCKLS) was my 7th library system in Kansas!

We started the day with a creativity exercise. Workshop participants had to create a self-portrait using items from their purse, wallet or pockets. There were lots of creative librarians!

3-25-11 Dana creates a self-portrait out of items from her purse with a Reeses peanut butter cup nose and Twix eyes! My kind of girl!

I opened Handmade Tales with a draw and tell story called “The Emperor’s Dragon.” I love this story because it’s fun to see the dragon come to life with lines. Kids adore this story!

3-25-11 The Emperor's Dragon, a draw and tell tale to represent China

Next, I taught them the draw and tell tale of “Catching a Pest in 7 Steps.” This story creates a mouse using numbers!

3-25-11 Catching a Pest in 7 steps, a draw and tell tale that uses numbers to create the picture

We did the cut and tell story of “Joseph Had a Little Overcoat,” a cute story with audience participation, humor, and transformations.

3-25-11 Librarians do the cut and tell story of Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

I showed them a scroll story from Japan, Russian nesting dolls made of paper, and “The Ugly Duckling,” made out of towels.

3-25-11 The Ugly Duckling is made out of a hand towel

It’s so much fun to do the story of “Papa’s Teepee” and see the coffee filters transform into snowflakes. I love having everyone create a blizzard.

3-25-11 Librarians create a blizzard of coffee filter snowflakes from the story, Papa's Teepee

After the morning break, it was time for “Bandana Man,” my popular adaptation of “The Gingerbread Man.” Look at these cute old women! Thanks, Chris, Brandon, Eric and Steve!

3-25-11 SCKLS men as little old women in the story, Bandana Man

This bandana man is so cute!

3-25-11 Look at this cute Bandana Man with colorful leopard spots!

I taught the librarians the string story of “The Stubborn Turnip,” an adaptation of the Russian story, “The Enormous Turnip.” Then I taught them a star string figure. So cool to see all of these librarians with their stars!

3-25-11 These librarians reach for the stars... with string!

After lunch, we worked on Tangram Tales and I showed the librarians how to create a Tangram set without a pattern. Then we had an “Invent-a-Tangram” contest. The winner, Diane, won one of my giant There’s a Dragon in the Library posters. I love this person sitting down reading a book Tangram.

3-25-11 Diane is the winner of the Invent-A-Tangram contest with her person sitting and reading a book

The group performed a Tangram story theater of the story, “Tiger’s Tale, Anansi’s Stories.” It is a tale from the West Indies and their story chorus was fun and rhythmic. I love seeing their collective creativity and how it comes together so quickly!

3-25-11 The SCKLS Librarians perform Tiger's Tale, Anansi's Stories, a Tangram story theater

I finished the workshop with “Picture Book Make and Takes,” showing them different activities from my picture books: The Cajun Cornbread Boy, Mama’s Bayou, and The Gigantic Sweet Potato. Then I performed Madame Poulet and Monsieur Roach with the help of Steve and his roach buddies.

3-25-11 Madame Poulet and Monsieur Roach are the best of friends...

It was so much fun to see these roaches getting down and having a good time partying!

3-25-11 Monsieur and friends party while Madame Poulet is a away!

We ended the workshop with activities from my new picture book, There’s a Dragon in the Library. I LOVE these accordion dragons!

3-25-11 Librarians model their accordion dragons from There's a Dragon in the Library

I had such a great time with these wonderful librarians! Thank you to Marquita Boenke, Gail Santy, Shelly, Kathy and Abby for doing such a great job with the workshop. They took such good care of me! I LOVE the gorgeous framed, signed art of Kansas sunflowers, a photograph taken by a local photographer that was given to me as a gift from SCKLS! WOW! Thank you so much!

Gail Santy drove me to Wichita but on the way, we stopped in the town of Newton for dinner at the Bread Basket, a Mennonite German buffet. I had German sausage made by Yoder Meats, sauerkraut, home-baked bread, German potato salad, verenika (dumplings stuffed with dry curd cheese) and chicken borscht (soup). It was such different fare for me — I don’t often get to eat German food, and it was delicious! I loved it!

3-25-11 Dinner at the Bread Basket, a Mennonite German Buffet in Newton, Kansas

I really enjoyed my visits across the vast, open state of Kansas. Everyone was so sweet and hospitable. Thank you so much, Kansas librarians! I <3 U!

Until next time…

Warmly, Dianne

3-24-11 Madame Poulet and Monsieur Roach are BFFs...

Friends:

Today was my fifth library system in Kansas for my summer reading workshop tour. Today I went to Southwest Kansas Library System in Dodge City. We began the workshop with a fun creativity exercise in which the workshop participants had to create a self portrait out of items from their purses, pockets and wallets.

3-24-11 A creative self-portrait by a SWKLS Librarian made out of items from her purse

Then it was time for some draw and tell tales to open the workshop. First, we began with a story I created to represent China, “The Emperor’s Dragon,” which is in my Handmade Tales book.

3-24-11 The Emperor's Dragon, a story to represent China

I taught the librarians another draw and tell story, “Catching a Pest in 7 Steps,” which utilizes the numbers 1 through 7 to create the picture of a mouse. So cute!

3-24-11 The mouse from the story, Catching a Pest in 7 Steps from Handmade Tales

After showing the librarians a Japanese scroll story, Russian nesting dolls made of out paper, and “The Ugly Duckling,” we did the story of “Papa’s Teepee,” which turns into cool snowflakes made out of coffee filters!

3-24-11 Southwest Kansas Librarians create a blizzard from coffee filter snowflakes

Then it was time for “Bandana Man,” a fun version of “The Gingerbread Man.” First, they had to use their bandanas to make themselves into old women.

3-24-11 Look at the cute little old women from the story, Bandana Man

Then, they turned their bandanas into babies.

3-24-11 Librariaas crack up as they burp their babies

Finally, they folded their bandanas into Bandana Man! “Run, run, run as fast as you can. You can’t catch me, I’m Bandana Man!”

3-24-11 Librarians made Bandana Man, an adaptation of The Gingerbread Man

Then it was time for string figure stories. I taught them “The Stubborn Turnip” and how to make a string star. It’s so adorable!

3-24-11 Stephanie is a star! Woo hoo!

I also showed them how to make the “One Snip Star,” creating a five pointed star with just one snip of the scissors. Very cool!

3-24-11 The One-Snip Star! Too cool!

After lunch, we switched gears and did Tangram Tales. After demonstrating Tangrams and teaching the librarians how to create a set out of Fun Foam, I challenged them to an “Invent-A-Tangram” Contest. Look at the winning Tangram! I love it!!

3-24-11 The winning Invent-A-Tangram - A woman in the tub reading a book

When it was time for the Tangram Story Theater, these librarians got revved up! They performed “Tigers Tales, Anansi’s Stories” and had a fantastically fun story chorus singing, “Feel the story beat, feel the story beat, shake-a-shake-a-shake, shake-a-shake-a-shake. Feel the story beat, feel the story beat, shake-a-shake-a-shake, shake-a-shake-a-shake. UH!!” The storytellers involved the audience with participation and sound effects and the Tangram artists made every Tangram perfect! It was AWESOME!!

3-24-11 The Queen Bee Tangram in Tiger's Tale, Anansi's Stories Tangram story theater

The last part of the workshop focused on “Picture Book Make and Takes.” I showed them activities for The Cajun Cornbread Boy, Mama’s Bayou, and The Gigantic Sweet Potato. Then I performed Madame Poulet and Monsieur Roach with Johnny and his roach friends…

3-24-11 Monsieur Roach and friends party like it's 1999!

It was so much fun seeing all the “roaches” on the ground, legs up! Hahahahaha!

3-24-11 Madame Poulet's aftermath - no more roaches partying in her house!

I ended with show them my new book, There’s a Dragon in the Library and all the activities that go with it. Look at this accordion dragon made by Millie Dearden!

3-24-11 Millie is a cutie with her accordion dragon puppet!

I worked with such a phenomenal group of librarians! Thank you so much for your energy and hospitality. Sara McFarland, I hope you feel better… here’s a hug! Then it was time to get the heck out of Dodge (I have always wanted to say that! LOL) and head to Salina, Kansas, a three hour drive from Dodge City. On the way, I caught this cool picture near a wind farm. It looks sort of like a tornado funnel forming but it was just rain…

3-24-11 It looks like a funnel is forming in the Kansas plains but it's just rain...

But on the way to Salina, there was hail! Lots of it! Kansas weather is always an adventure! Thank you to Charlene and her hubby, Ed, for transporting me from Dodge City to Salina. We stopped to eat at Woody’s Smokehouse in Great Bend. Look at all these barbecue sauces!

3-24-11 The many barbecue sauces of Woody's Smokehouse in Great Bend, Kansas

Another great day in the fair state of Kansas! Tomorrow is my last summer reading workshop in Kansas. I’m looking forward to meeting another cool group of librarians!

Until next time…

Warmly, Dianne

3-23-11 Kansas' vast plains and green winter wheat

Friends:

Today began the second half of my Summer Reading Workshop Tour in Kansas. I flew into Wichita on Tuesday, March 22, and, after a long drive, arrived at my bed and breakfast in Norton, Kansas very late. Thank you to Gail Santy and George Seamon for being my chauffer. Thank you, Gail, for your excellent tour guide skills. I learned so much about Kansas!

3-23-11 The Rose of Sharon Bed and Breakfast

I stayed at The Rose of Sharon Bed and Breakfast, a pretty house in town. Sharon’s house is like a museum, filled with so many interesting items! I met Sharon’s 9 year old granddaughter, Genesis, who was so sweet.

3-23-11 The Rose of Sharon house full of dolls and porcelain figurines

The Northwest Kansas Library System (“NWKLS”) summer reading workshop began with a draw and tell story called “The Emperor’s Dragon,” a story I created to represent China.

3-23-11 Amy draws The Emperor's Dragon, a Chinese Tale

Next, I showed them the draw and tell tale of “Catching a Pest in 7 Steps.” It’s a fun story in which the numbers create an illustration. Isn’t it cute? Great job, Mary!

3-23-11 Mary Allen draws the mouse from the story, Catching a Pest in 7 Steps

We did the story of “Joseph Had a Little Overcoat,” a cut and tell story from my book, Handmade Tales.

3-23-11 NWKLS Librarians do Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

I showed them how to create the Ugly Duckling and the Beautiful Swan from towels.

3-23-11 The Ugly Duckling and the Beautiful Swan

After showing them a Japanese scroll story and paper Russian nesting dolls, we did the cut and tell story, “Papa’s Teepee,” which turns into a snowflake. Then we created a blizzard! Brrrr!

3-23-11 Creating a blizzard from coffee filter snowflakes

Then it was on to “Bandana Man!” It’s such a popular story and kids love watching the bandana transform.

3-23-11 Old women from the story of Bandana Man

And the bandana men came out sooo cute!

3-23-11 Run, run, run as fast as you can; you can't catch me, I'm Bandana Man!

We did some string stories and I love it when librarians get excited about mastering a new skill! Woo hoo, Sharon!

3-23-11 Sharon is sooo excited to make the string figure star!

Just before lunch, I taught them all how to make a perfect five-pointed paper star with strategic folds and one snip of the scissors.

3-23-11 Yes, these librarians are STARS!

After our taco bar lunch, we got back into the swing of things with Tangrams. I taught them how to create a tangram without a pattern and challenged them to invent a Tangram. Anna was the winner! Way to go, Anna!

3-23-11 Anna is the winner of the Invent-A-Tangram contest with her Rose in Bloom Tangram!

Then it was time for Tangram Story Theater. The group did a great job performing “Tiger’s Tale, Anansi’s Stories,” a tale from the West Indies. “Let’s feel the story beat, let’s feel the story beat. UH!”

3-23-11 Performing Tiger's Tale, Anansi's Stories Tangram story theater

The final part of my workshop focused on “Picture Book Make and Takes.” I showed them the story of The Cajun Cornbread Boy illustrated by Marita Gentry and they made Cajun Cornbread Boy puppets.

3-23-11 Sharon cuts out The Cajun Cornbread Boy puppet after coloring him

I performed an excerpt of The Gigantic Sweet Potato and it was so much fun. Thanks, George and Judy (like the Jetsons? Where’s Jane?!). LOL

3-23-11 George and Judy help Dianne act out The Gigantic Sweet Potato

Then it was time to perform the hilarious Madame Poulet and Monsieur Roach. George Seamon, the NWKLS Library Consultant was Monsieur Roach. Sometime during the workshop, George landed the nickname, “Big Daddy Librarian.” All the librarians LOVED it and vowed to call him that from now on. Fortunately, George has a wonderful sense of humor and had fun with it. Look at how tall he is… he’s 6’4″! BIG DADDY LIBRARIAN!

3-23-11 Madame Poulet and Monsieur Roach were once the best of friends...

I love the part of the story where all the roaches end up on the floor, dead, with their legs up! Too funny!

3-23-11 Monsieur Roach and all his roach buddies are legs up once Madame Poulet finds out the truth!

I ended the workshop with There’s a Dragon in the Library and the librarians loved the accordion dragon. Judy, you did such a great job! Judy, who had seen me last year at the Kansas Storytelling Festival, said to me, “Dianne, I am lucky that your bright comet flew through my Kansas sky twice!” Awww, Judy… You are sooo sweet!

3-23-11 Judy models her accordion dragon from There's a Dragon in the Library

After my workshop finished, George took me to Nebraska. Yes, I stepped foot in Nebraska and now I can say I’ve been there! LOL

3-23-11 Dianne de Las Casas visits Nebraska!

Then George took me to an adobe house at the local state park. The house, named “Lady of the Prairie,” was built in the 1890s. Since that time, it has been restored.

3-23-11 This adobe house was constructed in the 1890s

My day ended with another long drive to my final destination. I will tell you this. I have never seen so much open space! It’s breathtaking how the land just stretches for miles. I was told that in Kansas, there are more cows per capita than people! Funny little factoid. Here, in the plains, I felt the powerful Kansas winds. There were times I felt like I would be swept away like Dorothy!

The people of Kansas have been so kind and sweet. Thank you, NWKLS, for having me as your summer reading presenter this year. You have swept me off my feet with your hospitality! Here’s to “One World, Many Stories!”

Until next time…

Warmly, Dianne

2-24-11 Crafts from the CLSP One World, Many Stories Summer Reading Manual 2011

Friends:

Ah, Kansas! In February, the weather can change at the drop of a hat, and it did today. All week long, I had beautiful weather with clear skies. This morning I woke up to sleet and ice and a dangerous start to the day. My hostess, Julie Tomlianovich, picked me up at my hotel and we had to drive about 45 minutes to Wichita. Because many people were coming to Wichita for the workshop from great distances, we decided to end the workshop early to allow for a safer commute in the bad weather. So I began trimming my workshop!

We started with the creativity exercise of making a self-portrait from items in your purse, wallet or pockets. There were a lot of good faces but I like this one because of the chocolate mouth, the blingy earrings, and the comb for the hair! My kind of gal!

2-24-11 A workshop participant's self-portrait with items from her purse

The workshop began with draw and tell tales. I showed them “The Emperor’s Dragon” and “Catching a Pest in 7 Steps.” I even taught them a little Chinese!

2-24-11 The Emperor's Dragon, a draw and tell tale from Handmade Tales

Then they learned “Joseph Had a Little Overcoat” cut and tell story. We were all laughing at how funny the cutting can be. Here, everyone has an overcoat and they pretty much look the same. By the end of the story, it was a different story! LOL

2-24-11 Librarians do the cut and tell story of Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

I taught them “Bandana Man” and boy, were they cute! Look at the old women in the story, especially the middle one.

2-24-11 Look at these cute librarians! Awwww.

Some librarians automatically have style, like these ladies. Just look at their Bandana Men!

2-24-11 These librarians took a walk on the wild side, rockin their animal print Bandana Men!

I didn’t have time to teach them the full string story of “The Stubborn Turnip” or even “Papa’s Teepee,” where they make snowflakes out of coffee filters but I did manager to teach them all how to make a string figure star!

2-24-11 These librarians are stars, for sure!

We worked very fast, doing Handmade Tales in two hours. Then it was on to Tangram Tales. After I showed them how to cut Tangrams without a pattern, I challenged them to a contest to “invent a Tangram.” This librarian won for her turtle Tangram. Wow! It really looks like a turtle.

2-24-11 This librarian won the Invent-A-Tangram contest! It's a turtle!! Too cute.

They performed a Tangram story theater – “Tiger’s Tale, Anansi’s Stories.” The storytellers, Tangram artists, and the story chorus worked well together to create their Tangram story theater masterpiece!

2-24-11 Librarians perform a Tangram story theater - Tiger's Tale, Anansi's story

I breezed through my picture book make and takes but told the entire story of Madame Poulet and Monsieur Roach. It was sooo funny! Look at these roaches!

2-24-11 Workshop participants are such good sports to play dead roaches in the story, Madame Poulet and Monsieur Roach!

I did have them do one picture book make and take – the accordion dragon from There’s a Dragon in the Library. While they didn’t have time to color the head and the tail, the dragon still looked adorable!

2-24-11 Large accordion dragons from There's a Dragon in the Library

I shaved 1.5 hours from my workshop!! Wow. All in all, I think the workshop came out great, considering how much time I had to shave. Everyone seemed to have and the immediate feedback from the workshop participants was overwhelmingly positive. Thanks for the love, Kansas. I can’t wait to return a the end of March to finish the rest of the state! A special thank you and shout out to Julia Tomlianovich for bringing me in and for being such a fabulous hostess. My Kansas visit was incredible!

Until next time…

Warmly, Dianne

2-23-11 Manhattan, Kansas workshop participants wish my husband, Antonio, a Happy Birthday!

Friends:

Today I was in Manhattan, Kansas. They call themselves “The Little Apple” and even have a ball drop on New Year’s Eve, just like The Big Apple! It was the third day of my summer reading workshop tour. Today was also my husband, Antonio’s birthday. With the help of the wonderful librarians, we wished him a Happy Birthday! Thank you so much, ladies!

After the birthday wish, I began my workshop with a creativity exercise in which the workshop participants created a self-portrait with items from their purse. It’s so interesting to see what they use to create their faces!

2-23-11 A workshop participant creates a self-portrait from items in her purse

We began with a couple of draw and tell tales – “The Emperor’s Dragon” and “Catching a Pest in 7 Steps” from my Handmade Tales book. Then they did a cut and tell tale – “Joseph Had a Little Overcoat.” They really enjoyed it.

2-23-11 Librarians learn how to do a cut and tell of Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

Then it was on to demonstrating a towel folding story of “The Ugly Duckling,” a fortune teller story round, and “Papa’s Teepee,” a story that turns a teepee into a snowflake out of a coffee filter. We create a “blizzard” of snowflakes – too cool!

2-23-11 Coffee filter snowflakes fly and create a snow blizzard

When I taught them how to create Russian nesting dolls out of paper, they loved it. Rachel, an innovative librarian, came up with the concept of nesting dino robots!! ROAR! Boys will love this one!

2-23-11 Rachel created Roar-tastic dinosaur robot nesting dolls!! Way to go, Rachel!

They loved the story of “Bandana Man,” a fun rendition of the Gingerbread Man. The librarians made such cute little old ladies!

2-23-11 Librarians are fabulous old women in the story, Bandana Man!

“Bandana Man” is always such a run-away hit! Hahahaha!

2-23-11 Run, run, run as fast as you can, you can't catch me, I'm Bandana Man!

I love when they experience success in my workshops. Working with string figures can be very tricky. The story of “The Stubborn Turnip” takes practice to master. So I like to leave them with simpler string figure that is easier to make. Lo and behold, now they are all stars!

2-23-11 Starry-eyed sweet string success!

Then I taught them how to make paper stars with a single snip of the scissors. The excess paper is turned into a picture frame. Very cool…

2-23-11 You never know what kinds of stars you meet at the library!

After learning how to make the origami 6-page book from the story “The King’s Advisor” in Handmade Tales, we went to lunch. Can we say, “Pizza?!!!” After lunch, we dove right into Tangram Tales. I showed them how to cut a Tangram without a pattern and then they practiced making Tangram figures.

2-23-11 Call the rodeo! This librarian created a horse and rider Tangram!

I held an Invent-A-Tangram contest. This is the lucky (HILARIOUS) winner!

2-23-11 The winner of the Invent-a-Tangram contest - Squatting Samarai

After they were familiar with Tangrams, we created a Tangram story theater from the story, “Tiger’s Tale, Anansi’s Stories” in my Tangram Tales book. My storytellers were sooo animated, the Tangram tellers made perfect Tangrams, and the story chorus rocked it out! Can we say, “Awesome!!!?”

2-23-11 Librarians perform Tiger's Tale, Anansi's Stories Tangram Story Theater

After Tangrams, it was time for picture book make and takes. I performed an excerpt from The Cajun Cornbread Boy and they made Cajun Cornbread Boy puppets. C’est bon!

2-23-11 Oh my! Cajun Cornbread Boy is much too spicy for our story time!

I showed them book activities for Madame Poulet and Monsieur Roach, The Gigantic Sweet Potato, and Mama’s Bayou.

2-23-11 Telling the story of Madame Poulet and Monsieur Roach. Fun!

They really LOVED the dragon accordion puppet from my book There’s a Dragon in the Library, illustrated by Marita Gentry. It was so much fun working with this group of librarians. We all had a blast together!

2-23-11 Taking pictures with some of my favorite people... librarians!!

I loved my whole day!! As I was being driven to my next location (Thanks, Ann!!), I saw this on my way out… Goodbye KS!!

2-23-11 Leaving Manhattan, Kansas, home of Kansas State University

It was a great day! Until next time…

Warmly, Dianne

2-22-11 Dianne's star cheerleaders in the front row!

Friends:

Today was the second day of my summer reading workshop tour in Kansas and today, I was in Topeka! It was a brisk 16 degrees when I was picked up from my hotel. Brrrr! But things quickly heated up once my workshop started. I had some sizzling librarians with warm hearts!

2-22-11 Librarians create a snow blizzard using a coffee filter to make a snowflake in the story, Papa's Teepee from Handmade Tales

I began with a creativity exercise in which the participants had to create a self portrait out of items from their purses, wallets or pockets. There were some very interesting self-portraits! I love this techie self-portrait. A cell phone for the hair, flash drives for the eyes… I soooo relate! Hahahaha!

2-22-11 A self-portait by a workshop participant using items from her purse

The first half of my workshop was dedicated to Handmade Tales. They learned some draw and tell tales and some cut and tell tales such as “Joseph Had an Overcoat.”

2-22-11 Librarians make Joseph's overcoat in the story, Joseph Had an Overcoat

They learned how to make a scroll story, how to create paper Russian nesting dolls, and how to cut magic stars. They learned the string story, “The Stubburn Turnip” and how to make a star string figure. A favorite is always “Bandana Man.” John and Jacob make such adorable little old women!

2-22-11 John and Jacob are old women in the story, Bandana Man, from Handmade Tales

I love how Bandana Man always makes my workshop participants sooo happy! Yes, he’s quite the cutie!

2-22-11 Workshop participants in Topeka, KS make Bandana Man

After an hour lunch, the second half of the workshop was dedicated to Tangram Tales and “Picture Book Makes and Takes.” First, they learned about Tangrams and cut out a Tangram set without a pattern. Then they began manipulating the Tangrams.

2-22-11 Workshop participants create Tangrams

Then I challenged them to a contest, requiring them to invent their own Tangram. This one was the winner – a plant in bloom by Jacob, AKA “Wonder Boy.” After he won the contest, he did a victory lap around the room and everyone did the wave for him. Hilarious!!

2-22-11 The winner of the Invent-a-Tangram contest - a blooming plant

Then it was time for the workshop participants to create their Tangram Story Theater. Everyone in the workshop performed “Tiger’s Tale, Anansi’s Stories.” It came out sooo cute!

2-22-11 Librarians perform a Tangram story theater - Tiger's Tale, Anansi's Stories from Tangram Tales

After finishing Tangram Tales, we moved on to “Picture Book Make and Takes,” where I showed them different book activities to go with all of my picture books. First, they made Cajun Cornbread Boy puppets. Ooh yeah, cher!

2-22-11 Spicy Cajun Cornbread Boy makes a librarian happy!

I told the story of Madame Poulet and Monsieur Roach with the help of some great librarians with a good sense of humor!

2-22-11 Workshop participants become dead roaches in the hilarious story of Madame Poulet and Monsieur Roach

My last story was There’s a Dragon in the Library. They loved all the activities that went with this story, especially the accordion dragon!

2-22-11 There's a Dragon in the Library large accordion puppet

It was a fantabulous day and I sooo enjoyed my time in Topeka! A very special thank you to my editor from ABC-Clio Libraries Unlimited, Sharon Coatney. She lives in Lawrence and made a special trip to attend my workshop. She is amazing and I love her! Thank you also to Mickey Coalwell, Teri, Brenda and all the staff of the Northeast Kansas Library System (NEKLS) for getting me from A to B and for executing a flawless workshop! You guys rock!

Thank you especially to all the wonderful librarians with whom I had the privilege of sharing my day. Keep doing the amazing work you do!

Until next time…

Warmly, Dianne

2-21-11 All librarians are stars!

Friends:

Today I had the great privilege of doing a summer reading workshop for Kansas children’s librarians in Iola, Kansas. The first part of the morning was dedicated to Handmade Tales. I began the workshop with a creativity activity to warm the participants up. They had to create a self-portrait from the contents of their purses or wallets. Fun!

2-21-11 Participants create a self portrait out of items in their purses or wallets

Then we started with draw and tell tales. First, they learned how to draw “The Emperor’s Dragon” from Handmade Tales.

2-21-11 The Emperor's Dragon from Handmade Tales

After a couple of draw and tell tales, I taught them “Joseph Had a Little Overcoat.” I demonstrated some of my other Handmade Tales such as making nesting dolls out of paper, doing the “Ugly Duckling” out of towels, and showing them a scroll story, “The Boy Who Drew Cats.” We did “Papa’s Teepee,” creating snowflakes and a snow blizzard out of coffee filter. So cool!

2-21-11 Creating a snow blizzard with coffee filters snowflakes from Papa's Teepee story

Then it was on to “Bandana Man,” a fun rendition of “the Gingerbread Man.”

2-21-11 Anita creates Bandana Man from Handmade Tales

I taught them “The Stubborn Turnip” out of string and they loved the string figures! I also taught them how to make stars!

2-21-11 String figure stars!

After lunch, it was time for a fun game. Since the theme is “One World, Many Stories,” I taught them a game that I learned from children in Singapore called “Pluck the Pearl.” Game players face each other and try to “pluck” the pearl from the open oyster. The oyster snaps closed and if the “plucker” gets snapped, she loses. It’s a lot of fun and takes a bit of speed and coordination.

2-21-11 Leah and her partner play Pluck the Pearl, a game from Singapore

Afterward, it was time for Tangram Tales. First, I had them create a Tangram set and work with Tangrams.

2-21-11 Amanda creates a bucking horse Tangram

Then they invented their own Tangrams. I made it a contest and here is the winner!

2-21-11 Wendy invents a humming bird feeder Tangram and wins the contest!

Then it was time for the creation of a Tangram story theater. They practiced and performed “Tiger’s Tale, Anansi’ Stories,” a tale from the West Indies. It came out so cute, especially the story chorus!

2-21-11 Participants perform Tiger's Tale, Anansi's Stories from Tangram Tales

After Tangram Tales, it was time for Picture Book Make and Takes. First, I told an excerpt of The Cajun Cornbread Boy. Then they made Cajun Cornbread Boy stick puppets.

2-21-11 Workshop participants create The Cajun Cornbread Boy puppets

Then I performed Madame Poulet and Monsieur Roach with the help of the audience members. Rachel, thanks for playing the part of Monsieur Roach!

2-21-11 Dianne de Las Casas performs Madame Poulet and Monsieur Roach with Rachel as Monsieur Roach

The roaches in the story were soooo funny! Love them!

2-21-11 Hilarious! Kansas children's librarians play like dead roaches in Madame Poulet and Monsieur Roach

It was a spectacular day and I had a ton of fun!! Special thanks to Sandy Wilkerson for coordinating this portion of my Kansas tour. I felt so much love and sunshine from the Sunflower State!

Until next time…

Warmly, Dianne

4-17-10 Performing How Funky Is Your Chicken at the Zachary Area Reading Council Conference

Friends:

On Saturday, I was the keynote speaker for the Zachary Area Reading Council (ZARC) in Zachary, Louisiana. They are a chapter of the International Reading Association. I spoke and gave two break-out sessions, “Handmade Tales,” and “Story Fest.”

In my “Handmade Tales” workshop, I taught the teachers several make and take tales that they could integrate into their lesson plans and teach the students. They did cut and tell tales, draw and tell tales, fold and tell tales, and I even showed them a little bit of Tangram Tales.

4-17-10 ZARC Handmade Tales workshop participants create a snow blizzard with coffee filter snowflakes

They loved making Bandana Man and I surprised them by giving them the bandanas to keep.

4-17-10 ZARC Handmade Tales workshop participants make Bandana Man

My second session was “Story Fest: Reading Comprehension through Story Theater.” They did individual, partner and group role playing warm-up exercises. Boy, did they stretch their imaginations and have fun!

4-17-10 ZARC Story Fest workshop participants portray a woman walking her dog in central park

It was fun seeing them move through the task progression into group work.

4-17-10 ZARC Teachers in Story Fest workshop portray a football player kicking a ball through the field goal posts

The culminating activity of the workshop was the creation and performance of a group story theater: “The Turtle Who Would Not Stop Talking.”

It was a great day and I enjoyed working with all those wonderful teachers. Thank you Michelle Cardonella for driving all the way from the North Shore to see me! Thank you to Heather Stone for coordinating the event and my schedule. And a special thank you to Holly Stone-Barker for housing me and arranging a book signing at Jack and Jill that afternoon in Zachary, Louisiana.

Up next: an author visit to Zachary Elementary on Monday, April 19, 2010.

Until next time…

Warmly, Dianne