Another Writers' Group Member With A New Book

Another one of my writers' group colleagues has a book publishing, this one today. If You Were a Garbage Truck or Other Big-Wheeled Worker! by Diane Ohanesian with illustrations by Joey Chou is a rhyming story that puts "preschoolers in the driver's seat as their favorite vehicles reveal the ups and downs of being a busy truck." It sounds as if it might be described as the inner lives of trucks.

Diane is the author of several other picture books. Two years ago, she did an impressive presentation for her lovely book, Snuggle Down Deep, that I was able to cover here. To help mark the publication of If You Were a Garbage Truck, as well as observe Original Content's twentieth anniversary, I'm rerunning it below.

 

Saturday, January 19, 2019 An Author Does Story Hour At A New Bookstore

Human children and animal babies all go to sleep. That's the entry point that makes Snuggle Down Deep by Diane Ohanesian with illustrations by Emily Bornoff work. Each section involves both some light factual material with the "snuggle down deep" repetition. The book combines nature, poetry, and...sleeping. It's a lovely book with an ecological thread.

The Event

Cookies A Work Of Art

This morning Diane Ohanesian did what could be called a master class in how to do an author story hour in a bookstore. She had an audience of close to a dozen kids from around two-years-old to maybe six or seven. Yes, she brought cookies, which made a much nicer impression than I would have expected.

Making The Story Interactive

What was really impressive, though, was the way she got control of her group with the first words she spoke. In a whisper, she asked her audience to do something and they did it.  She kept control with a terrific board kids could interact with as she was reading. She finished up with a simple art project that went over extremely well, probably because of the great box of supplies she brought with her. She had brand new packages of paper!

Treasure!

Watching Diane illustrated why new writers should take advantage of opportunities to see writers experienced with speaking and dealing with the public.

 

 

 

The Venue

Diane read at the new River Bend Bookshop in Glastonbury, Connecticut. It's a nook and cranny independent bookstore, the kind where browsers can get a sense of the intellect curating the offerings. I "have a bookstore" in Stowe, Vermont I go into once a year and walk around until something jumps off the shelf and tells me to take it home. River Bend

Children's Nook

could be that kind of place.

Of course, today I bought Snuggle Down Deep.

River Bend is hosting writers and other literary events.