Laura Sassi

I’m thrilled to welcome multi-published children’s book author Laura Sassi back to Frog on a Blog! Laura first appeared here in 2018 when we were a stop on her blog tour for her beautiful picture book Love is Kind, when she introduced us to Little Owl, her story time puppet. Read about how Laura uses puppets to engage young readers HERE. Laura’s returned today to share a bit about herself and her darling new board book Happy Birthday, Christmas Child!: A Counting Nativity Book, which published on October 4, just in time for Christmas shopping. I had the pleasure of viewing the digital arc, and this book is so, so special. Let’s hear more about it from Laura!

Q. You were a teacher before becoming a children’s author. Do you think your experience as a teacher has helped you in your writing career?

L.S.: Absolutely! There’s nothing quite like teaching elementary school to immerse a future author into the world of writing for children. As a teacher, I pored over each text so I could engagingly teach my kids about the many wonders of storytelling including setting, mood, plot, character development, theme and more. I also decided early on that, just like my students, I would keep a daily writer’s journal. For fun, I often assigned myself the same writing projects I gave them. All this helped to lay a great foundation to the daily discipline and nitty-gritty of writing, revising and polishing my own work.

Q. What do you love most about picture books?

L.S.: The storyteller in me loves the magical way picture books use both words and images to tell a complete story. Neither is complete without the other and the result, when well done, is vibrant and interactive because readers must engage with both for the full reading experience. I also love the size and feel of picture books. They are just perfect for reading with a little one by your side or in your lap, and there’s nothing more magical than that.

Q. Your books often feature feel-good messages of kindness, friendship, hope, and love. How important are those themes to you? And what inspires your writing?

L.S.: When I look over all the stories, poems and articles I’ve written over the last twenty years, I do see common messages of kindness, friendship, hope and love. Other themes that have woven their way in include perseverance, forgiveness, and telling the truth even when it’s difficult. I consider these to be important seeds of good living that were planted in me by my parents. They are themes that I hope to pass on to my own children – as well as the children I write for. I’m delighted to say that I see these seeds blossoming in young children everywhere, and that inspires me to keep writing.

Q. Tell us about your beautiful new book Happy Birthday, Christmas Child!. Why did you decide to make it a counting book? And was it always intended to be a board book?

L.S.: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHRISTMAS CHILD! invites children and their families to join Mary and Joseph as they wait for Jesus to be born. It’s inspired by a favorite Christmas verse from Luke 2:19 that describes Mary’s wonder as she pondered the events surrounding the birth of Christ. Similarly, I hope that by infusing counting into HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHRISTMAS CHILD!, littlest readers and their caregivers will slow down, explore, count and marvel with Mary and Joseph as they await this special birth. And, yes, I envisioned it from the beginning as a board book, perfect for even the tiniest hands to hold.

Q. Gabi Murphy’s illustrations are so bright and cheery and complement your joyful, rhyming text so perfectly. How did you feel when you saw the completed book for the first time?

L.S.: I have been blessed with wonderful illustrators for each of my books and Gabi Murphy just continues that blessing! I love her bright and joyful rendering to the text and love each and every spread. I felt JOY when I saw the completed book for the very first time, JOY and ANTICIPATION, not just for the book’s release, but also for Christmas, which is one of my favorite times of year.

Q. Where can fans connect with you online?

L.S.: I would love for readers to check out my newly renovated website and blog – Laura Sassi Tales – and follow me there for weekly fun in your inbox. I also love connecting on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @LauraSassitales! (Same handle for all three.)

Q. Is there anything else you’d like to share with readers? What’s next for Laura Sassi?

L.S.: Well, in the fun planting seeds category, I’m delighted to share that I have two dear-to-my-heart books releasing in 2023. The first, MY TENDER HEART BIBLE, is a rhyming board book that includes 12 of my favorite bible stories that point to God’s love, releasing with Paraclete Press in February. Then in Fall 2023, I’m looking forward to the release of MY TENDER HEART PRAYER BOOK, a collection of 24 short rhyming prayers to take a child through the day and foster conversations with God. And beyond that? Hmm… good things, I hope.

Congratulations, Laura! We can’t wait to see your new books and the many more to follow!

Laura Sassi has a passion for telling stories in prose and rhyme. She is the author of multiple books for young children including the best-selling Goodnight, Ark, which was a 2015 Christian Book Award Finalist; Goodnight, Manger; Diva Delores and the Opera House Mouse, which is a 2021-2022 Iowa Goldfinch Award Nominee; Love Is Kind, which was a 2020 Anna Dewdney Read Together Award Honor Book; Little Ewe: The Story of One Lost Sheep, Bunny Finds Easter, and Happy Birthday, Christmas Child!, her new counting board book. Laura’s Tender Heart Bible and Tender Heart Prayer Book are both forthcoming in 2023 from Paraclete Press.

Laura had a successful teaching career before becoming a children’s author. She’s been a homeschool mom, children’s ministry director, historic museum interpreter, and more. She writes daily from her home in New Jersey and finds special joy in pointing kids to God and to good through story and sharing her love of reading and writing at school visits, church gatherings and other events.

I adore picture books that highlight the themes of love and kindness. That’s why it’s my great pleasure to be a stop on Laura Sassi’s LOVE IS KIND Blog Tour. Readers, this book is incredibly sweet (and I don’t mean because it includes a little something about a box of chocolates), and the ending (which I won’t give away) is darling. Speaking of darling, check out the cover of LOVE IS KIND, featuring Little Owl, the star of the book.

Love is kind cover

And, guess what? You get to meet Little Owl, the brand new story time puppet, right here on Frog on a Blog! Hello Little Owl!

Little Owl

Laura’s stopped by today to talk about how she uses puppets to enhance the story time experience and engage her young audience, and how you can too. Little Owl will soon be joining her on her author visits.

MEET LITTLE OWL: Using Puppets to Engage Young Readers

I started using puppets with the release of my very first book. Since a pair of skunks play an important role in that book, and thinking that my very youngest readers might not be familiar with the species, I thought having a pair of skunk puppets would be an engaging way to introduce the story. The former teacher (and crowd control freak) in me, also thought skunk puppets might be a friendly way to help young audiences settle down before and during the reading since, as you know, skunks are notorious for making a big stink if they get startled.

Skunk1

Those skunks became such an integral part of author visits, that I decided to incorporate puppets into the author visits for every one of my books – skunks for GOODNIGHT ARK, a rooster for GOODNIGHT MANGER, a seal and mouse for DIVA DELORES AND THE OPERA HOUSE MOUSE, and now, for LOVE IS KIND, my newest release, a darling little owl.

Now, in celebration of sharing books with little ones, here are TEN tried-and-true tips for using puppets to enhance a story time experience.

Before the story time.

1. Pick a puppet that fits the book. The puppet you choose can either be a protagonist, like my seal, mouse and owl, or minor characters such as my skunks and rooster. The most important thing is that you have a good reason for picking that puppet – a reason that enhances your story time. For example, the skunks are useful in introducing an important and fun subplot in GOODNIGHT, ARK. (They are hiding under the bed in every spread until – at last – they make a big stink that’s important to the resolution of the story.) And that rooster, while very minor to GOODNIGHT, MANGER, becomes a fun and engaging way to introduce the concept of loud vs. quiet voices when putting a baby to bed.

Rooster

2. Play… and plan ahead of time! This is probably obvious, but it’s worth spending time in advance putting together a little stand-up routine for you and your puppet. This is your chance to tap into your inner comedian. The more you ham it up, the more the kids will love it!

3. Practice your ventriloquist skills. There are two ways to use your puppet. Either you can just talk with it and it can shyly nod, react etc., OR you can have that puppet actually converse with you, or “cock-a-doodle-doo” as my rooster does and SING as that darling Diva Delores loves to do! If you decide to have them speak, then I’d recommend practicing your ventriloquist skills in front of a mirror ahead of time.

During the story time.

4. Use your puppets to break the ice. If you are a little shy, like me, then you’ll probably agree that mingling is easier with a buddy. In that awkward “before the story time officially begins” period, I’ve discovered that EVERYBODY enjoys a little mingling with the author and her storytelling companion – especially when it’s a cute stuffed animal puppet.

5. Have your puppets help introduce the story. This takes a little planning ahead of time (see step 2), but a short puppet routine is a great way to introduce the themes of your story, any special concepts, or just to get the kids excited. For DIVA DELORES, for example, my seal puppet likes to sing for the audience so they can hear what opera sounds like. Then she invites them to join along in singing the refrain that appears on certain spreads in the book. I haven’t finalized exactly what Little Owl is going to do before I read LOVE IS KIND, but it will surely have something to do with kindness and love.

Diva Delores

6. Have the children model for the puppets what “good listening” looks like before you read. It’s amazing how eager young readers are to engage with the puppets, and I’ve discovered over time that little ones especially like the opportunity to model for my puppets what good listeners look like. So, I have THEM show the puppets what it looks like to sit quietly with eyes on reader, ready to be read to. (I also use those skunks to my advantage (see intro)).

7. Use your puppets to engage young readers in some post-reading ponderings. After my readings, I like for the kids to reflect with me on what the characters in the story learned and I’ve found that involving the puppets in the process is effective and popular. For example, after reading GOODNIGHT, MANGER we ponder what made the difference in getting Baby Jesus to sleep. (The answer has to do with creating a quiet, peaceful atmosphere). Then, together, we see if we can teach our very NOISY rooster to do a quiet cock-a-doodle-doo. If he learns well, we invite him to join as we sing a final lullaby to Baby Jesus. For LOVE IS KIND, I think I will have Little Owl help me select volunteers to share their post-reading thoughts by looking with me for participants who are showing kindness by being good listeners with each other during our post book chat.

8. Include your puppets in the story time farewell. This can be very motivational if your audience is getting antsy because you can promise your young participants that if they hold on just a little longer, then they can pet and hug the visiting puppet! They love this! And I am just charmed by how many “I love yous” each puppet has so gently received over the last four years since I first started using puppets.

After the story time.

9. Have a puppet de-briefing session with yourself. After each story time, I find it helpful to evaluate what worked, what didn’t, and what I could do next time to make that puppet even more integral to my story time. For example, it wasn’t until I had done a few story times in that I decided to have my GOODNIGHT, ARK skunk puppets engage my audience in a little quiet “thumbs up” challenge. But it worked so well, that now, at every GOODNIGHT, ARK story time, my skunk puppets challenge the audience to quietly put “thumbs up” as soon as they spot the skunks on each spread – which makes for a nice set up to the stinky climax!

Skunk2

10. Most important: HAVE FUN! Yes, let’s not forget this last important tip. If you are having fun, it will be contagious!

Thank you for having me, Lauri, and I hope my love for puppets inspires others to experiment with incorporating something new into their story times as well.

Hurrah for puppets! And what a fun post! I wonder if that monkey puppet is still around that I had when I was a kid. Hmm…

Folks, don’t forget to check out the other stops on the LOVE IS KIND tour.

Love is KInd Blog Tour Schedule

Giveaway

ZonderKidz, the publisher of LOVE IS KIND, has generously agreed to give away a copy of the book to one U.S. blog reader. Just leave a comment here to be entered to win. A winner will be chosen at random on September 30. Be sure to follow Frog on a Blog so that I can contact you if you win.

Thank you Laura and ZonderKidz!