Have Swag Will Travel: Tips for Planning Book Events, Summary Post

Over the past couple of years, I've developed several different collections or series of blog posts, for example, Quick Ideas for Getting Started with Signing, Start to Finish Story Time, (as well as the expanded version of that series, Start to Finish Story Time, Expanded), and the Birth Stories for Books series. Once there's a critical mass of posts in a particular series, I create a summary post that provides an updated list of the posts for the series.

Last year I started a series of posts called "Have Swag Will Travel: Tips for Planning Book Events." At long last, I've now created a summary of posts for this series. Keep in mind that the first several posts in the series were created by authors in a pre-pandemic frame of mind, but many of the ideas in these posts can be incorporated (in some cases with modifications to align with current circumstances, ) into the promotional events and plans for your own book(s).

This will be a good post to bookmark and follow, as I will add links to this page as new posts are added to the series.

Here goes:

Tracy C. Gold (What to bring along to a book sales event)

Kathy MacMillan, (Library Visits, Webinars, and other outreach)

Carol Gordon Ekster, Trucker Kid (tips for matching your book with targeted audiences)

Tracy C. Gold, Call Your Mother and other books (tips for a yearlong author residency)

Debbie Zapata, Up and Adam (wonderful resources for planning inclusive story times and book events)

Kirsti Call, Meow Says Cow and other books

Way Past Worried and other books by Hallee Adelman (heaps of resources and pro tips for innovative events, activities and learning extensions)

Interview with Anna Monders about her Booktalk Blog (pro tips for creating your own booktalks)

Chicken Break! by Cate Berry (EGGcellent ideas including author collaborations, playful reviews, karaoke songs and videos, and themed refreshments)

untitled, by Timothy Young (school visits, sculptures, and other art-infused give-aways)

My Quiet Ship, by Hallee Adleman (interactive school visit and classroom activity plans)

There Was An Old Gator Who Swallowed a Moth, by B. J. Lee (business cards, note cards, & posters)

If you like these posts, you might also be interested in Start to Finish Story Time, Expanded.

If you've found these posts helpful, I encourage you to bookmark and follow this page. I will add new links to this page as more posts go up. (And, please get in touch if you'd like to share YOUR tips for planning book events).

Year-End Greetings and Holiday Letters, Summary Post

Although it seems fewer and fewer people send annual holiday greetings, I treasure this tradition each year--both the receiving of cards, letters, and photos from friends and family near and far, and the preparation of my own annual update.

Katia, Nikko, Dawn, & Sam, 2018

Each year I try to provide a relevant update embedded in some creative format. In most cases, I've also published a year-end blog post that incorporates the holiday greeting for that year. Here is a summary of those posts:

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017 (I prepared and sent a holiday greeting, but I did not write a 2017 reflection post, as my focus was on the care and company of beloved family members in their last days of life.)

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012 (This post continues to be one of my most widely-read posts, with over 46,000 views.)

As I reflect on each of these posts I see a mixture of blessings and heartbreak. I'm reminded of the importance of working for a better world in big ways and small. I'm warmed by memories of family travels, book launches, enduring friendships, and ordinary happenings. But mostly, I'm filled with gratitude for life, good health, and love.

May you experience peace, love, and joy in the coming year.

Birth Stories for Books: Posts About Paths to Publication, Summary Post

In 2018, I wrote a guest post on Tara Lazar's blog that described my path to publication for my books, Where Does a Pirate Go Potty? and Where Does a Cowgirl Go Potty? That post inspired me to start asking other authors to share their path to publication stories with me. So began a new series of guest blog posts I've been publishing periodically ever since.

"Birth Stories for Books: Posts About Paths to Publication from Published Authors and Illustrators" is a great series to bookmark and follow.  I will add links to this page as new posts go up. (Note: You can read about my path to publication for my FIRST books here and my NEXT book, here. Although these posts are not officially part of this series, they align with the "Path to Publication" topic/theme.)

Here goes:

Coming Soon! Alayne Kay Christian, Turkey on the Run! (Flamingo Books, Forthcoming, Sept 2026)

Coming Soon! Jena Benton, Kauai's Call, (Island Heritage, 2024)

Elayne Crain, There's Something Odd About the Babysitter (Feiwel & Friends, 2025)

Deborah Williams Holt, Nighty Night, Dinos , (Familius, June 2026)

Joyce Uglow, Stuck! The Story of La Brea Tar Pits,  (Bushel & Peck Books, Mar 2025)

Lora Heller, Adventures with Opal Muggy Buggy Day, (Independently Pub'd Feb 2025)

Sandy Grubb, Just Like Click, (Fitzroy Books, Apr 2024)

Sara T. Behrman, The Sea Hides a Seahorse, (The Collective Book Studio, Apr 2024)

Sue Heavenrich, The Pie That Molly Grew, (Sleeping Bear Press, Aug 2023)

Carla Marie Manly, PHD, The Joy of Imperfect Love, (Familius, Mar 2024)

Jessica Marie, The Mess Monster,  (Independently Published, Oct 2023)

Robin Hall, The Littlest Weaver, (Familius, Oct 2023)

Candy Wellins, Mabel's Tospy-Turvy Homes, (Beaming Books, Oct 2022)

Phaea Crede, Super Pizza and Kid Kale (Viking, Sept 2022)

Sheila Modir, PhD and Jeff Kashou, LMFT, The Proudest Color (Familius,  Sept 2021)

Rebecca Kraft Rector, Little Red and the Big Bad Editor (Aladdin, Sept 2022)

Amanda Rowe, If There Never Was a You (Familius, March 2019)

Terry Ann Marsh, The Three Little Sprigs (BrandyLane/Belle Isle Books, July 2022)

Kaitlyn Wells, A Family Looks Like Love (Penguin Kids, May 2022)

Carol Gordon Ekster, Some Daddies (Beaming Books, May 2022)

Elisa Boxer: One Turtle's Last Straw (Crown Books for Young Readers, May 2022)

Valerie Bolling, Together We Ride (Chronicle Books, April 2022)

Robin Currie, How to Dress a Dinosaur (Familius, March 2022)

Christine Evans, The Wish That Got Away (Albert Whitman, & Co, April 2022)

Brian Russo, A Friend for Yoga Bunny (HarperCollins, February 2022)

June Smalls, He Leads: Mountain Gorilla, the Gentle Giant (Familius, March 2022)

Jeni Chen, Emet's Box (Little Press, April 2022)

Rebecca Fox Starr, Mommy Ever After (Familius, March 2022)

Nancy Dearborn, Hugga Loula (Familius, March, 2021)

Randel McGee, Zhang Heng and the Incredible Earthquake Detector (Familius, Nov 2021)

Jenny Jiang, Just Like Flowers (Self Published, September, 2021)

Laura Gehl, Who is a Scientist? (Millbrook Press, October, 2021)

Denise Gallagher, Moonsong (The Little Press, October, 2021)

S.K. Wenger, Chicken Frank, Dinosaur! (Albert Whitman & Company, October, 2021)

Tracy C. Gold, Trick or Treat, Bugs to Eat (Sourcbooks, August, 2021)

Phaea Crede, Jet the Cat (Is Not a Cat) (Barefoot Books, May, 2021)

Kirsti Call, Cow Says Meow (HMH Books for Young Readers, March, 2021)

Moni Ritchie Hadley, The Star Festival (Albert Whitman & Co, April, 2021)

Christine Van Zandt, A Brief History of Underpants (Quarto, April, 2021)

Tracy C. Gold, Everyone's Sleepy But the Baby (Familius, April, 2021)

Rebecca Kraft Rector, Squish Squash Squished (Nancy Paulsen Books, February, 2021)

Michele McAvoy, Cookie & Milk (Cardinal Rule Press, October, 2019)

Stephanie Shaw, Tails From the Animal Shelter (Sleeping Bear Press, August, 2020)

Valerie Bolling, Let's Dance! (Boyds Mills & Kane, March, 2020)

Elizabeth Rusch, Several New Releases (2020)

Kathy MacMillan, Nita's Day (Familius, May, 2020)

Janet Sumner Johnson, Help Wanted, Must Love Books (Capstone, March, 2020)

Vivian Kirkfield, Several New Releases (2019)

Debra Bartch, Crow Spirit (Spork, 2019)

Josh Funk, How to Code a Rollercoaster (Viking Books for Young Readers, Sept, 2019)

Patti Richards, Contributing Author to Thanku: Poems of Gratitude (Millbrook Press, Sept, 2019)

Aimee Reid, You Are My Friend: The Story of Mister Rogers and His Neighborhood (Abrams Books, 2019)

Jackie Azúa Kramer, That's for Babies, (Clavis, 2019)

Jodi Moore, I Love My Dragon (Flashlight Press, 2019)

Estela Bernal, Can You See ME Now? (Pinata Books, 2014)

Carol Gordon Ekster, You Know What? (Clavis, 2017)

Tara Lazar, Your First Day of Circus School (Tundra Books, June 2019)

Rosanne Parry, Last of the Name (Carolrhoda Books, 2019)

Emma Bland Smith, To Live on An Island (Little Bigfoot, May 2019)

Laura Sassi, Diva Delores and the Opera House Mouse (Sterling, 2018)

Amy Losak, discussing Sydell Rosenberg's H is For Haiku (Penny Candy Books, 2018)

Robin Koontz, Bug (Sterling, April 2019)

Stephanie Shaw, Piece by Piece (Sleeping Bear Press, 2017)

Jane Whittingham, Queenie Quail Can't Keep Up (Pajama Press, March 2019)

Dale Basye, Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go (Random House, 2008)

Caroline Nastro, The Bear Who Couldn't Sleep (NorthSouth Books, 2016)

Linda Elovitz Marshall, Good Night, Wind (Holiday House, Feb 2019)

Matthew Lasley, Pedro's Pan (Graphic Arts Books, Feb 2019)

Diana Murray, One Snowy Day (Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, 2018)

Holly L. Niner, No More Noisy Nights (Flashlight Press, 2017)

Jane Kurtz, What Do They Do With All That Poo? (Beach Lane Books, June 2018)

Hannah Holt, The Diamond and the Boy (Balzer + Bray, October 2018)

Sarah Darer Littman, Anything But Okay (Scholastic, October 2018)

Jody J. Little, Mostly The Honest Truth (Harper, March 2019)

Dawn Prochovnic, Story Time with Signs & Rhymes (Abdo, 2009-2012)


If you like these posts, you might also be interested in posts about The Writing Life.

If you like these inspiring Birth Stories for Books, I encourage you to bookmark and follow this page. I will add links to this page as new posts go up! (And, please get in touch if you'd like to share your birth story).

The "Flurry of Ideas" Part of the Writing Life

As I predicted in my last post, this space has been quiet for awhile. My social media activity has also been quiet. What HAS NOT been quiet is my imagination. That has been on overdrive, and let me tell you, it's been a heap of fun!

My oldest child went off to college this past fall and something about that transition kicked my creative caboose into high gear. I've been writing, I've been revising, and I've been submitting my work. It feels great!

Image Source: Tara Lazar 

This past month I participated in Tara Lazar's famed StoryStorm challenge. I have hesitated to participate in this event in the past because coming up with story ideas has not typically been an issue for me. The greater challenge for me has been keeping up with my ideas, honoring my ideas by getting them down on paper, and then further honoring my ideas by drafting, revising, polishing, and eventually submitting my stories to publishers.

I sincerely enjoyed the daily StoryStorm blog posts, and I diligently participated in the creative activities shared in each post. I completed the challenge with heaps of new story ideas, a few of which are already starting to materialize into stories with genuine potential. 

StoryStorm was a good match for me this year, and I have to say, it will definitely be an annual tradition going forward. Thanks, Tara Lazar, for coordinating such an excellent creative experience via your blog!

Speaking of blogs, I anticipate my own blog might be quiet for another little stretch of time . . . I have big ideas that are calling for my attention, and I need to give them the respect they are due.

So, dear readers, while you're waiting for my next post, might I encourage you to visit my summary post page, which is a handy way to access past entries on popular topics in one convenient location. 

Happy Reading, Happy Writing, and Happy Signing! Dawn

How to Enrich Your Learning Environment with Sign Language (Summary Post)

Photo Credit: K. Prochovnic, 2012

Recently, I've written several posts about the benefits of signing with hearing children of all ages (infants/toddlers, preschoolers, and school-aged kids) and how to weave sign language into your own learning environment. This information is drawn from a popular workshop I teach entitled, "Our Hands are Full: How to Enrich Your Learning Environment with Sign Language."

The workshop title is meant to suggest that teachers, librarians, parents and caregivers are BUSY (Our HANDS are FULL), but our hands can also be TOOLS for communication (meaning they are FULL of potential and opportunity).

Each post in the series offers practical tips and information about the benefits of sign language and how to incorporate ASL into your home, classroom and/or library programming. You can find links for each post below:

Enrich Your Learning Environment with Sign Language Series:

Post #1: Introduction and Research Links

Post #2: How Sign Language Can Help with Concentration

Post #3: Sign Language Keeps Hands Busy with Something Permissible and Positive

Post #4: Sign Language Develops Fine Motor Skills (Pencil Practice!)

Post #5: Sign Language Engages Multiple Senses

Post #6: Sign Language is a Natural and Effective Classroom Management Tool 

Post #7: Sign Language Can Be a Tool To Help Kids Use Their Manners

Post #8: How the Sign, "Stop" Can Help Kids Safely and Respectfully Communicate Frustration

Post #9: How to Play "The Quiet Game"

Post #10: Sign Language Can Bridge the Communication Gap in Bi-Lingual Learning Environments

I will continue to add to this series over time, so keep checking back (or sign up to follow my blog via the links in the upper right column of this page). If you have specific questions you'd like me to address, or if you're interested in scheduling your own workshop (in person, or via SKYPE), let me know in the comment section below, or get in touch through the contact links at SmallTalk Learning. You can also find me on Facebook and Twitter. Happy Signing!

Hosting An Exchange Student: Summary Post

If you missed the memo, my family hosted an exchange student this summer. It was an amazing experience. Here is a series of posts to prove it:

The Best Stay-Cation Ever: Hosting an Exchange Student

How Hosting an Exchange Student Helped Me Grow as a Parent

Hosting an Exchange Student is a Feast of Learning Opportunties

Hosting an Exchange Student Feeds the Teacher (and Mama) in Me

Hosting an Exchange Student Builds Empathy

How Hosting an Exchange Student Continues to Feed the "Creative" in Me

Hosting an Exchange Student: The Dark Side

Resources for Arranging International Student Exchanges

Discombobulated Frenzy of Wonderful Snippets from our Summer Exchange Experience 

I would love to hear about your experiences!

Gotcha! How to Find and Capture Great Writing Ideas: Summary Post

Last year I wrote a series of posts under the heading: "Gotcha! How to Find and Capture Great Writing Ideas," which summarized the key learning points in a workshop I teach for young writers by the same title. This workshop focuses on the curricular learning targets pertaining to generating ideas. It's a good match for young writers in a variety of different settings including schools, libraries, scout troops and homeschool study groups.

Below are the links to all of the posts in this series, beginning with the introductory post:

Introductory Post

Big Idea #1: Find Your Feelings

Big Idea #2: Story Ideas Hide in Your Head

Big Idea #3: Keep a Notebook to Capture Your Ideas

Big Idea #4: Read, Read, and Read Some More

Big Idea #5: Write, Write and Write Some More


If you'd like to schedule a writing workshop or author visit for your school or community group, please get in touch.

Quick Ideas for Getting Started with Signing: Summary Post

Image Courtesy of Tagxedo.com

For the past several weeks, I've been sharing the key learning points in my infant/toddler sign language workshops. I thought it might be helpful to provide a summary post with links to all of the earlier posts provided in one handy spot. This is a post you may want to bookmark and/or share with your friends. Here goes:

Quick Ideas for Getting Started With Signing (August 27, 2012)
Introductory post.

Sing Your Heart Out (September 4, 2012)
Tips for signing along with familiar songs you regularly sing and/or the silly songs you make up.

Sing it Loud. Sing it Clear (September 12, 2012)
Tips for practicing signs by modifying the lyrics to familiar children's songs.

Music for Signers (September 19, 2012)
Some of my favorite published musical collections to sign along with.

Sing and Sign When You Read (September 26, 2012)
Practical ideas for how to incorporate signing into your reading time.

Sing Me a Story (October 8, 2012)
A listing of the melodies that match up with the books in my Story Time with Signs & Rhymes series.

Sign When You Play (October 17, 2012)
Practical ideas for incorporating signs into your playtime activities.

Put it to the "Wheels on the Bus Test" (October 24, 2012)
Reassuring responses to common questions and concerns about signing.

Label When You're Able: Let Your Words Be Your Guide (November 8, 2012)
Practical ideas for providing sign labels (in addition to verbal labels) for key activities or objects.

Label When You're Able, Part Two (November 14, 2012)
Responses to common questions about how to provide sign labels in context.

Focus on Key Words Your Child Wants to Say (November 19, 2012)
Practical ideas for providing additional focus on key words in sign language.

In addition, click here for a collection of wonderful resources that my publisher, ABDO Publishing Group, has put together, including Sign Language Glossaries, Story Time Activity Packets and Sign Language Event Guides.

I hope this is a helpful summary. In future posts I will move on to a more general forum of common Q and A's, more tips and tricks, and new topics! If you have particular questions you want answered, post them here or send me a private message, and I'll respond to your questions in a subsequent post.

Happy Thanksgiving!  (Here are links to the signs for Turkey and Thanksgiving!)