Charlie Hackett works diligently on her book while Sophie Christianson stops for a moment to say hi. Both young ladies are taking part in Story Scouts at the YMCA. The young authors are growing their skills in art and writing through Story Scouts. Staff photo/Brian Larsen
Ahoy, child authors and illustrators! Look for the Minnesota Children’s Press’ pop-up publishing club table in the lobby of the YMCA on Thursdays, starting March 12, 2020. Open after school on a casual, drop-in basis from 3-7 p.m., the Story Scouts Club is courtesy of Minnesota Children’s Press, www.minnchildpress.org. Minnesota Children’s Press is Grand Marais’ new nonprofit dedicated to helping children voice and amplify their messages for the world they will soon steward as adults.
Not a word writer? Not a problem!
Staffed by award-winning author and publisher, science writer Anne Brataas (www.thestorylaboratory.com), a part-time Grand Marais resident, the pop-up table is open to kids in grades 2-8 (but we’re flexible; show up and see how you do) who have visions they want to voice and can focus and collaborate productively to make it happen. If word writing is not your talent or interest, no problem! Pictures, maps, secret codes, cartoons, runic designs, shape poems, totems, charts, graphs, flags, logos, heraldic crests and more that help visualize story are all welcome. We need child researchers, archivists, editors and interviewers, too. Want to build a website? Great! Learn how to update our Story Scouts (www.storyscouts.org) and BorealCorps web sites (www.borealcorps.org ).
Three story crafting activities this spring
March through May, we feature a three-part story sampler of publishing activities for you to choose from (do one or all three):
1) Bring out your inner Stick Figure artist! Create your character and embody it in a Stick Fig you send on adventures around the pages of a book you begin with Minnesota Children’s Press (www.minnchildpress.org).
2) Make your voice heard and change the world! Compose messages in the spirit of 1920 suffragettes who won the vote for women through the passage of the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified August 18, 1920. Make your own banner and sash designs as Minnesota women throughout the state did 100 years ago. Help us celebrate this important centennial of women’s right to vote. We will make and publish exhibit boards and display them around town!
3) Co-create the text and illustrations for Deer and Rabbit, a true story of growing up in Grand Marais in the 1930s. This story is about a blind deer and the rabbit who took care of him. This is the first in a series of True Tales of North Shore Childhoods that Minnesota Children’s Press is creating and publishing in 2020. It is dedicated to the spirit and work of the late gifted teacher and beloved mentor, Grand Marais native Bob Pratt.
Leave a Reply