— photos by Janice Williams
Author Heather Conn and storyteller John Conway
A plucky three-year-old girl who can trumpet like an elephant. A talented storyteller who brings words and characters to life with accents, puppets, and sound effects. Free goldfish crackers for a goldfish book. How can you not have a fun book launch?
Several dozen hardy listeners battled high winds and darkness Nov. 26 to attend the 5 p.m. launch of Gracie’s Got a Secret in Sechelt, BC. Local children’s entertainer John Conway was a hit at the Sunshine Coast Arts Centre event with his hilarious antics and puppet interactions. He and a child volunteer shared elephant sounds while raising their respective arm like a trunk. The girl was a natural!
John used a puppet for each of the book’s three main characters to tell the story. When Nellie appeared, as an elephant puppet with tusks, I was waiting for some young voice to point out that she had tusks, but no one did. When one of her ballet slippers fell off, I felt compelled to run up and correct this “wardrobe malfunction.”
John was wonderful at prompting smiles and giggles from the audience. He invited adults to add glub-glub-glub sounds to his own fish noises for Gracie, but people seemed a tad too shy to become temporary goldfish.
— William Gelbart photo
After John read the book to the group, using three volunteers in his performance, we took a short break for free snacks: cookies and goldfish crackers, juice, and coffee and tea.
Afterwards, in the Q&A, someone asked me if I’m planning to do a sequel. The answer is yes. I’ve already got another character that I want to use with Gracie. There wasn’t room for him in this story.
Many thanks to everyone, young and old, who came to the reading. I appreciated the help with book sales from Bev from Talewind Books and her daughter.
— William Gelbart photo
Thanks to John for putting on such a great show. And a huge thank you to my husband Frank, who spent time getting everything set up and ready while I was selling books at the Seaside Centre before the event. Your help made all of the difference.
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