Laurel wrote the poems, DANCING WITH BIGFOOT, and BIGFOOT SACKS OUT.
Gnome & UnGnome Facts About Laurel:
Laurel Santini is an associate professor of English at Massasoit Community College where she teaches writing and children’s literature.
She loves to dance and would happily take a spin around the floor with Bigfoot.
Absol’s Q&A with Laurel:
Greetings, Laurel! I do love your woodland-inspired name. Thanks for being our LEGEND of the WEEK!
If you could be any magical or legendary creature, who or what would you be and why is your answer a gnome?
I’d like to be Bessie, the name given to the Lake Erie monster. I grew up outside of Cleveland, so the Lake feels like home.
Can you tell us a little about how you came to be a part of Gnomes UnGnomes?
My critique partner, Amanda Davis introduced me to the Loft. Her work appears in the anthology Friends & Anemones: Ocean Poems for Children. She also has two other awesome books: 30,000 Stitches and Moonlight Memories.
What inspired you to write about my frenemy Big Foot?
I got to thinking about Bigfoot’s big feet, and step by step–like a slow dance, one poem emerged and then another.
What children’s book do you never tire of?
Bread and Jam for Francis by Russell Hoban. It’s a tribute to eating. By the book’s end, the slapdash jelly sandwich Frances always eats is traded in for a buffet of foods, and even her desk is set with a doily and flower-filled vase. Hoban’s book makes me want to sing and skip rope like my badger friend, but also take time to savor a meal.
Classic. Always makes me hungry. Thanks for your time, Laurel!
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