The White Snail goes to Festival...

www.betherefest.gr
I will be there! From the 7-10 April 2011
I will take part in the CARTOON art display at the Ionian Academy.
Join in and have fun!

The Snail and the pupils

THE WHITE SNAIL was at the

A primary school this morning, where, about forty pupils joined in the activities that followed the reading.

The headteacher, Athena, was extremely helpful and provided us with a projector, so the kids had the opportunity to see a great number of pictures the writer had created -a lot more than those included in the story book.

Classes that attended the reading: Nursery, A and B (ages: 4-7)

After the reading the kids drew and painted snails on the photocopies the teachers distributed.

It was fun and will repeat it soon in another school!

Τhe White Snail

THE WHITE SNAIL storybook was presented to the young readers on the 2 March 2011

at the Public Library of Corfu located at the old castle.

The kids listened to the story read by the actress Alexandra Pagiataki and then drew and painted snails in the children's room.

Left pictures:

The writer shows the kids how to draw snails.

The next book presentation will take place on the 9 March at the A primary school.

My slide show!

http://www.slide.com/r/QimoeRh62D-EKnWSOWBtjBeOFmQwLqn8?previous_view=lt_embedded_url


This is the slide show for The White Snail.

It's fun to create slides-I will make some more!

Enjoy!

The White Snail in Britain...

NEW REVIEW

http://www.veganfamily.co.uk/kidsbooksanimals.html

Click on this link to visit The Vegan Family site.

'The White Snail' by Iliana Metallinou. A charming book about a small snail who learns to celebrate his difference. The book also has factual information about snails in the form of a quiz and has the added educational value of being in both English and Greek. A unique and much recommended title which should encourage children to feel kindly towards our small, shelled garden friends!

Available from the author - see her blog here

The White Snail is here!

The White Snail book for kids has been printed. It's high time I started promoting it!

Here is the cover. This is the Greek one.
On the reverse side of the book there is the English cover. Thus the book has two covers, no back cover. Next time I will show you the English cover.

I contacted two local bookshops this morning and they are interested in displaying it. Snail cards will be printed next week to give out to all the places I visit.
More news soon!

Liana

How the idea of the White Snail developed...

Read this little story to get to know my Snail secret! There is a snail recipe at the end of the story!

Happy New Year!

Christmas snails!

“Mom,” my five year-old daughter, Lisa, begged, “Shall we make cookies? Please!”

I was tired after five hours work at school, and a couple of more of doing housework, but I couldn’t resist her enthusiasm. After all, in two days we would have Christmas and she deserved a treat!

“Cookies, animals…please!” she kept on shouting.

Forming the pastry was one of her favorite tasks, and so was mine! Art in the kitchen was fun. In no time we started making the dough.

The kitchen was small and crammed as our new flat was too small for the three of us, and soon, all four of us-a baby was on the way. We tried to find a bigger flat in the town, but our income did not allow more space, at least for the time being.

I placed a big bowl on the square kitchen table and pushed a stool nearby for Lisa to stand on. She had already found a long apron and I helped her tie it around her tiny waist. Then she washed her hands in the kitchen sink. Now she was ready to start.

She gave me the flour, sugar and yogurt and I mixed the butter and eggs. I had to stir everything using a big wooden spoon, as the mixer was in the box-no room to place it anywhere! Now the dough was ready. Lisa took a small piece and played it in her tiny fingers humming a tune.

“What are you making?” I asked her across the kitchen table.

“A snail,” she said seriously.

She formed a long strip of dough and then made one ring over another, shaping a snail.

“Clever girl!” I said. “I’ll make one, too.”

In no time we managed to fill a tray with big and small snails, a whole snail family. I brushed them with lemon juice and sugar, and put them into the oven. The kitchen soon smelt of vanilla. When the cookies were ready, I let them cool on the kitchen table. But Lisa couldn’t wait!

“Let me have one snail, a tiny one!” she begged.

“They are still too hot! Be patient! A few more minutes?”

I knew I had to do something to distract her from the cookies.

“I’ll tell you a story, with snails!” I announced her. “When the story ends, you can have a snail!”

“Okay Mom,” she agreed.

And my first kids’ story came out.

“There was a big family of snails, living in a big garden…,” I went on and on, pausing every now and then to invent the rest of the story. Lisa heard the story asking questions in between, like “why?”-that was her favorite- and then, it was time for the cookies.

When Lisa went to bed later that evening, I sat at the kitchen table looking at the snails on the tray. An idea flashed over, and that was it! I grabbed a piece of scrap paper and started sketching a family of snails: Big ones, small ones, a big garden with flowers. Soon the whole story emerged, the story I had told Lisa before eating her tiny snails. I did not write a single word at that time, I only sketched and sketched dozens of snails till I had produced the whole story on paper.

It felt so good! I had fun and I liked it! Then the doorbell rang and my husband was at home. That day was a long, but surely an interesting one. I put the scrap paper aside and forgot all about it.

Years later, when I took up a creative writing course, I remembered my snail story. I searched my files and luckily, I found them. I always kept things that were related to my kids, such as their first paintings, poems, and so on. It was really exciting to reproduce the same story in words. I also painted the pictures of the story carefully. And I finally created a picture book.

I self published it for my students at school, and I distributed it to them. They were motivated to draw their own pictures and add them to the story. They liked it and they encouraged me to go on. I sent a copy to Lisa, who lives now in UK, and I know that this little book will always remind her of her early years at home.

This little snail story was the beginning of a new outlook in my life –now that Lisa and my son are away studying- a new creative challenge to help me go on with my life. What is sweeter than some snail cookies for Christmas?

Xmas Snails recipe

------------------------

Ingredients:

4 cups of flour

1 teaspoonful baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

A pinch of salt

1 cup margarine or butter

1 ½ cup sugar

1-2 eggs

1 lemon –the rind grounded only

½ cup yogurt

Vanilla essence

Lemon juice

Sugar

-------------

Mix flour with baking powder, soda and salt. Beat butter and add sugar. Add the egg and lemon grind. Add flour, yogurt and vanilla. Make snail cookies and place them on greased tin. Wet the top with lemon juice and sprinkle sugar. Bake at 180 C or until golden for 15 minutes.

Visit the new edition of the White Snail at http://support49100.blogspot.com

NOTE

Please, feel free to pass this little story along to your friends or to other blogs.
Thanks!

Liana

The new title

The new book of Vasilis Savvanis Publications comes out soon.
Title:
The White Snail.

It caters to young readers and all the family as it addresses issues of self-esteem, racism and people's differences.

More information on the site

http://support49100.blogspot.com