By Carole Kelly
Diane Pleasant (kneeling center) presents The Creepy Creep Chorus as puppeteers (l to r) help tell the story: Naomi Elim, the snake puppet; Lakiyah Sutton, grasshopper; Mylah Sanders, spider; and Gabby Ward, frog.
Puppets provided a lively assist as writer-artist Diane Pleasant, also known as Ms. P, introduced her latest book, The Creepy Creep Chorus: A Lesson in Friendship, to an even livelier group of preschoolers recently.
Games and prizes highlighting the story accompanied the puppet show, which was presented for the boys and girls by Pleasant and Morrison Heights Aftercare staff.
After games of bucket ball, magnetic dart game, a balloon blowing contest, a word-find game and an origami exercise, Pleasant read the book, with the four teacher-puppeteers bringing characters to life as they portrayed a frog, a snake, a grasshopper and a spider.
The versatile Pleasant is a native of New York who moved around with her military family until she was ten, when her home became Greenwood. After studying voice at Belhaven University, she has enjoyed a forty-year teaching career before writing her first book, Just Wait: A Lesson in Patience. Over the years, she has not only taught music and art in a number of schools in Jackson and Clinton, but also served in computer programs. She directed aftercare programs and became Ms. P to her students. She currently teaches music at Morrison Heights Preschool.
Themes for her stories evolved from her teaching experience.
She explains, “As a teacher, I found that, although the world around us is constantly changing, the problems of growing children are still the same. That’s why I write, to address those problems children face every day.”
The books are enhanced with her original illustrations.
“I realized that publishers have their own artists, and I decided the best way to tell my stories and use my own illustrations was through self-publishing. So at the age of seventy-four, I threw myself into the world of do-it-yourself publishing.”
A past president of the Arts Council of Clinton, she has also served as president of the Ink Slingers, a writing club which served her well with the self-publishing effort. Ever the teacher, Pleasant has been able to guide others through the process of self-publishing, also.
Her next challenge has been managing her marketing program, which has led the energetic writer to build her website, MsPsBookStore.com.
Spare time finds Pleasant singing in the Mississippi Chorus and enjoying pottery, gardening and other crafts, in addition to her writing and painting. She and her husband Bill also find quality time to enjoy their four grown children and ten grandchildren.
This post was originally published on here
