Laurie's Stories:
Mother Goose Rap, Literacy FUNdamentals, Multimedia Edutainment
www.lauriesstories.com
About Laurie’s Stories
Mother Goose Rap!
Laurie’s Stories: All original stories, rhymes, songs & characters that
celebrate language & literacy. Laurie’s Stories are written, illustrated, &
performed by BookTeller & Mother Goose Rapper, Laurie Story Vela, M.A.
Laurie’s Stories began with Laurie’s Masters in Education; Laurie was at the
forefront of blending whole language & phonics in an effort to make reading
fundamentals more contextual, meaningful and, FUN.
Laurie Story has toured
the nation’s schools &
libraries since 1992!
The age-old
mnemonic devices
of rhyme &
alliteration educate
and entertain prereaders up to
Rhyme
fluent
readers.
&
Alliteration
Providing the
FUNdamentals of
literacy and English
language through
“tongue twisters”
and “rap”, Laurie’s
Stories fills an
educational gap for
building reading,
writing, and spelling
fluency with funfilled, family
friendly content.
Laurie Story Live Shows
The live, interactive performances of Laurie’s Stories include Laurie Story Books,
rhymes, songs, and character visits from “Word Wonders” and “Phonics Farm”.
Character vignettes and content pieces revolve around a theme or a vowel sound.
There are dozens of shows that have been applied to nationwide tours, audio, video
and the web site. Videos found onsite as well as on schooltube.com and youtube.com
Laurie’s Stories On The Web
Laurie Stor-E BooksTM
The Laurie Story web site offers visitors free cyber literacy that includes word play
games, videos, and Laurie Stor-E BooksTM. The site consistently averages 50,000 hits
a month with high international traffic. The Leaping Literacy Online Library offers
free membership & access to interactive character pages, videos, and revolving,
sample Laurie Stor-E BooksTM. There are hundreds of downloadable Laurie Stor-E
BooksTM in audio, pdf, power pfd, html, & video
available for sale onsite & (pending) through affiliates.
Read with us online!
www.lauriesstories.com
Leaping Literacy!
For Reading & Spelling Fluency
120 Laurie Stor-E BooksTM & 120
Audio Books in 12 Sections cover all
the vowel sounds and grammar basics.
Laurie’s Stories provides wholesome,
interactive family entertainment with
materials and programs that get children
and their parents involved in developing
crucial literacy skills. Laurie’s Stories
Leaping Literacy Program also serves
teachers & librarians with national &
international educational applications for
English language development & literacy fun.
Laurie’s Stories Online Reading Programs
Laurie Story Word Play Pages:
Read with us online!
www.lauriestories.com
These interactive cyber “worksheets” explore FUNdamentals that range from silent
letters to homophones to compound words. The Laurie Story characters invite fun
into the fluency of literacy development. These mini language lessons are taken from
Laurie Stor-E BooksTM that are available in free samples & paid downloads.
Laurie Stor-E BooksTM
Laurie Stor-E BooksTM:
Laurie Stor-E BooksTM are illustrated, narrated, tongue
twisting, “Mother Goose Rap” literature that turns Dick & Jane on their head! The
multi-media formats speak to today’s readers. Cyber literacy is enhanced along with
reading & literacy fluency. Laurie Stor-E BooksTM blend phonics, whole language.arts
& English language development& literacy basics into FUNdamental fun for everyone!
Laurie Story Rhyme Time 5 Videos:
These fun, rhyming videos for children & literacy feature Laurie Story Booktelling that
includes Laurie Stor-E BooksTM found in the Leaping Literacy Online Library. You can
always sing, rhyme, read & see Laurie Stor-E FREE!
Free Online Literacy!
www.lauriestories.com
The Color Cloud Series
Found on the web, in audio, video, books and Laurie Stor-E BooksTM.
The Color Cloud’s imaginative adventures are usually supported w/ these color characters:
Red
Fred
Green
Queen
Colleen
Marcello
Yellow Fellow
Lou Blue Gnu
Stu Blue
Kangaroo
Myrtle the
Purple Gerbil
Powel the
Orange Owl
Round the
Brown Hound
Fay the
Gray Stingray
Wink Pink Mink
Tink Pink
Skink
Dwight the
White Kite
Zak the
Black Yak
The Color
Cloud
50+ books feature imaginative fun, lyrical chorus’, & recurring color characters. The
Color Cloud always comes when you’re “… just sitting …” & often says, “You can do it too.”
Readers develop fluency with high imagination, internal rhymes & word play.
Sample pages from the
The Color Cloud Series
The Mel & Nell Series
Found on the web, in audio, video, books and Laurie Stor-E BooksTM.
Nell & Mel are simply outrageous in their comical conversations. Nell is
the silly one, asking questions like, “Can you eat with your feet?” Mel is
logical, and often says, “No Nell!” But somehow, Nell is always right due
to a play on words or a play on Mel. 50 books with Mel & Nell; the funny
friends that have somewhat predictable and humorous “dramalogues”
with themselves and you …
Readers develop conversational fluency with Mel & Nell’s accessible vocabulary.
Sample pages from
The Mel & Nell Series
Pam & Jerisha:
Alligator in Our Refrigerator Series
Found on the web, in audio, video, books and Laurie Stor-E BooksTM.
Kelly the
Alligator
She often shows up in
the refrigerator, she
loves food, talks loud
and long with a
southern accent.
Kath the Giraffe
She’s sweet, and
gentle, and mute. She
never says a thing.
Liz the Wizard
Lizard
She magically appears
fizzy in body & voice.
Kyle Crocodile
He talks low and slow
and is also fond of
eating, he likes to
slurp up messes.
These 2 sisters have a host of animal friends who come to visit in 25 Laurie Storybooks;
you never know who will show up! Most of these stories have a refrain or “chorus”
& many include the regular host of animal friends; Kelly, Kyle, Liz and Kath.
These family friendly stories are great read a-louds for developing readers.
Sample pages from the
Alligator in Our
Refrigerator Series
Hazel the Tree Book Series
This series of 8 stories touches on
social and environmental issues.
Action Ants Book Series
Amazing Action Ants Ashley, Armando, Angelina, and Aaron
explore in 25 ABC Alphabet Adventures that often have 3
developmental levels, i.e., “Ants are approaching!”
“Army ants are approaching aphids.”
“Army ants are approaching agreeable, amiable aphids.”
Sample pages from the
Action Ants Book Series
Laurie Story Rhymes & Songs
Found on the web, in audio, video, books and Laurie Stor-E BooksTM.
In addition to the Laurie Story characters found in book series’, show
vignettes and Phonics Farm, there are more than 500 rhymes and songs
interspersed in the shows; 102 of these are published in Leaping Literacy.
Rich in word patterns, Laurie Story Rhymes aid literacy fluency based
on the most practical of literature-based phonetic foundations.
Kids just think of them as fun, tongue twisting, “Mother Goose Rap”!
Word Wonders
Letters & Words At Play
Found on the web, in audio, video, books and Laurie Stor-E BooksTM.
Spencer The Spinning Spider
Sitting in his word web, he spins words!
Dixie the Dictionary Duck
delivers definitions as needed.
I.B. Newt
in the Nature Nook
using his “Y” stick, I.B. asks the
audience a nature based “why”question.
Inez Perez
& Her Bubblegum Bank
keeps the comedy coming with the
cohesion of comical commentaries.
Nym Hymn Chorus
sings antonyms, synonyms, and
homonyms in a hymn. Sing with us!
Caroline the Colorful Crow
transports a word to different
characters, “Go, go! Caroline Crow!”
Vowel Owl
swoops in to identify and
highlight vowel sounds.
Lolly Llama, Letters Librarian
tells stories using words with a
changing letter like Cade’s Cake.
Phonics Farm
Letters, Language & their Parts At Play
Found on the web, in audio, video, books and Laurie Stor-E BooksTM.
LuLu Bell the Compound Cow
makes compound words simple!
Delores the Hoarse Horse
delivers the latest rhyme
from the homophone line.
Gloria the Grammar Goat
finds bad grammar and asks you how to correct it.
Serena the Suffix Sow
looks at endings like ing and ed.
Tennessee the Tense Turkey
presents past, present, & future tenses.
Peter the Plurals & Prefix Pig
often says, “Just add ‘S’ or ‘un’!”
Silas the Silent Letter Lamb Penny Punctuation Peacock
points out the silent letters.
Gets her feathers ruffled when
Sshh!
commas and the like are left out.
Chloe the Contractions Chicken
uses chicken scratch to make words like do & not become don’t.
Behind Laurie’s Stories
What?
A language experience where Word Play puts the FUN in Literacy Fundamentals, fostering
family literacy in a celebration of language and imagination.
How?
Laurie’s Stories puts the FUN in literacy fundamentals by playing with letters, word
patterns, and the basics of grammar. Using rhyme and alliteration, children and adults are
engaged in an interactive context that promotes family reading as language comes alive
and literacy complexities are made into child’s play. It is play that children of all ages
respond to and that teachers readily recognize as the basics at work.
Why?
Rhyme and alliteration have been used through the ages as mnemonic devices and thereby
applied to various aspects of culture including marketing and education. The popularity and
longevity of rhyme is evidenced in Mother Goose and rap. Current research shows that the
ability to decipher rhyme is a necessary precursor to reading. Research also shows that
people learn best when they are having fun. Laurie’s Stories puts rhyme with playful
characters and interactive contexts that children and adults alike can put their body,
mind and heart into. The basics of reading and writing come alive through imaginative, fun,
contextual literature using the time-tested tools of rhyme and alliteration. And it’s all
brought to you by Author/Illustrator/BookTeller Laurie Story, the Mother Goose Rapper.
Laurie’s Stories: Putting the FUN in Literacy FUNdamentals!
Making a difference because literacy lasts a lifetime.
Some Feedback
“Thanks for your songs …Congrats on your work/play with children.” - Pete Seeger
“ After closing the circle time, noboby wants to leave from a circle rag and they ask me to read more. That happens
everyday! They love your stories, Ms. Laurie! Especially one boy( Zorel) was obsessed by Color Cloud Clock and he
drew clocks all over the classroom and now he can tell the time! Little Christopher loves \" man in the moon\" and he
requests me everyday saying \"Man!Man!\" Your stories definitely enriched our students\' literacy experience! Thank
you.!” – Eri Cronin, Literacy Aide, Vegas Verdes Elementary School, Las Vegas, NV
“Promotes ear training and phonemic & syllabic awareness … captures the attention of kids and their parents …
very effective and crisp … extremely professional.” – Robert Wozniak, Ph.D.,
Former President of the Piaget Society, Department Chair, Child Development, Bryn Mawr College, PA
"I introduced your books and website to our teachers who were so much impressed by your work....
We will keep reading Laurie's Stories! Thanks a lot! - Your fan, Sujeong" (Korea)
“A joyous, bouncing, glorious adventure of stories, music and educational fun!”
- Kathy Avraham, Librarian, Prundale Library, CA
"She resurrects rhyme and alliteration, another Dr. Seuss!" - Jan Fox, 4th Teacher, NY
“This material is really fun! It gives the anti-reading child a different perspective.”
- Norma Quanz, Reading Tutor, NY
“I have been impressed with Laurie’s commitment to excellence, her utilization of materials based on sound
educational principles, her command and use of language, and her exuberance.”
- Claudine Hanner, Former Youth Services Director, Brown Library, Williamsport, PA
"Excellent materials. Highly motivating and ALIVE - Perfect reading coordination!"
- Marian Crawford, Former Wayland Free Public Library Director, Wayland, NY
www.lauriesstories.com
About Laurie Story Vela, M.A.
2009-2012
Leaping Literacy Online Library make-overs; including affiliate options, new power & video Laurie
StorE BooksTM , & Laurie StorETVTM +2 new CDs produced & released: In Our Hands & Pets In Bed
TM
2008
Laurie’s Stories introduces Rhyme Time 5 Web TV Shows, music videos & publishes Kid E Books.
2007
Laurie’s Stories celebrates literacy with 2 BookTelling tours in Las Vegas, Summer Reading Tours &
interactive online program, ABC Mystery. Launches newthoughtfamilies website & Christmas CD
2006
Laurie’s Stories re-launches Membership options on www.lauriesstories.com
Laurie produces 4 CDs; Small After Small, I Am A Seeker, Simply…In A Circle Of Love, Let’s Sing!
Laurie Story on a school tour in Las Vegas celebrating Nevada Reading Week with 5,200 K-5 kids
2005-2006
Laurie Story initiates and directs the SLC Youth Choir in church & public performances
LaurieStory designs and implements ChildSing Song Circles for Preschoolers including CDs:
Laurie Story produces 64 preschool songs on 2 CDs, “Spring Into Summer” & “Rocka This Song”
2004
Laurie’s Stories launches the sister web site; Leaping Literacy with more than 150 Laurie Stor-E
BooksTM 475+ interactive character pages and 650+ sound files in 24 sections.
2002-2003
Laurie’s Stories publishes the 120 titles in Leaping Literacy and publishes Laurie Stor-E BooksTM on
the web site. Also produces and releases the 12 audios for the 12 segments of Leaping Literacy
2001
Leaping Literacy is revised and greatly expanded; 12 shows celebrating the vowel sounds were
taped with live, family audiences at WHYY, Philadelphia in July. Promotional Video produced in
August. Live shows enhanced with big screen computer illustration.
2000
Developed and put the Web Site up: www.lauriesstories.com featuring all the Laurie Story
characters and over 700 pages of interactive content.
1998-1999
Produced 4 Community TV shows in Santa Cruz, CA, 4 satellite shows for Familyland Network, OH,
& the Laurie’s Stories Book Banquet video.
1992-1999
National PerformanceTours in schools, libraries & family festivals. Literacy Workshops given for
teachers and parents including National Teacher Conferences for the Society of Developmental
Education.
1993-1997
Produced 11 Laurie Story tapes; 7 story tapes, EarthSong script & cassette pkg., dozens of Read &
Color Books and Leaping Literacy, Fun Phonics with 180 min. audio and 300 pgs.
1989-1991
At UC Davis, Laurie’s Stories began as part of Laurie’s Master’s degree in (Reading) Education &
Curriculum design. Early materials were used in classroom settings.
1-800-ABC-4974
www.lauriesstories.com
Laurie’s Stories
www.lauriesstories.com
Laurie Story Vela, MA
POB 831, Sutter Creek, CA 95685
800.ABC.4974 Home Office
storylaurie@lauriestories.com