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Dream Keepers: A Roaring Success

Created by a Dream Keeper writer and artist I'm always surprised and a little sad to realize that we've come to the end of another school year! I love the routine of writing every Monday night at the Milwaukee Public Library --and on a few extra days in between. We experience a unique magic at the Dream Keepers table. For just a few moments, the appeal of phones and computers and the pressures of school drop away. Students create stories and poems and tiny books from their own imagination. They fold and cut paper. They sketch and draw and color. They jot down ideas--thinking about the story they're telling more than the mechanics of writing it down. Some days it feels like a great feat--it's tough to shut off the noise of the world.  Children are not used to working with their hands, and it can be hard and awkward to fold paper into snowflakes or tiny books. Parents and other grown ups want the writing to follow the rules. But the effort matters. I can tell ...
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Dream Keepers Winter and Spring Schedule

Last Monday, the Dream Keepers met at King Library and made books about our dreams. We'll be continuing to make those books throughout January at our other meetings. And we've got a whole bunch of other fun things planned for the rest of the winter and spring. Here are the Dream Keepers locations and dates. Drop in and write with us! Mitchell Street Library  903 West Historic Mitchell Street 4:30-6:00 PM We meet in the library's Makerspace downstairs. Join us to create something with words, art, and more! February 4, 18 March 4, 18 April 8, 22 May 21 Capitol Drive Library 3969 N 74th Street 4:00-5:30 PM We meet in the children's area. February 11, 25 March 11, 25 April 15, 29 May 20 Dr. Seuss Day March 2, 2019 Central Library 11:00 AM- 1:00 PM Join me in making tiny books and zines on any topic you are passionate about. Urban Wildlife: Poetry in Your Backyard I'm delighted to be a part of ...
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Dream Keepers Classes at Your Library!

Welcome, Dream Keepers! Fall classes have started--and we'd love to have you to stop by and create! We meet at the library and use words and art to make sense of the world.  Each week, I bring a project or prompt for writers to work with. But you are welcome to bring your own ideas and projects. One of our Dream Keepers is writing a novel! Another is using photoshop to learn how to design books. I look forward to seeing what YOU will create with your imagination! Mitchell Street Branch 903 West Historic Mitchell Street 4:30-6:00 PM We meet in the library's Makerspace downstairs. Join us to create something with words, art, and more! September 4, 17 October 1, 15 November  6, 19 December 4, 8 Capitol Drive Branch 3969 N 74th Street 4:00-5:30 PM We meet in the children's area of the library. September 10, 24 October 8, 22 November 12, 26 December 10, 17 Can't wait to see you at the library!
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Write Your Dreams

--> Write Your Dreams by Rochelle Melander Your dreams can be a rich source of stories, images, metaphors, and sensory details for your writing.  Many famous novels began with the writer's dreams. Mary Shelley was staying with Lord Byron in Switzerland during a frightful cold spell. Byron suggested they write a ghost storied. After Shelley came up with the idea of a reanimated corpse, she had a spooky dream: that dream became the core of her famous novel  Frankenstein . While traveling on a train, E.B. White dreamed of a small, adventurous mouse. Although he started writing the story almost immediately, it would be twenty years before he published, Stuart Little . When Stephen King snoozed on a long flight, he dreamed about a woman who kills her favorite writer, using his skin to bind a book. That dream gave him the idea for his bestselling book, Misery .  You, too, can use your dreams...
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Write Now: Superhero YOU!

--> Write Now: Superhero You --> Not easy to find the balance, for if one does not have wild dreams of achievement, there is no spur even to get the dishes washed. One must think like a hero to behave like a merely decent human being.  —May Sarton,  Journal of a Solitude If you were a superhero, who would you be? Discover your strengths Consider a recent significant success: a time when something went well. You made a great art piece, you gave a good presentation for class, you got your room cleaned before you got in trouble for the dirty dishes under your bed. Describe this success story in rich detail, using all five senses. +What happened? +What did you do? +What strengths did you use? (For example, curiosity, woo, vision, etc.)  Superhero You! Look at the strengths you identified above. Give yourself a name and a short description. Here's an example:  A few years ago, I wa...
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