Books with author Laurie Allen Klein

You won't find a better quality or larger collection of ten-minute plays anywhere! And the best part? They're all royalty-free! These original and creative plays by best-selling scene writer Laurie Allen are already getting attention, winning spots in one-act play festivals across the country. Ideal for 15- to 30-year old actors, the fresh variety of topics skips the cliché teenage themes. No cafeteria settings. No dating scenarios. No homework angst! The eclectic settings--restaurant, airport, nail salon, award ceremony, news room, support group session, job fair, and more--are all simple to stage and leave the emphasis on interesting characters and intriguing situations. Each of the 22 scenes is a complete, original play, and includes a cast of characters, set description, and list of properties. Cast sizes range from 2 to 8, and include many gender flexible roles for easy casting. Don't worry about inappropriate language or situations these short plays are all clean and family friendly without feeling childish. You'll have hours of fun with these comedy delights, whether for contest, performance, or classroom use.

Teachers' Choice AwardGold Moonbeam Children's Book Award When Sophia dreams that howling winds whisk the fur and feathers right off her animal friends, she shares some of her clothes with them. But her clothing doesnt work well for the animals. Seeing their disappointment, she offers to sew each one the right coat. Animals line up to explain what they need and why. Polar Bear needs white fur to stay warm and hide in the snow. Fish needs scales, but with slime. Snake needs scales too, but dry ones. And how will Sophia make a prickly coat for Porcupine? The award-winning team of Halfmann and Klein (Little Skink's Tail) reunite to bring animal coverings (and classification) to life in an imaginative way. Sophia's friends include Duck, Fish, Frog, Ladybug, Polar Bear, Porcupine, Snail, and Snake. The For Creative Minds educational section includes: Scientific Classification, Skin Coverings, and Animal Classification. Additional Teaching Activities and Interactive Quizzes are available on the Arbordale Publishing website.

Teachers' Choice AwardMom's Choice Award for Best Children's BookBest Overall Book from the Florida Publishers AssociationJust Read, Florida! Recommended Summer Reading List: 2009-2015 While Little Skink hunts yummy ants for breakfast, she is suddenly attacked by a crow! But she has a trick to escape. She snaps off her tail, and it keeps on wiggling! Little Skink is happy to be alive, but she misses her bright blue tail. Readers will enjoy pretending with her, trying on tail after tail. The first is too puffy-fluffy, and another too stinky! Then one day Little Skink gets a big surprise ... and she doesn't have to dream of tails anymore. The For Creative Minds section has information on tail adaptations and communications and a mix-and-match tail activity. 3 pg For Creative Minds educational section in the back 25 pg cross-curricular Teaching Activities and 3 Interactive Quizzes available free on the book's homepage eBooks with Auto-Flip, Auto-Read and selectable English and Spanish text and audio Aligned to State Standards / Lexile, Guided Reading, AR, Reading Counts, and Fountas & Pinnell

Teens love to act crazy, push boundaries, take chances, and explore opportunities, so why not channel their energy and excitement onto the stage? These 30 short plays, ranging in length from three to seven minutes, give actors the opportunity to create outrageous characters in the context of situations they know so well. With natural dialog and believable situations, young actors will love that there are no complex issues to deal with and no lessons to learn -- just real life teen dilemmas presented in a comedy format. Written for mixed casts of two to six actors, each play is complete with stage directions, simple props, and a setting. Contemporary situations enable students, actors, and the audience to relate easily to the material, such as Un-Identical Twins, Four Boyfriends, Last Free Summer, and The Babysitter. Suitable for all ages, even inexperienced young actors will have the opportunity to entertain audiences a they show off their talents and do what teens do best -- laugh!

Lots of children have pen pals but one little girl has a real-life dragon a Komodo dragon for a pen pal! Leslie plans to be a dragon hunter when she grows up. When she and Komodo become pen pals, the wise-cracking dragon adds a generous helping of humor to letters that are chock full of accurate, interesting facts. Leslie learns not only about the world s largest lizard, but also about the dangers they face. As their friendship builds, will Leslie change the way she thinks about dragons?This fictional story includes a 4-page For Creative Minds section in the back of the book and a 30-page cross-curricular Teaching Activity Guide online. Dear Komodo Dragon is vetted by experts and designed to encourage parental engagement. Its extensive back matter helps teachers with time-saving lesson ideas, provides extensions for science, math, and social studies units, and uses inquiry-based learning to help build critical thinking skills in young readers. The Spanish translation supports ELL and dual-language programs. The interactive ebook reads aloud in both English and Spanish with word highlighting and audio speed control to promote oral language skills, fluency, pronunciation, text engagement, and reading comprehension.Keywords: environmental education, physical adaptations. behavioral adaptations, Indonesia

When Sophia dreams that howling winds whisk the fur and feathers right off her animal friends, she shares some of her clothes with them. But her clothing doesn’t work well for the animals. Seeing their disappointment, she offers to sew each one the “right” coat. Animals line up to explain what they need and why. Polar Bear needs white fur to stay warm and hide in the snow. Fish needs scales, but with slime. Snake needs scales too, but dry ones. And how will Sophia make a prickly coat for Porcupine? The award-winning team of Halfmann and Klein (Little Skink’s Tail) reunite to bring animal coverings (and classification) to life in an imaginative way.2010 Moonbeam Award Winner Reviewed by Midwest Book Review, National Writing for Children Center, Good Books for Kids, Examiner.com4-6 pg For Creative Minds educational section in the back40-60 pg cross-curricular Teaching Activities and 3 Interactive Quizzes available free on the book’s homepageeBooks with Auto-Flip, Auto-Read and selectable English and Spanish text and audio

Little turtle was lost! Free from his egg, he climbed out into a big, beautiful new world. Lost and alone, he wondered—where did he really belong? The bear told him to live in the woods; the frog said, “The swamp!” But turtle just didn’t feel at home. He needed help, but where could he turn? Author Susan Ring helps turtle in this whimsical story of self-exploration and nature, Where Should Turtle Be? Detailed illustrations by Laurie Allen Klein give these friendly animals personality, and in the end, an unexpected tickle and tumble help turtle find his place in his new world. The “For Creative Minds” educational section includes “Turtle Fun Facts” and “Match the Turtle to its Habitat.”

Here's another Laurie Allen comedy collection treasure! The 31 sketches range in length from two to four minutes and have mixed casts of two to seven people. Teens love these real-life scenarios because they can portray characters like themselves and their peers. Sample titles from this collection include: "Food Fight," "Picture Day," "Texas-Size Zit," "Save the Frogs," and "Dreadful Dancing." All situations are believable and easy for both the timid and the eager actors to perform. These scenes are ideal for classroom practice or for contest use.

If A Dolphin Were a Fish is the clever story of a dolphin who imagines that she is a fish, a turtle, a bird, an octopus, or even a shark or manatee. She (and the readers) learn how special she really is and how special each of her other animal friends are too.2007 President’s Book Award for Best Children’s Book (Florida Publishers’ Association) 2009 Everglades Reading List Runner-up for the SCBWI 2005 Don Freeman Grant Reviewed by: School Library Journal, The Horn Book Guide, Learning, NSTA Recommends, Science Books & Films, National Center for the Study of Children’s Literature4-6 pg For Creative Minds educational section in the back40-60 pg cross-curricular Teaching Activities and 3 Interactive Quizzes available free on the book’s homepageeBooks with Auto-Flip, Auto-Read and selectable English and Spanish text and audio

Ever wonder how a balloon is made? Follow the journey of a balloon from its beginnings as gooey sap in a tree to its completion at a rubber factory. You'll be surprised to discover what a balloon started out as and how it becomes the bright, air-filled decoration that you enjoy today. Florida Authors & Publishers Association - Presidents Book Award Gold Winner

Teachers and directors just can't get enough of Laurie Allen's sketches for teens, ideal for classroom practice or contest use. This new collection of plays and scenes for teens offers more real-life situations for student actors to perform, portraying characters like themselves and their friends. These 26 fresh, original skits range from three to seven minutes with cast sizes from two to seven. Titles from this comic collection include: "Seriously Overdue," "Use Only as Directed," "Zebra Hamsters," and "Save Me from Myself." All scenes and short plays are believable and easy for shy or gregarious, beginning or advanced actors to perform.

How do some young animals know what to do and how to do it? Does someone teach a caterpillar what to eat? Who gives a baby shark swimming lessons? Sometimes young animals learn things from their parents, but other times… they just know! Explore animal instincts through engaging text and fanciful illustrations. This nonfiction picture book with a cuddle factor includes a 4-page For Creative Minds section in the back of the book and a 35-page cross-curricular Teaching Activity Guide online. They Just Know is vetted by experts and designed to encourage parental engagement. Its extensive back matter helps teachers with time-saving lesson ideas, provides extensions for science, math, and social studies units, and uses inquiry-based learning to help build critical thinking skills in young readers. The Spanish translation supports ELL and dual-language programs.