Angela Gustafson - Author

Contact Information

Address:

Minneapolis, MN 55410

Book Category: Nonfiction,Picture Books

Books

Imagine a House: A Journey to Fascinating Houses Around the World. Out of the Box, 2003

Highlights

I was born and raised in the Midwest and graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. I have eight years of marketing, training and project management experience in corporate settings, plus two years of small business development and education experience abroad in the Peace Corps. And, it’s been great fun teaching in K-12 classrooms over the last twelve years, through organizations like Junior Achievement. Our publishing company, Out of the Box, was founded in 1997, following my husband, Brian’s and my return from the Peace Corps. Imagine a House is the first in a series to help young people (including our three young sons) see and celebrate the diversity, creativity and richness in cultures from around the world. Step inside and be surprised!

Awards

Presentations

You wouldn’t believe what goes into making a book! As a self-publisher, I was lucky (I think?!) to have worked on this book from idea conception all the way to watching it come off the press. It’s a thrill to share the amazing process with the young and not-so-young alike. Students will get to see lots of samples as we travel through idea creation, photo selection, illustration passes, research and writing, design fun, and book printing. There’s lots of opportunity for students to participate in the discussion – and they DO! What’s it like to be a Peace Corps Volunteer? Living in another culture is fascinating, to say the least. Having lived on the border of the Dominican Republic and Haiti with my husband for over two years, there’s no shortfall of interesting information to share. Students will see a lively video on the Dominican Republic and slides from our experience, have the opportunity to discuss the similarities and differences between our cultures, and maybe even take a crack at playing catch with cardboard baseball gloves! Go on! Promote yourself! What do you love to do? How could you promote your talents? Students will have the opportunity to discuss what goes into naming a business, creating a logo, designing business cards and such, writing the various pieces that make up a “media kit,” and launching a website. Writing is a central theme, as is the notion of getting comfortable with talking about what you do best! Students can create any one or more of the various pieces. And materials can be made available at an extra cost. What is a house? What does it look like? How would you define it? What is essential? Students will explore the variety of houses around the world through Imagine a House and other resources, and discuss some of the reasons for such diversity and similarity. Depending on teacher preference, students can do writings and/or drawings…perhaps even use an art room to sculpt small-scale model houses of their choosing. Get to know your world! Geography can be fun, so why do most of us struggle with the location of countries and capitals around the world? With each student having his/her own map, we’ll travel through the book and stop at all 22 countries. We’ll discuss how geography affects culture – housing being one feature of culture. We’ll talk about where we live, where we’ve visited, and perhaps where our families have come from (and what their houses may have looked like). Maps can be provided at an extra cost.

Fees

$100 for a 45-minute presentation; $150 for two 45

Added: 2/12/2004

Updated: 2006/07/18:0