New store caters to Little Authors

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  • Michelle Dummar
    Michelle Dummar
  • Little Authors located at 113 E. Blackjack in Dublin, will have a grand opening Saturday complete with many fun activities for local families. The new store allows kids to write and illustrate a book (either completely from scratch or with provided materials), which is bound while they wait and interact with the the brightly colored ZRobobinder. Paul Gaudette | Citizen staff photo
    Little Authors located at 113 E. Blackjack in Dublin, will have a grand opening Saturday complete with many fun activities for local families. The new store allows kids to write and illustrate a book (either completely from scratch or with provided materials), which is bound while they wait and interact with the the brightly colored ZRobobinder. Paul Gaudette | Citizen staff photo
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“Everybody has heard of Build-A-Bear,”said Michelle Dummar, co-owner and site manager of Dublin’s Little Authors. “I like to say we’re Build-A-Book.”

The new store, opening Oct. 17 with a battery of fun activities, invites children to come in and create a book that can be created and published in the same visit.

Kids will be able to choose story prompts created by Dummar and LA founder Carmen Andersen with the first round including such favorites as aliens, dinosaurs, sharks and pretty princesses.

“We try to have a variety that will appeal to boys and girls,” Dummar said.

Kids can use these ‘mad lib’ style prompts to create their own stories with either their own illustrations or die-cuts found in provided kits.

Aspiring authors are also invited to write their own stories as well, using whatever imagery they would like to breathe life into their tale.

After the pages are done, they are handed to Dummar, who gets the book ready for production. Those pages will go

Those pages will go through a technical process perfected at the San Antonio store, but the publishing process for kids is a lot more whimsical thanks to ‘ZRobobinder.’

Two brightly-colored stations with a variety of lights, button and gears will guide the new storytellers through the publication process from power assembly to extraction to color emulsion and beyond. At the end of the parade of colors, button, lights and gears, the child’s book will come through a conveyor belt and they will have a 8” x 8” book that they made themselves.

“This is a confidence building program,” said Andersen.”The motto for this business is that children can have adults believe in them, but children need opportunities to shine to believe in themselves.”

This is what inspired Andersen to open the first Little Authors in San Antonio after health concerns led her to end a 20+ year as an accountant.

Andersen said that another part of her mind was unlocked as her former career ended and she went back to her childhood lovewriting.

Andersen estimated that she and Dummar read her first book, “The Pumpkin that Chose Me,” to more than 6,000 kids as they traveled around Texas and as far as Hawaii presenting it.

Andersen said the concept for Little Authors was perfected across ‘1,000 road trips.’

Andersen always wanted to expand past the original site and Dublin became the new site after their husbands found land locally and the couples fell in love with the area.

“We have not met a single mean person,” Dummar said. “There’s just a real community feeling here.”

The duo said they are just excited to get involved with the community, inspiring kids and even adults to be creative with book publishing, art, cooking and a wide variety of activities including reading nights to promote literacy.

The store had a soft opening on Wednesday geared especially for educators so they can be involved. Andersen said the business tries to join with and support any child-based outreach.

The duo invites the community to come into the store on Saturday as they have a variety of activities set including: wooden pumpkin decorating at 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.; pumpkin cookie decorating at 10:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.; crayon melting pumpkin silhouettes at 11 a.m., 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.; and a kidfriendly potion making kit at 11:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and

4:30 p.m.

Little Authors is located at 113 E. Blackjack and will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday and Friday, from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and by appointment for field trips and activities on Wednesday and Thursday.

For more information, call 335-0156 or visit www.littleauthors.shop.