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DocuSign Envelope ID:5DF3D075-C96D-4B76-8708-51E2CC79723E <br /> RESUMES OF KEY ARTISTS <br /> Donna Washington <br /> Donna was born an army brat in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She traveled all over with <br /> world with her parents. Her father would sit at the dinner table and spin the wildest <br /> yarns imaginable. He taught her Arthurian Legend and Greek Mythology by telling the <br /> stories in the first person. She thought he had actually been with Merlin and Oedipus. <br /> She thought he was thousands of years old. Donna spent from second to sixth grade in <br /> Seoul Korea. It was during these years that her parents adopted three Amerasian <br /> children. Through it all, she learned about different people, places and of course, <br /> learned their stories. <br /> Donna attended Northwestern University and was involved with numerous theatrical <br /> productions. It was at this time that storytelling reemerged as something she wanted to <br /> learn more about. In the four years she was there, she began to make storytelling a <br /> central part of her performance life. <br /> Her first recording work was done with Warren Coleman Productions. She provided the <br /> talent on a storytelling tape that was so successful for Children's Press that the tape <br /> was used to make four wordless picture books. It was at this time that Donna began <br /> writing books. Her first writing project was an anthology. It has been in the works for <br /> almost twelve years. A Pride of African Tales was released in December 2003. Award <br /> winning illustrator, James Ransome provided the lush watercolor pictures for the book. <br /> It received rave reviews from the American Library Association (ALA) Book list and the <br /> School Library Journal. Pride has been nominated for the Pennsylvania 2005-2006 <br /> Young Reader's Choice Award Donna's second book, The Story of Kwanzaa, has been <br /> in print for eleven years. It is a wonderful primer for kids about the African-American <br /> celebration of Kwanzaa. Donna's third book, A Big Spooky House, is a wonderful book <br /> to read aloud at Halloween. Her next book will be entitled Li'l Rabbit's Kwanzaa and will <br /> be published by Harper Collins Children's Books. <br /> Donna is also a multiple award winning recording artist. She received a 2002 Parent's <br /> Choice Award for her first independent recording "Live and Learn: The Exploding Frog <br /> and Other Stories". The October 2004 edition of the ALA Book list gave Donna's second <br /> CD, "A Little Shiver", a recommended review. It also won the 2004 Parents' Choice <br /> Silver Honor Award and 2005 Storytelling World Honors. Her third CD "Fun, Foolery, <br /> and Folktales" also won the 2004 Parents' Choice Silver Honor Award and a 2006 <br /> Storytelling World Honors. Her fourth CD "The Sword and The Rose" has won an <br /> iParenting Media 2005 Excellent Product Award, a 2005 Parents' Choice Silver Honor <br /> Award and a 2006 Storytelling World Award. All of her CDs have won 2005 Children's <br /> Music Web Awards. Donna's fifth CD "Angels' Laughter" was just released in May 2006. <br /> She also offers workshops in storytelling, writing, education, and creative drama for <br /> librarians and educators as well. Some of her recent workshops venues include the <br /> National Storytellers Conference, Forsyth School Media Association, US Army Corps of <br /> Engineers, North Carolina Library Association Conference, Virginia Library Association <br />