Pizzasaurus & Plot Twists: Why Every Story Needs a Dinosaur-Sized Problem with Tammi Sauer

Wordplay, Walking, and "Dinosaur-Sized" Problems

In this episode of Picture This, host Adam Lehrhaupt catches up with Oklahoma Book Award winner Tammi Sauer. They discuss the long (and often anxious!) wait for illustrator sketches, the joy of "FNGs" (folded and gathered pages), and Tammi’s secret weapon for revision: the three-and-a-half-mile walk.

Tammi breaks down how her background as a teacher and librarian informs her interactive school visits and shares a brilliant, scalable activity to help students move past "bland" sentences. Whether you’re a fan of Nugget & Fang or hungry for her new release, Pizzasaurus, this episode is packed with "words that sing."

✨ Key Takeaways for Educators & Librarians:

• The Bland Sentence Fix: A live-action classroom strategy. Start with "He walks past the tree" and use costumes and student "experts" to build it into "Cowboy Dan struts past the oak."
• The Power of the Setting: Two magic questions to spark student ideation: "What can go wrong here?" or "Who doesn't belong here?"
• Revision as a Game: How to help students see revision not as a chore, but as a "satisfying fix-up" where changing just 10 words can shift an entire 300-word story.
• Juxtaposition in Art: Exploring how the text can say one thing while the illustrations show another (perfect for teaching inference!).
• Interactive Author Visits: Why school visits should be educational, entertaining, and interactive—and why the "Librarian" line dance is a must-see.

🔑 Key Topics & Time Stamps:

• 04:16: The Origin of Pizzasaurus: Using wordplay in business names as inspiration.
• 06:03: The Illustrator Partnership: Why the "disassociation" from a manuscript is a good thing.
• 10:30: Talking what you love: Joy as the secret to public speaking.
• 13:10: The "Librarian" Flash Mob: Making reading memories stick.
• 18:38: Fish-out-of-water stories: Putting farm animals in the city.
• 23:00: The Words that Sing: How to make sentences specific through "Cowboy Dan."
• 28:27: Revision Tips: Recording yourself reading and listening for the "falters."
• 34:17: The "Beat" of a Story: Why a simple "..." or "Ooh" can be the most important word in the book.
• 43:20: Story Sparks: Using "What could go wrong?" to create Nugget & Fang.

📚 Featured in this Episode:

• The New Release: Pizzasaurus by Tammi Sauer, illustrated by Kyle Beckett.
• Tammi’s Classics: Nugget & Fang, Mary Had a Little Glam, Chicken Dance, and Caring for Your Lion.
• Adam’s Book Bag: I Will Not Eat You (Illustrated by Scott Magoon).
• Tammi’s Book Bag: Can I Be Your Dog? by Troy Cummings. A perfect example of teaching voice through letters.

🔗 Connect with Tammi Sauer:

• Website: TammiSauer.com
• Instagram: @TammiSauer
• BlueSky/Facebook: Search "Tammi Sauer"

🔗 Connect with Adam Lehrhaupt:

• Website: AdamL.Rocks
• Instagram: @Lehrhaupt