Free Placemats featuring "Once Upon a Placemat" Characters for Coloring Available from Author in April 2016. Or Download Here

Lisa Saunders, author of the children's book, “Once Upon a Placemat: A Table Setting Tale,” will hand out free placemat-size sheets featuring her tableware characters for coloring at several locations in April 2016. Autographed copies of the book will be available for purchase.

Lisa Saunders, a grandmother from Mystic, wrote the table-setting fairytale to teach children how to set the table in a fun and memorable way. Learn how Mr. Knife prevents the dish from running away with the spoon and why Mr. Fork needs a napkin bed.

A short video of Saunders introducing her book, “Once Upon a Placemat," and where to find the link to download your own placemats for printing, is available by clicking here at: https://youtu.be/_0jDOKPFg4M

April 2016 “Once Upon a Placemat” events include:

Tuesday, April 8, 2016, Noon-2 p.m.

Mystic Diner: Lisa Saunders "Meet & Greet"

Lisa Saunders to autograph "Once Upon a Placemat" and "Mystic Seafarer's Trail"

253 Greenmanville Ave, Mystic, CT, (860) 415-4625

Friday, April 15, 2016, 4:30pm

Niantic Community Church Children's Center

Lisa Saunders/"Once Upon a Placemat": Activities will follow a reading

170 Pennsylvania Ave., Niantic, CT, (860)739-0877

Sunday, April 17, 2016, 1-3 p.m.

Bank Square Books

Lisa Saunders Meet & Greet: "Once Upon a Placemat"

53 W. Main St, Mystic, CT, 860-536-3795

Tuesday, April 26, 2016, 1:15 p.m.

Mystic & Noank Library

"Once Upon a Placemat" - Lisa Saunders: Activities will follow a reading.

40 Library St., Mystic, CT, 860-536-7721

Unable to attend any of the above events? The book, “Once Upon a Placemat: ATable Setting Tale,” can be borrowed from your library, purchased from Bank Square Books or A Taste of New England in Mystic, or through Amazon by clicking here.

"The lesson of how to set a table is valuable as this is part of encouraging a family to sit down and eat together—a main intervention in preventing obesity," said Alison Dvorak, MS, RDN, CDN, of Franklin, Connecticut

“Once Upon a Placemat: A Table Setting Tale” also includes germ prevention tips by reminding children that “Miss Cup” insists that she and the other tableware get a bath before being shared. "The book is a clever way to get across an important message about prevention of infectious diseases. As a doctor, I recommend it to my young patients and their families,” said Gail J Demmler Harrison, MD, CMV Registry, CMV Research and CMV Clinic.

Lisa Saunders lives in Mystic, Connecticut, with her husband, Jim, and hound, Doolittle. A graduate of Cornell University, she is a TV talk show host, the author of several books and the parent representative of the Congenital Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Foundation. In 2015, she was instrumental in helping Connecticut become one of the few states in the country to enact a law combating the leading viral cause of birth defects, congenital CMV.

“Once Upon a Placemat” is an expanded version of the fairytale Saunders told in her children’s novel, “Ride a Horse, Not an Elevator,” which is featured in the Cornell University 4-H “Horse Book in a Bucket” program.

Co-author of "Once Upon a Placemat," Jackie Tortora, is a digital strategist living with her husband and their young son in Vienna, Virginia. "Once Upon a Placemat" was illustrated by Marianne Greiner of Bloomfield, New York.

For more information, visit www.authorlisasaunders.com or write to LisaSaunders42@gmail.com