On a bright, sunny day in Crystal Pond Woods, Yolanda the Yarnspinner was in her tree doing her second favorite thing, spinning a beautiful web. As she was spinning away, that mischievous raccoon, Rascal Raccoon, came running up. “

Yolanda, Yolanda!” he yelled. “Please, help me. I need your help.”

“The most exciting thing has happened to me, and I want to share it at the community campfire tonight,” said Rascal Raccoon. “I am afraid that once I start telling the story, I will get nervous, and it will not sound nearly as exciting. Please, Yolanda, please help me with my story. 

Everyone in Crystal Pond Woods knows that you are the best at spinning yarn.” Rascal Raccoon was correct. Yolanda is known far and wide as one of the best yarnspinners. It is her favorite thing to do. 

Spinning yarn is another way of saying she is a storyteller. The creatures of Crystal Pond Woods love to listen to Yolanda spin her stories. 

One reason Yolanda is very good at telling stories is that she has a very creative imagination. She can turn everyday activities or objects into an entertaining web of magic. Sometimes her stories are make-believe, and sometimes they are real, but they are always entertaining.

Another reason Yolanda is so good at spinning yarn is that she knows a lot of words. She always searches for just the right word to put magic into her story. 

In her trunk of yarns, Yolanda has all kinds of words. She has words that rhyme, words that imitate sounds, and words that begin with the same sound. She uses words to paint pictures that you can see clearly in your mind. Yolanda is an artist with words. 

Rascal Raccoon had certainly picked the right friend for help!

Yolanda reached into her trunk and drew out some yarn. She finds it very helpful to her creative process if she winds yarn while she thinks of her story. Sometimes Yolanda spins her yarn to make a bookmark. Even though Yolanda is a storyteller, she loves to read other people’s stories and can always use a good bookmark.

After choosing the yarn, Yolanda began to make her bookmark. She offered yarn to Rascal Raccoon so he could make a bookmark. Now Yolanda was ready to help Rascal Raccoon. 

“First,” she said, “tell me about the exciting thing that happened to you.” 

“Well,” started Rascal Raccoon, “early this morning I went through Dudley the Detective’s yard, saw his open window, and climbed in through the window. There I saw Rosalyn Robin take Dudley’s badge! Then I climbed out the window, ran through the backyard, and climbed over the fence.”

 “You are right, Rascal Raccoon,” Yolanda replied. “You saw something very exciting, but you are not using exciting words to describe what happened to you. I will help you spin a more colorful story.