Elana Ashley

A multi-talented entrepreneur, Dr. Elana Ashley demonstrates her creativity, imagination and strong, business drive as the head of two companies; as a researcher, writer and dramatic performer of educational programs; as an author, storyteller and ventriloquist, and as an artist of diverse media.

Founder and Executive Director of Great Imaginings, Inc., Dr. Ashley has been presenting educational consulting and programming for preschool – junior high school students, as well as teachers, administrators and parents. Lectures and workshops have been brought to schools, libraries, hospitals and other community organizations, and presentations have also been delivered at conferences, and on radio and television. Programming has included the topics of Child Abuse Prevention, Drug Education, Character Education, Self-esteem and Conflict Management, in addition to lighter entertainment - dramatic reading, storytelling and musical performances.

The Dynamic Educational Duo Spokespuppet Splunkunio Splunkey® and Dr. Elana Ashley have worked together for over two decades in developing and presenting instructional and entertaining assemblies and individual class performances for students ages five through junior high, as well as for educators, mental health professionals and families.

President of Dream Image Press, LLC, Ashley writes, publishes and sells books, audio CDs, teaching guides and other related materials for children, families and educators in English and English-Spanish editions.

In more recent years, Great Imaginings has been targeting the promotion of literacy, drama & the arts. Adding a new platform for sharing the important messages she has been teaching over the years, Dr. Ashley created an adventure series for children entitled Splunkunio Splunkey Detective and Peacemaker, a series children can read, listen to, think and talk about, and act out, a series that provides coping strategies for joyful, everyday living, learning & loving.

In the first book in her series, Case One: The Missing Friendship Bracelet, Dr. Ashley captivates the attention of readers and listeners by combining fantasy with the everyday problems of children – a red-blue-and-yellow alien, two elephants, a home somewhere on Planet Earth, and a vanished treasure! Colorful, puppet storybook characters express themselves with humor, wit, and sassiness. The author interweaves the themes of problem-solving, character building & conflict resolution into a treasure chest of ethics, whose jewels reveal to children values of friendship, trust, teamwork, and peace. In both English and bilingual editions, the first book comes with an audio CD and teaching guide.

In Case Two: Big Bully Holly Howler, the reader will meet a mean and angry bully – Hippo Holly Howler – who is frightening Ellie Elephant and the other students in Mrs. Bea’s first grade class. Discover how Ellie and her friends learn strategies for dealing with bullies! Eight puppet storybook characters star in the second book which should be coming out in the fall/winter of 2013.

Her educational puppet staff have includedSpokespuppet Splunkunio Splunkey®, Ellie & Eli Elephants, Mario Monkey, Drake the Dragon, & Freddy Fox, to name a few. Puppets are an exciting and powerful medium through which ideas, thoughts and feelings can be presented to children of all ages.

In addition to her other interests, Dr. Ashley dabbles in many art forms including cartooning, painting, mixed-media, ceramics, fiber art and jewelry. She has exhibited a number of one-woman shows in the Chicago metropolitan areas, and would love to bring her artwork to galleries and museums throughout the United States and abroad.