Kasson resident publishes children’s book on gnomes

Leslie DeRaad was born in St Paul and the family moved to Dodge Center in 1975. He attended Dodge Center schools where he was involved with sports and plays. He has two sisters and a brother, one lives in Rochester and a sister and brother live in Kasson.
His dad operated a welding shop in Dodge Center for many years so Les said he helped him some on projects and remembers making livestock pens for the Dodge County Fair.
After high school, Les worked at a few odd jobs and then joined the Army for three years as a military prison guard at bases where he was stationed. Les married Allison in 1985 and they moved to Kasson in 1993. They have two daughters, who attended KM Schools and both of them live in the Kasson-Mantorville area.  
Les said he has worked at a variety of jobs through the years to keep the bills paid and has been at Hardware Hank in Kasson for the past four years. He enjoys drawing, bird watching and especially being with his two grandchildren who live in Kasson.
When I asked Les how he decided to write a book, he said that store customers seemed to buy a lot of gnomes that are sold at the Kasson hardware. That gave him an idea to write a book for his grandchildren for Christmas.
His family had given him an iPad so he started doing some drawings for page illustrations. They also helped with the organization and wording of the page captions. It took a few months to get it ready for printing but after he turned in the book request, he received his finished copy back in a short time. 
One thing that surprised Les is that his book has been printed and shipped from different states rather than one central printing location.
He has sold copies of his book at Hardware Hank and also on Amazon. Les said he really never had thought much about writing a book but now he can say it “is something I have done.” Les said he really enjoys hearing when people mention his book, “Gnome On the Roam,” and that it made their child or grandchild smile!
You can purchase your copy of Les’s book at Hardware Hank in Kasson or it can also be ordered online from Amazon. Be sure to look for the two “Vs” in each drawing as that is for his grandchildren's names, Vinton and Valyen.