Customer Reviews

Story Sparkers : A Creativity Guide for Children's Writers

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Story Sparkers taught me how to find new subjects for stories, it also sparked new innovative ideas for creative writing as I was reading the book. The authors used many of their own personal experiences to illustrate their points, reading the book never got boring. It is rare that I have found a book on writing that taught me as much as this one. I highly recommend it.

The authors of this book come from the Bailey School Kids adventure series. These stories are great for kids aged 6-12, and are fun to read and generally have around 10,000 words each. I mention this because their success in this area establishes their credibility in writing a book for those aspiring to write and publish children's literature. Their book "Mermaids Don't Run Track" served as an inspiration for my first children's book, "Abby and the Bicycle Caper."

The premise of this book is that children's stories must be well crafted and tell an engaging story to attract the attention of the young reader. Children are bombarded by a variety of entertainment mediums, and it is up to us as writers to produce a product capable of competing with television, sports activities, and video games. I think all of these activities are fine for young people, within limits, but children in the 5-12 age range can be taught to make reading a part of their daily lives-provided they have quality and entertaining reading material placed before them.

The bottom line: Jones and Dadey are good writers. What they present in this book is worth reading and applying.

If you write child focused stories and are in need for some inspiration, there are plenty of ideas to get you going in this book, although some are very typical. Such as remember a moment in your childhood, or overhear and record someone else's conversation at a library, or use what-if scenarios, or web a word into many other similiar word associations, or peruse through magazines, tabloids to get ideas... Nothing earth shattering here. The authors do provide a nice little section on plotting using checklists, outlines, and summaries (very basic). All in all, a good resource to peruse and take notes at your local book store or library or if you are still inclined, buy it cheaply as a used book. There's a reason why it's not in reprint anymore.

You have to be very careful with books published by Writer's Digest as they churn out books like crazy. There motto is probably "Quantity as oppose to quality" for the namesake of profits. I think next time they should enlist Nancy Lamb to do a book like this as she has an excellent book called "The Writer's Guide to Crafting Children Stories". Lamb's book is excellent. A treasure trove of information. Get that book instead. She has a small chapter on Inspiration to get you started, but her focus lies on the structure of the story instead.

I purchased this book, along with Creating Characters Kids Will Love, at a local bookstore for full price, but you can apparently buy them both here as a set and save money. I recommend doing so! This are by far the best write-for-children books out there, and believe me, I own almost every one on the market!

No book is going to magically turn you into a successful writer--you definitely have to do the work. There are lots of exercises throughout this book, if that's what you're into. I also like the layout--it feels more like a workbook, with the size a little bigger, and more easy to read print than several of the other writing books I own.

Plus, it's just fun to read! Don't be thrown by the title--there's much more to it than just sparking some ideas for stories. A couple basic chapters on the elements of fiction and the writing process mean you don't need to buy another "How to Write" book as well, just to learn about structure. Advice on how to overcome writer's block is included. Also, some information on writing non-fiction children's books, too!

The authors of this book wrote the Adventures of the Bailey School Kids books, and even though that's not my cup of tea (they certainly sell, though, don't they?), I found this guide to be applicable to anyone who wants to write for children. So what are you waiting for?

What a great collection of ideas to start a book or enhance a work in progress! Anyone interested in finding just the right "sparkle" of an idea for a children's book should have this book in their library of resourses.
Tina Perry, Author "Where Do Stars Come From, Nana?"

I ordered a few books from amazon, because I am interested in writing, specifically children's books, and some other things I'm working on in my spare time. I got this book the other day, I'm still on chapter one, already have found it quite useful. Thanks!