Playing by the book

Reviews of kids' books and the crazy, fun stuff they inspire us to do

A World Exclusive! A mini illustrated book for inspiring young story tellers, by Clara Vulliamy

Posted on | May 15, 2012 | 14 Comments

I’m so excited! The wonderfully talented, super generous author and illustrator Clara Vulliamy is kicking off a new series here on Playing by the book today.

Every month (where possible), she is going share some ideas to encourage children to tell stories of their own, using the monthly theme from the “I’m looking for a book about…” carnival. She and I will be turning her prompts into a library of mini books you can print off and give to the kids in your life (and yourself!), along with a blank mini-book ready and waiting for stories and illustrations to fill its pages.

These mini books are unique little treats, and Clara and I hope that with her prompts, and a great list of books to read/share from the monthly carnival, we’ll be firing up imaginations and encouraging kids, young and old, to create tales of their own.

As Clara says…

Maybe it’s an older child who would like to write their story down, or a younger one who would be happy telling theirs by drawing pictures…
or, my own personal favourite, making up a story together while chatting at bedtime after lights-out…

I’ll suggest a starting point, a few nudges along the way to keep the story flowing along and an inspiring object or two (I always find an actual THING helps me when I’m writing a story) –

Whose bed could this be?

- and the rest is up to them!

Now to the first mini-books from our library-to be…

Two books especially for you from Clara and me

The Small book of Big Story IDEAS by Clara Vulliamy

A blank book waiting to be filled with stories!

For each book you’ll need to download a pdf file (see below), print it off, and then use the method shown in this video to fold/cut the paper to create the actual book:

To download Clara’s Small Book of Big Story Ideas (No. 1), on the theme of elves and fairies, please click here (this is a pdf file. It is quite large, so may take a moment or two to download).

To download a blank book ready and waiting to be filled with stories inspired by Clara’s prompts, please click here (again, this is a pdf file).

This afternoon I’m off out with the girls and know they’ll have some waiting around, so I’ve put a copy of each book in a nice envelope, with some “fairy dust” and some pencils… I can’t wait to see what they’re inspired to create with them.

Both Clara and I have had a lot of fun creating these miniature books. If you use them, please do let us know how you and your kids enjoy them. We’d both love to see any illustrations or read any stories that come to life with the help of these mini-books.

Wishing you very happy story-telling… x

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Category: Being an author, Bookmaking, Books / Libraries, Clara Vulliamy, Elves, Fairies, Guest Posts, I'm looking for a book about..., Imagination, Storytelling

Comments

14 Responses to “A World Exclusive! A mini illustrated book for inspiring young story tellers, by Clara Vulliamy”

  1. choxbox
    May 15th, 2012 @ 2:29 am

    Will try this and let you know what magic it wove! Thanks!

  2. Zoe
    May 15th, 2012 @ 6:43 am

    oh do, Choxbox – we’re planning a whole series, a different one for each month, so it would be really great to see how they actually get used by kids. (and their grown ups!)
    Zoe recently posted..A World Exclusive! A mini illustrated book for inspiring young story tellers, by Clara Vulliamy

  3. Alida Bunder
    May 15th, 2012 @ 6:55 am

    Love this little book! Can’t wait to try it with my grandsons! Thanks.

  4. Zoe
    May 15th, 2012 @ 7:01 am

    Great stuff Alida – hope you all have lots of fun together!

  5. Polly
    May 15th, 2012 @ 7:40 am

    All is revealed. Fab! Thank you both.
    Polly recently posted..Mustering Fairies- Part 3 Blyton and beyond

  6. Michelle
    May 15th, 2012 @ 11:04 am

    These look brilliant – amd going to print and hand to 8 year old daughter :)

  7. Library Mice
    May 15th, 2012 @ 12:42 pm

    Wonderdul. No wonder you were excited :0)
    I will definitely use them with book group as well as R and O!
    Library Mice recently posted..PICTURE BOOK CAROUSEL: I Love Paris

  8. Naiomi
    May 15th, 2012 @ 2:19 pm

    LOVE IT!!! I have some budding writers who will be thrilled to see some new materials

  9. Darshana Khiani
    May 15th, 2012 @ 4:25 pm

    This is wonderful! I wish my girls were a little older, maybe I will try it anyway. Great idea!
    Darshana Khiani recently posted..Snow Games

  10. Stacey
    May 16th, 2012 @ 2:40 am

    How wonderful! Can’t wait to print these out and create with the girls…
    Stacey recently posted..First Summer Reading List

  11. Zoe
    May 16th, 2012 @ 7:26 am

    Hi Polly, Library mice, Darshana, Michelle and Stacey,
    Great to hear the books will be used – just what Clara and I had hope for :)
    Zoe recently posted..A World Exclusive! A mini illustrated book for inspiring young story tellers, by Clara Vulliamy

  12. James Mayhew
    May 19th, 2012 @ 9:11 am

    Ah! Clara is such a star, and what a great scheme!
    James Mayhew recently posted..By Royal Command!

  13. Zoe
    May 19th, 2012 @ 9:13 am

    Yes, James, she is indeed :-) Can’t wait to see more of what you’ve been working on with her…

  14. » Tea, cakes, Tinies and Clara Vulliamy Overdue Books
    November 21st, 2012 @ 10:17 pm

    [...] written about your work process on you blog & created some fabulous mini books with Zoe over at Play by the Book, what are you 3 top tips for budding storytellers & [...]

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