As I mentioned yesterday, I am having lots of fun this week with giveaways and inspiration! So excited that Sarah has been involved in speaking and delighting women at our conferences about helping your children love reading, and how important stories are to inspire children to want to be heroes in their generation. Be sure to share with all of your friends about our news and giveaways. I wish I could win! :)
From Sarah:
I am so delighted to announce the launch of Storyformed.com, and the release of my new book, Caught Up in a Story! I'm hosting a three-day celebration over at Storyformed.com and would love it if you would join me here at my mom's site (take a look at the giveaways below), or over at Storyformed and take part in the celebration and fun.
Buy Sarah's new book, Storyformed, by clicking HERE!
This website and book have been over a year in the making, but about a decade in the dreaming.
The concept of the Storyformed project has been simmering for years in the back of my mind, but a few radical decisions and plot twists in the story of my life last year opened up a space of time in which I could actually work to realize my vision. I want to briefly sketch the story for you here so that I can introduce this website and book as what I hope they will be: a gift.
About ten years ago, after reading the startling NEA report, Reading at Risk, I began to independently study the realm of children's literature, reading, and imagination. Having grown up in a home crammed with books, rich in story, I was startled to discover the decline of reading, the loss of vocabulary, and the loss of imagination in our culture as people moved away from a value for literature and toward a regular use of technological media. The more I studied, the more I grasped the vital educational gifts of reading - vocabulary, independent thought, imagination - and the more passionate I became to help parents understand how much their children needed simply to read, read, read!
But it was when I sat down to compile my favorite titles for Read for the Heart (my guide to children's literature), that the concept for Storyformed.com was truly born. As I paged through the picture books and children's classics that companioned the quiet hours of my childhood, I realized how richly the vivid characters and richly imagined worlds of those stories had outfitted my mind, formed my sense of self, and shaped my vision. Further, I realized that those books had been the gift of my parents. I understood that a home crammed with bookshelves, with hours spent reading, and evenings with stories shared was something my parents had specifically chosen. They understood the impact that a great story could have on the identity and imagination of a young girl. They knew that great stories could help me imagine how to live a great story myself.
My storyformed childhood was a gift, one that has enriched and shaped me into the woman I am today. And its a gift I want to give again by helping parents provide their own children with the marvel of a storyformed life. The goal of storyformed.com is to help parents and educators find the best books for their kids. And the goal of Caught Up in a Story is to help them catch a vision for how to create a storyformed life. I'm stocking the website library with reviews, creating booklists, and most of all, publishing a series of family-friendly stories to share. I've designed the website with families in mind. I hope it will be a resource, a delight, and a place of fellowship for all who visit.
So please, join me.
Visit today and then check back often as the reading adventure continues. To see this website and this book on the power of story come to completion, and to have the delight of finally sharing it all with you, is a triumph and a gift to me. Thank you so, so much for joining me!
You find Caught Up in a Story over HERE at Amazon
It's finally available! Hot off the press.
Also, both here and at storyformed.com, we'll be giving away three copies of Caught Up in a Story each day. We'll be giving away some beautiful pieces of artwork and jewelry provided by friends of the Storyformed project. I'm so delighted by these lovely gifts that I'm almost lost for words.
Today, we'll begin with a giveaway of two handmade necklaces crafted by the lovely Susie at Charms and Blessings. Here's her description of these whimsical pieces:
Words to live by: Read, Dream, Imagine. These three words are hand stamped on a heavy 18 gauge, one inch beaded pewter disc (or, for the second, three hand-stamped silver bars)~ accented with a wire wrapped pearl. The natural properties of pewter give this necklace a beautiful antique finish. Hung on a sterling silver chain of your choice.
Just take a look:
Beautiful, eh? Sign up below for the giveaway of these lovely necklaces and today's copies of Caught Up in a Story.
But wait! For the next three days, I will keep open a drawing for the grand prize giveaway of the Storyformed Launch: a mini library of ten books hand selected and packaged with a card from your resident "Story Girl," Sarah. The giveaway will run all three days, so enter multiple times in the box below (you can find it in each day's post) or the sidebar to the right (on the Storyformed Blog page).
And if you are new to the whole Storyformed.com venture, just go here to the About page to read a bit more of what's going on at the website and be directed to the Library and Book Lists.
No matter what, I hope you will come for a ramble round the Storyformed website. It's the next best thing to a visit in the library of a kindred spirit. If I could figure out how to offer a virtual cup of tea, I would. But stories, inspiration, reviews, resources, and constant reading encouragement... that I can offer aplenty!