Now accepting submissions for "The Fairy Tale Chronicles" #FairyTaleChronicles #KidsChronicles

The Fairy Tale Chronicles: A Collection of Stories Written and Illustrated by Children

The original anthology in the Kids' Chronicles series of anthologies, "The Talisman Chronicles: A Collection of Stories Written and Illustrated by Children," is an anthology of stories written and illustrated by children. A second one, after several requests, was opened for submission, and in 2015, "Superhero Chronicles: A Collection of Superhero Stories Written & Illustrated by Children" was published. It has been requested by some kids that we create another anthology, and so we are complying with this request.

The third volume of the Kids' Chronicles series of anthologies published by Your Kids' Creations is called "The Fairy Tale Chronicles: A Collection of Stories Written & Illustrated by Children."

This is the new topic for children to write about for a new anthology in 2016. I think the world needs to read more stories written by children. Don't you?

The anthology will be published in both kindle and print formats, and in both color and black and white formats.

Artwork, when sent in by children should be line drawings. If the drawings are colored-in, when the drawing is optimized for print, the same colors will be used. The cleaner the image, the easier it will be to optimize it for print.

Kids should shoot for 300 words or over for their stories but because these are kids writing, shorter stories will be accepted. The story should be entirely the child's creation, but the child may have help from his or her parent with things like spelling and grammar.

A list of charms is below. Children are to select a charm that best represents their story. I will do my best to send that charm to the child. Once they have written a story for a selected charm, they may select another one and write another story. 

Each child will need to send in a one-line to one-paragraph long author bio, written in the third person and will need to e-mail a copy of the signed parental agreement.

Deadline for submissions is June 15, 2017.

List of charms below:

Cat charm 

Dragon charm 

Mermaid charm 

Wolf charm 

Book charm 

Unicorn charm 

Heart charm 

Fox charm 

Fairy charm 

Butterfly charm 

Dragonfly charm 

Anchor charm 

Skull and crossbones charm 

Feather charm 

Charms will be crossed out when no more of a specific type are available and new ones will be added as charms are taken for stories.

The Superhero Chronicles: A Collection of Superhero Stories Written & Illustrated by Children - Available now!

The Superhero Chronicles: A Collection of Superhero Stories Written & Illustrated by Children is out now and available to purchase! It makes a great gift for parents, grandparents, godparents, teachers and others! The stories are wonderful for children too!

To make buying the books easier, you have three different versions of the anthology to choose from: the black and white edition, the full colour edition and the special edition, all at different prices. 

the black and white edition

the full colour edition

the special edition

If paperback books are not for you, you can also buy the books in Kindle format.

From the blurb:

What does a child like best about superheroes? If a child could create a superhero, what kind of superhero would he or she create? Find answers to these questions in this collection of superhero stories, written entirely by children. Fourteen young authors, from six years old to thirteen years old, from all around the world, have come together to create this anthology of twenty-two superhero stories. Delight in these short stories of superheroes, from super animals and eco-warriors to masterminds and super witches. Enjoy reading about superheroes who have special powers and abilities, as well as superheroes who have no special powers and yet still manage to make the world a better place.

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The Superhero Chronicles anthology table of contents #SuperheroChronicles

If your child has a story in this anthology, please check that the spelling of his or her name is correct. Some hero titles  and story titles have been tweaked. For those of you who have not yet sent in a short sentence or paragraph (written in the third person) about the author (including his or her age), please do so as soon as possible. The formatting of the stories is nearly completed. I am still working on the artwork, preparing it for the book, but I am also getting the "About the Authors and Illustrators" section filled in. I should have an official cover to show you soon too! (The above cover is not the one that will be used.)

Flamewhip by Angelina Destiny Marie Carté

     The Carnival 

Tala by Gabriella Fyfe

     Ears

Lightning Lilly by Maddy Willoughby

     Lightning Lilly and Champion Chewie in the Zoo Rescue

Special Boy by Connor Fyfe

     Becoming Special 

Princess Seea by Aijay Willoughby

     Princess Seea and Super Stitch in the Big Splash

Tiger Boy by Cameron Fyfe

     Battling the Baddies

Starlight by Isabella Fyfe 

     Super Crystal 

The Apprentice by Leyarna Hendricks

     The Girl and the Mastermind

Super Leyarna by Izabela Manta

     The Magical Event 

Nature Princess by Isabella Fyfe

    The Special Garden

          Part One by Isabella Fyfe

          Part Two by Leyarna Hendricks

          Part Three by Izabela Manta

          Part Four by Leyarna Hendricks

          Part Five by Isabella Fyfe

Ashley Morris: Vampire Hunter by Miriam Norwitz 

     Vampire Street

The Singer by Jade Nash 

     The Singing Hero

Gadget Man by Autumn East

     Fixing Things

Super Lion Cub by Maddy Willoughby

     The Happy Lion

Towering Tulip by Aijay Willoughby

     Tulip to the Rescue

Stonecone by Connor Fyfe

     Out with Mum

Mermaid Girl by Emmy Snider

     Merina the Mermaid

Super Bella by Cerys Ebenezer

     The Power of Friendship

Toy Tiger by Cameron Fyfe

     The Bedroom Rescue

Super Orla by Isabella Fyfe

      From Villain to Hero
Amazing Boy by Connor Fyfe
     The Barbest and the Gift of Fire
Super Witch by Isabella Fyfe
     Super Pencil to the Rescue

About the Authors and Illustrators 

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How do I prepare the art sent in to be used as illustrations for The Talisman Chronicles?

Are you wondering why my work on the illustrations for the anthology are taking so long? Here's a look at what I am doing, using one of the illustrations drawn and submitted by one of the children who are contributing stories to the anthology.

Original:

 drawn by Maddison, age 7

To make the pictures presentable for print so that the lines are clean within the book, I trace around the picture in a drawing program on my computer and then fill in the colors, trying to get close to the colors chosen by the children. I try and trace the picture as exactly as possible. Of course, even filling the colors in leaves some edging that I have to trace back over in the color it is edging against. (Not sure if I am explaining the process well.) It's not difficult, but it is very time-consuming. 

Below is the ready-for-print version:

Please note: There will be both a color version and a black and white version of the book. 

Also, if anyone who sent a picture for the anthology would like me to e-mail them the updated version (to use in blog posts, to create gifts at sites like CafePress , Zazzle or Printfection, etc), just let me know. (If the picture you sent did not have any color, I will have also added color to it for the color version.)

My own daughters have done some drawings for the anthology. I will share them in a later post.

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Table of Contents and Blurb Reveal for "The Talisman Chronicles"

Blurb (rough draft):

Children of all ages, including teenagers, have been finding magical charms all over the world. In some cases, the talismans take them on a magical adventure and in other cases, the magical charms give them a vision of someone else's magical adventure. These stories have been gathered here in The Talisman Chronicles as each child tells their story. Delve into the imaginations of children and enjoy these enchanting stories, written by children from around the world.

Below is the Table of Contents for The Talisman Chronicles. If your child has contributed a story, please make sure that their story is listed here and that their name is spelled correctly. Also, make sure I have the correct age for their age when they wrote their story (or their age now, if that's what they'd prefer), and, if I do not have an age for them, please let me know. I also need short author bios for each child. At the moment, I only have some author bios. (They don't need to be more than a sentence long, but they can be. They just need to say something about your young author.) (The children's ages will be listed under their bylines with their stories but not on the Table of Contents in the actual book. I am just listing them here in order to find out which of them I am missing the ages for.) 

1. Introduction
2. Prologue
3. The Dragonfly Charm by Angelina Destiny Marie Carte', age ?
4. King Beanameatus by Henry Gatenby, age ?
5. Pirate Dogs by Maddy Willoughby, age 6
6. Ember's Wish by Caitlin Shambrook, age 14
7. The Lost Fairy by Isabella Fyfe, age 8
8. The Excuse by Nathaniel Khalinsky, age 11
9. The Dolphin Adventure by Maddison Cook, age 7
10. Mommy Mermaid by Cameron Fyfe, age 4
11. Dragon Magic by Amelie Crimp, age 8
12. The Lucky Dragon by George Redhead, age 6
13. The Steel Fairy by Gabriella Fyfe, age 11
14. Tiana, Ariel, the Bear and the Knights by Stephanie Hart, age 4
15. The Talking Cat by Connor Fyfe, age 7
16. The Dragon and the Two Brothers by Romy Cole, age 5
17. Project Seahorse by Amelie North, age 7
18. Love and the Love Heart Locket by Jade Tonks, age 12
19. Stitch Gets Lost by Aijay Willoughby, age 5
20. Grandpa Ted's Fishing by William Hart, age 6
21. Mermaidina and the Catfish Snack by Lila Cole, age 2
22. The Three Shooting Stars by Jack Redhead, age 9
23. Georgia and the Thunderstorm by Charlotte Cook, age 4
24. The Dragon Orbs by Harry Redhead, age 10
25. Lizzie and Coraline: A Mermaid Adventure by Isabella Fyfe, age 7
26. Why Butterfly? by Nathaniel Khalinsky, age 11
27. The Metal Dragon by Gabriella Fyfe, age 11
28. The New Princess by Maddison Cook, age 7
29. Ben's Dragon by Cameron Fyfe, age 4
30. The Healing Cat Charm by Isabella Fyfe, age 8
31. The Iron Mermaid by Gabriella Fyfe, age 11
32. The Magic Book Talisman by Isabella Fyfe, age 8
33. Epilogue

I can be reached at Rebecca (at) Fyfe (dot) net.

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The Courage to Imagine

Children have more courage than any adult I have ever known. They have the courage to imagine. They use their imaginations to create whole worlds and to act out the stories they wield through the power of their minds. Children still believe in magic, the magic of their imaginations, of creating something from nothing. They have the ability to see things that we, as adults, can no longer see. And they have the courage to believe in a better world than the one in front of them.

They believe in hidden worlds within our own, worlds with fairies and pixies and mermaids, worlds with unicorns and dragons. They create new creatures, never before seen in any legend, fairytale or myth. They draw what they see behind their eyes, what their imagination shows them and they create stories from what they draw.

Children are well-equipped to follow their dreams, because they are willing to imagine where that will take them. They are not afraid to face their dreams. They have the courage to imagine.

We would all benefit from listening to imagination of children.


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Creative Kids

Since Your Kids' Creations is all about inspiring our kids to be creative, I thought I'd share some of the creativity my own kids have been showing.

Gabriella is eight years old. She has her own blog where she posts her drawings, stories she has written and poems she has written. She even makes and posts videos on occasion. Her blog is called Gabby's Art Gallery. She's had the blog ever since she was seven. You can follow Gabby's Art Gallery on Facebook. You can also find a lot of her artwork in several different on-line stores such as Through Innocent Eyes on Printfection, Through Innocent Eyes on Zazzle, or as a section of a larger store at Fyfe Photography & Design.

Isabella is only 5 years old. She too has been working creatively for more than a year. She has her own blog called Tangle Fairies, and you can also follow the Tangle Fairies blog on Facebook. She has several shops too. A few of her designs can be found at the same Printfection store as Gabby's art, Through Innocent Eyes at Printfection. Her designs can also be found in Imaginative Minds and Tangle Fairies. A few of her earlier designs can be found in a section of the larger Fyfe Photography & Design store too.

Connor is four years old. His blog and his store are very new, started only this week. Connor's blog is called Connor's Spirit Of Imagination and it has a Spirit Of Imagination Facebook page. His store is called Spirit Of Imagination.

Gabby has some books that are her own creation (with help from Your Kids' Creations) at Moonduster's Books. Isabella and Connor will have books available there soon too.

Another way kids can be creative is through photography. All three of the children have their own photography blog, shared between them, and a store too. Their blog is called Photography By Kids. The Photography By Kids blog has a Facebook page too. There is also a Photography By Kids gift store.

They also love to bake and create food desserts, so they share a blog called Kids Creating Cakes: Cooking For Kids and there is a Kids Creating Cakes Facebook page as well as a Kids Creating Cakes store.

And because they are so interested in creativity and in trying new things, they also have a review blog called Children Review where businesses can send them kid-products to try and test out and hear what children think of them. There is also a Children Review Facebook page.

Social media has a lot of avenues for children to express their creativity and to find encouragement. With a conscientious parent monitoring their on-line activity, there is a wealth of activity for a child to embark on the Internet.

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What Your Kids' Creations Can Do For you

Send me your child's short stories and drawings, and, for a fee, I will make them presentable in their own book at Lulu.com. Once the book is uploaded into an account at Lulu.com created just for you, you will own all rights to it. You will be able to buy as many copies from Lulu.com as you like. You can even sell copies of it to others!



What I will need from you: I need 12 short stories (anywhere from a paragraph long to a page long) that your child has written and a minimum of 12 drawings that your child has drawn. (Drawings in marker are the easiest for me to transform for the book, but I can work with some pencil and crayon drawings too.)

If your child is too young to write or type, you may have them dictate a story to you and type it for them. For very young children, you will often have to ask leading questions, such as "How did she get away?" or "What happened next?" in order to keep the story going.

You will have to provice a recent photograph of your child if you want a "author portrait" added in the back of the book.

I will clean up the artwork so that it prints beautifully in the book, set the book up with the right layout and format, create the cover, and add in a relevant description, keywords and title. It will take me 3 days to prepare the book for you, and it will cost $50. Then it will be up to you to purchase whatever number of books you wish from Lulu.com at Lulu.com prices.

For an additional $25 fee, once you've purchased your book, I will take a few of your child's best drawings and upload them into a few products in a store for your child at Zazzle.com. I will make sure the art is cleaned up and perfect for printing, resize it to fit different products, add keywords to the images, and add titles and descriptions to the products. Again, all rights to the art, the store and your child's stories will still belong to you, and ownership of the store will be in yours or your child's name. (For $100, I will add all 12 of their designs to products in their store, with or without your purchasing the making of a book.)

Examples of books created by children can be found at Moonduster's Book Store. Click "preview" under the books to see a few of the inside pages.)


Dreams Of Three


Dreams Of Four

Examples of children's stores can be found at Imaginative Minds and Through Innocent Eyes and Kyra's Art

The books are a great way to inspire the creative side of your child and inspire a love of reading and writing in your child. It's also a great way to boost their confidence.

The store is another way to inspire your child's creative side. It may also earn them a little money from time to time, which helps boost their confidence as well.

Buying gifts from their newly created stores and buying their book is a great way to find the right gifts for grandparents, parents, godparents, teachers and others for Christmas, birthdays, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Grandparent's Day and other occassions!

Example Of Some Of What I Do

This, of course, depends on how much work you want done on your child's art and how much work the actual art requires to be presentable in a book, but this is just to give you an idea of the kind of work that can be done for your child's book and/or items in their shop.

I take something like this:


I try and clean it up for the book and along the way it starts looking more like this:


I could add a poem or drawing that the child has written.


And I come up with this:



Not all pictures require that level of clean-up for the book, but they often do for products.