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How to Tell a Story: 1 Book + 20 Story Blocks = A Million Adventures Paperback – September 22, 2015

by Daniel Nayeri (Author), Brian Won (Illustrator)

4.4 129 ratings

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Introducing an incredible storytelling package—a full-color, 144-page book paired with a collection of 20 six-sided, beautifully illustrated storytelling cubes that make it easy for any imaginative child (and that is every child) to start creating wonderful stories. Roll the blocks, and you can make anything happen, to anyone, anyplace in this or any other world.

The book is a guide to the principles of creative storytelling. It covers the essential elements like conflict—that thing that no one likes in real life, but without which no story could ever start—characters, motivation, dialogue, theme, and, of course, the climax. As you turn the pages, you’ll be prompted to roll the story blocks. And that’s when the magic starts to happen.

The blocks are coded by color, each loosely associated with a part of speech. A simple exercise about motivation, for example, asks the reader to roll the blocks and find one red block (person or animal) “who wanted nothing more in this world than to” one green block (action). Depending on the outcome, the reader might end up telling a tale of a cowboy who just wanted to dance or a mummy who wanted to race cars.

How to Tell a Story combines the surprising whimsy of Mad Libs with the compelling fun of storytelling cubes. Its exercises and games will have readers mastering the basics of storytelling while exercising their creative muscles. And who knows where that journey will end?

Reading age

5 - 10 years, from customers
Print length

144 pages
Language

English
Grade level

3 - 7
Dimensions

8.38 x 1.5 x 8.38 inches
Publisher

Workman Publishing Company
Publication date

September 22, 2015
ISBN-10

0761184570
ISBN-13

978-0761184577
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Finally, an educational toy that recognizes the important role that storytelling plays in the growth and development of young minds. (Loud whisper: 'It’s fun, too!')"
-Brad Bird, writer and director of The Iron Giant and Pixar’s The Incredibles and Ratatouille.

One of Huffington Post Canada's Hottest Kids' Books of 2015!

"An epic game of endless possibilities...You can play/read it in so many of different ways."
-Boy's Life

"How to Tell a Story is like a creative writing workshop in a box...an absolutely wonderful way to stimulate creativity while learning how to be a better storyteller."
-The San Luis Obispo Tribune

"How to Tell A Story by Daniel Nayeri combines a color book with a custom set of 20 illustrated blocks to create an ingenious way to learn how to tell a story -- from beginning to middle to end."
- The Hartford Courant

"How to Tell A Story is a veritable creative writing master class series made brilliantly accessible through playful blocks of color and category - practically an Iowa creative writing workshop for kids. Middle-schoolers in particular will respond to Daniel Nayeri's wit and wisdom."
-Gail Sider, elementary school teacher

“This is a classroom must have for all levels…I want my ELL students on this right away.”
-Paul Hankins, high school teacher

“What could be better than a game that helps children become better storytellers?”
-Jennifer Reed, elementary school teacher/librarian

“[An] awesome writing resource that is sure to get kids' imaginations going and their words flowing.”
-Jen Vincent, Technology Specialist in K-8 school and literacy expert

From the Back Cover

It’s a book. It’s a game. It’s a storytelling adventure.

Combining a full-color book with a custom set of 20 beautifully illustrated blocks, here’s an ingenious and entertaining way to learn how to tell a story, from beginning to middle to end.

Read the book, and interactive guide to creative storytelling, covering all the basics from conflict to characters, plot, dialogue, and more. Prompts and games get readers to roll the blocks and spin a tale. It could be about a red (person or animal) who wanted nothing more in this world than to green (action). Maybe it’s a shy cowboy with a passion for dance, or a mermaid who dreams of racing cars.

Create the magic with every roll. Play by yourself, play with friends, play with your family. There’s no limit to the stories you can tell or the adventures that await.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Workman Publishing Company; Box Nov edition (September 22, 2015)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 144 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0761184570
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0761184577
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 5 - 10 years, from customers
Grade level ‏ : ‎ 3 - 7
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.9 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.38 x 1.5 x 8.38 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,118,914 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #809 in Children's Composition & Creative Writing Books
- #5,400 in Children's Game Books (Books)
- #25,010 in Children's Activity Books (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.4 129 ratings

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About the authors

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Brian Won
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Brian Won wore many hats as a busboy, shoe salesman, art store cashier, vending machine re-stocker, art director, and designer before he turned his talents to illustrating children's books. He lives in Southern California, where he and his family never miss an opportunity to have a HOORAY! parade around the house.
brianwon.com
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Daniel Nayeri
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Daniel was born in Iran and spent several years as a refugee before immigrating to Oklahoma at age eight with his family. He is the author of several books for young readers, including EVERYTHING SAD IS UNTRUE (A TRUE STORY, winner of the Printz Award, the Christopher Medal, and the Middle East Book Award. He is a former professional pastry chef, and if he’s not writing or baking, he’s likely playing board games, or riding motorcycles.
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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5

129 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

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Mama1

Educational, Entertaining and Fun

Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2021

Verified Purchase

This is a great educational and fun book/game. My 8-year-old son loves it. It is written in a fun way and the activities are broken down to slowly teach you the art of storytelling. If you do a small section for each lesson, it basically unfolds similar to a curriculum. It sparked my own creativity and this is something I can see will be valuable to my son now but also when he is older. It is fun for all ages; the level of complexity or depth that one can go into will just vary depending on one’s age. This is appropriate for kids and teens alike —- and fun for us adults as well.

I will add — don’t just hand this to your kid; play it with them. Dialogue and conversation is what makes this fun, although some kids might enjoy independent writing. But most people benefit from engaging with others or at least sharing their work. Younger kids will definitely need extra help getting going, such as your own examples.

Also, having both the book and the hands-on blocks are a great learning tool for kids to keep them engaged. I saw a review that said the blocks were poor quality and that almost made me decide against the game. I am glad I gave it a chance — the blocks are cardboard but are sturdy and good quality. I am not sure what the person wanted for the price, but unless they got a used game, they are perfectly fine. And unless your kid is throwing them, smashing them or chewing them, they should hold up just fine, like any game. Have your kids simply roll them and focus on the storytelling fun.

My son can’t wait to play again tomorrow and I see a great deal of value in the lessons, short-term and long-term.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

mommy8703

I use these story cubes with my son and we have a good time coming up with our own little stories

Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2016

Verified Purchase

This is cute. I use these story cubes with my son and we have a good time coming up with our own little stories. Originally I thought the book was going to have stories in it and you use the cubes to insert words to make the stories different every time. That is not the case. The book is really teaching you how to write a story and it does give you some games that can help you learn the principles the book explains. We don't really ever use the book though and we just enjoy using the cubes to come up with our little tales.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

John

Wonderfully creative and engaging book/game

Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2015

Verified Purchase

I love this game story book. Got it a couple weeks ago and have used it twice already. Through the use of blocks, images and color, it provides a structure for kids and families to share in the creative art of storytelling. This reminds me of a more sophisticated, imagnative and versatile form of AdLibs that I have played with my kids at times except in this game the players construct their own story Through this game kids learn to trust their creative powers and to practice telling exciting and creative stories. The images and colors on the blocks easily prompt the players to combine subject, action and descriptive words giving them license to be creative and unusually crazy, inspiring and/or philosophical if they like. If players do not know the parts of speech it is a great way for them to be introduced to them. Story telling techniques are also introduced. A good way to use this is for families to play this together. Parents can get a good idea what kids are thinking even. This is a good way for families to spend a snowy evening together or for siblings to do something other than stare at a screen.

6 people found this helpful

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luke flowers

A new inspiring experience every time!

Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2015

Verified Purchase

Since this arrived it has become our favorite family game/activity. We love that it engages a wide age range (we have 7, 9 and 12 year olds) not to mention my wife and I have a ton of fun with it too! The instruction book is really an insightful and inspiring class in story writing, that makes the game come to life even more as you try different aspects of the story building process. Or for a quick game just have fun making up stories with the absolutely marvelously illustrated blocks with a bounty of imaginative storytelling elements! We continue to find new aspects of this book/blocks that we learn, laugh and grow with! Truly a new experience every time! Workman Publishing produces the most unique interactive books and this one is a gem among their treasure trove! We are certainly going to be hoping for a PART 2 of this!

8 people found this helpful

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NYC mom

Guide is overly complex!

Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2022

Verified Purchase

I bought this as a literacy game for my pre-k child’s year at home. We have similar story telling cubes/games that she enjoys and I thought this would be a fun addition. The artwork on the cubes are nice and there are a lot of options. The color coding noun/verbs is a great idea and something I haven’t seen on other sets. There are games in the book but they’re interspersed in a long narrative of how to play the game making it hard to follow and my youngest loses interest as I’m glossing over the ‘instructions’ to find where the game picks up again. I am planning to read through the book on my own and come up with a few clear and concise games. The book reads as the author’s brainstorming session about how the cubes could be used where I wish they would have done the work to edit this into a few games.

One person found this helpful

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Emma

More to it than meets the eye!

Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 2015

Verified Purchase

Wow,this is much more involved than I first thought! My eight year old and I are enjoying reading through the book together,rolling the dice and creating the story. That is the extent of what I thought I was buying. But this creative little game is also a mini course on Creative Writing. While you are rolling dice to see where the mermaid wants to go,you're also exploring the values,backstory and motivation of your antagonist. You're dissecting conflict,where to place it in the story and how each character will resolve it based in the rest of the information. And that's literally just the Beginning of the story. This is a fantastic find for me,a homeschooling mom with a kid who loves telling stories and is prone to be more visual and kinesthetic then strictly language-driven. Even a young teen would learn new ideas from this book/blocks set.

38 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

A fresh, imaginative "reading" activity

Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2017

Verified Purchase

My 6 yr old and I enjoy using the blocks to create our own stories. The book is too advanced, I'll save it for next year. It is a very imaginative activity and my daughter is enthusiastic about developing her stories. My 2 yr old loves looking at and stacking the extra blocks - bonus! We are pleased; it's a stand-out activity in the sea of board games, books and barbies.

3 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Client d'Amazon

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 9, 2018

Verified Purchase

Stimulating for children - and adults

k

Five Stars

Reviewed in Canada on March 14, 2016

Verified Purchase

A great way to encourage imagination in your little one or to help develop their language skills.

One person found this helpful

J.Moto

This is a fantastic activity for older children who like to read and ...

Reviewed in Canada on June 14, 2016

Verified Purchase

This is a fantastic activity for older children who like to read and write stories. I have a 5 year old and he loves to look at all the pictures on each cube but building a story is a bit more difficult when you follow the booklet.

One person found this helpful

Don Pye

Five Stars

Reviewed in Canada on March 8, 2017

Verified Purchase

No complaints.