How to Encourage a Love of Reading by Nurturing an Interest in Storytelling.

A fantastic way to show your child the virtue of reading is by developing their love for a good story. Not only does an interest in storytelling encourage curiosity for what's between the pages of a book but nurturing that interest will also give kids some creative problem solving ideas as well.

Creativity is a skill. Use it often and it will grow, multiply and become stronger until creative approaches to challenges become almost instinctual. Ignored, this skill withers and becomes wrought with second guesses, dead end walls and the feeling of not knowing where to begin.

To me, beginning is the hardest part. Once I get rolling a story often takes on a life of it's own. So in helping your kids to come up with a story where do you begin? You begin with DreamStarters.

The DreamStarter Book: by Jennifer Karin Sidford is a collection of 50 story beginnings.

Here is what Jennifer has to say about her book:

In truth, DreamStarters began out of desperation and an inability to pull a creative thought from my brain at the end of a busy day. The day had come when my kids (three boys, ages seven to fifteen) had mastered reading, and they no longer needed me to read them chapters from their favorite books. Instead, they asked me to tell them a story. At bedtime I would begin the story, then (struggling to come up with something compelling and worthy of serious Harry Potter fans) I would ask my kids to tell me what happened next. What began as a solution to my creative drought turned into a favorite family tradition.

Soon DreamStarters made its way to the dinner table, as we found it was a great way to keep our kids engaged at the table a few precious minutes more. Even my teenager stayed to present his own plot twists!

Here's one of the DreamStarters from the book. This one is called "Ice Wind"

Justin and Nicole were hiking toward the top of their favorite mountain when the wind
began to blow. At first, the wind was light and warm, but it soon became fierce and bitter
cold. Even though it was summer, the wind turned everything around them to ice.
“There’s a cave,” Justin yelled to Nicole over the high-pitched scream of the wind.
They leaned into each other as they walked, bracing their weight against the powerful
gusts. The cave’s entrance was covered with icy vines that refused to move. Justin pulled out
his Swiss Army Knife and cut through the vines. From deep within the cave came a blast of
warm air. Justin pushed Nicole into the cave and followed next. It was very dark, and the
warm air smelled damp and…

Is this not a great idea? Engage with your kids. Spend time on something together. Encourage siblings to work towards a conclusion. Show them that daydreaming and being creative is something to indulge in. How could they not enjoy this activity and how could it not develop an interest in story and the written word?

Want a copy of the book? I have one to giveaway! And yes, it's signed :) To be eligible to win, visit the DreamStarters Website and read through this reader submitted DreamStarter. Come back here and tell us in comments what you see happening next. Make sure to leave your email address so we can contact you if you're the winner.

Bloggers, get an extra entry by posting about DreamStarters on your blog. Leave a separate comment with your url for it to be counted.

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The Must Have Mom Manual via Twitter

Image via CrunchBaseI have had so much fun on Twitter lately. It's a great way to meet other bloggers and keep up to date on what's going on around the net. Recently I received a follow request from @saraellington and I though "Hey! I know that name...why on earth do I know that name??" so I clicked through to her profile and discovered that she was one of the authors of The Mommy Chronicles.

I'd read the book during my pregnancy - it was a gift from my dear sister. The beauty of the book is that it's comprised of email correspondence between two pregnant women. They discuss their pregnancies, how their lives are changing, how they're feeling and journal their experiences all through an email exchange. This means that the book is written in bite size snippets - perfect reading for times when you're too tired to digest long paragraphs.

Anyway, I replied to @saraellington and told her how I'd loved her book. She responded with thanks and told me they have a new book coming out! Before I know it she's also telling me that she's sending me a galley copy for review! Yay!

So keep your eyes open for the review and I'll be following this mommy writer's endeavors to keep you up to date on when the new book is available for sale. And if you want to check out the Mommy Chronicles you can find it on Amazon - just click the image below.



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A Cole Family Christmas - Book Giveaway!

Set in the 1920s, A Cole Family Christmas
is a touching story about the things that really matter over the holidays. It was great to read a story that valued family and simple things over shopping and gifts and extravagant feasts.

This lovely story could easily become part of your Christmas traditions. Gather the family, read aloud and enjoy the illustrations year after year. And yes, I have two copies to give away! To enter, leave a comment about the Christmas gift that meant the most to you - either one you received or one you gave. Make sure to leave your email address so I can contact you if you're the winner. Contest runs until Dec 19th

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1 Great Project - 3 Reasons to Do It

I've recently corresponded with Creative Mom Jenna McCarthy, Author of The Parent Trip
She was telling me about how as a writer, she walks around with a notebook to capture all the funny things her kids say. She says her children are "pure fodder" for her writing endeavors. She then told me how she takes those notebooks and turns them into a special project that allows her to do three important things:

1) Use and encourage her creative mind.
2) Include her children in that creative process and
3) Encourage her children to read and enjoy stories.

Here's what to do:

As your kids say funny things write them down. I know that many of you are bloggers and chose to journal these silly snippets in a digital format - that works too and in fact, might be a nice way to keep everything all in one place for later use.

Once you have a nice collection of quotes, start transferring them into a small journal or scrapbook. Here is where you can include your kids. Ask them to doodle on the pages or decorate with stickers. You can also have them choose photographs of themselves to be included in the book. Don't forget to add a title that includes their name.

When it's done, you'll have a storybook that your kids will want you to read over and over again. What child doesn't like being the main character in a story?! Especially a main character who is funny, silly and smart too! You'll have loads of fun reliving memories and your child will feel special and loved in a whole new way. Plus, they will be learning without even knowing it. These books will help them to recognize their name in print, as well as the names of any siblings or other 'characters' in the book such as pets. Older kids will learn to see why you thought what they said was humorous and laugh at themselves too. What could be better?


Here are a few gems from Jenna's collection -

At the park:
Sophie (4 years): Mom, why is there a hole in this bench?
Me: Well, what is the bench made from?
Sophie: Wood!
Me: That’s right! And where do we get wood?
Sophie: Home Depot!

In bed at night, singing songs:
Sophie: “This old man, he played seven, he played seven up in heaven…” Mom, what’s heaven again?
Me: That’s where grandpa lives, with God and all of the other people who have died.

Sophie: God DIED?

I know you have a funny quote from your own little one in your mind right now don't you? Go on now, start their book you can always come back later.

About Jenna McCarthy's book:

The Parent Trip: From High Heels and Parties to Highchairs and Potties is a must-read for expecting and new moms. Packed with wit and wisdom, The Parent Trip is "smart, hilarious, incredibly useful and so honest it almost hurts,” says Peg Moline, Editor-in-Chief of Fit Pregnancy magazine, adding “Every pregnant woman should read this book."

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Chicken Soup for the Soul - Call for Submissions

In this post, I wrote about how a publicist from a large anthology series had stopped by my blog and asked that I send in a submission. I was thrilled and, after a few rounds of telephone calls I managed to confirm my interest. She mentioned that it's likely my readers would have some great stories to share too and would I mind posting about their call for submissions. I paused for a moment, thinking the less competition the better and then I remembered that I don't suck. How could I keep this opportunity from writers as deserving as my faithful readers?

So here it is. The anthology is Chicken Soup for the Soul. The edition is Chicken Soup for the Power Moms Soul. If they could only see the state of my bathroom floor right now, they might withdraw their submission request; I never imagined myself a power mom - ever.

Anyway. Here are the Submission Guidelines. Here is some info about the issue. If your story is chosen, you get $200 bucks and 1o copies of the book. Not too shabby.

So go on, write something amazing (but not too amazing hahaha, no really) and good luck!

Oh, submissions are due Sept 1st so get crackin!


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Update - Personal and Bloggy

Well, it's been a little while since I updated with 'crap that's happening in my life' and boy, let me tell you, there's a LOT of crap!

First off, the editors behind a large anthology book series have been reading up on me here at Maternal Spark. I don't want to say who because nothing is happening yet but.... I did receive an email from them saying that my story would be a good fit for their anthology and would I consider submitting? Would I consider? - Hell Yes! The email said I would need to respond with my interest as soon as I could. So I did. And I got an error message back that my email couldn't be received. So I called, and got a machine. Well, it was like an episode of Seinfeld and I couldn't think of what to say and I'm sure I came off like a blundering idiot. I think I said something like "This is Heather, you emailed me, I'm interested. You can call me!" who knows. I haven't had a response back for my efforts at contacting them so ladies, if you're reading now - I'm interested!! I guess I'll try and call again, maybe I should write a script first.

Then, after the high came a low. My childcare arrangement fell into the crapper and I'm left with nobody to watch little H starting August first. It might as well be tomorrow because I'm working full time and hubby has a load of overtime to work through. This means that even if we had months to find something - when are we going to be able to go visit these places and interview people and do background checks? I just came back to work and don't have any holidays to pull. I'll have to take time off without pay - if they let me. Nice return to work for me; it's great looking like an unstable mommy who can't get her shit together right?

What else, I'm sure there's more. Oh, hubby's sunglasses are still in the toilet so we only have one working set of facilities - it's fun explaining to company why they can't use the downstairs loo. In addition to that, he's boiled a pot of eggs until all the water was gone and they exploded. That was a nice smell to come home to - smelled like burning farts. And he broke his baby toe while attempting to vacuum.

Think I could find a daycare for my one year old as well as my 30 year old? Geez.

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