Crickhollow Books - Reading Ideas from an Indie Perspective

"If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales." – Albert Einstein

Do you agree?

To chime on the value of fantasy, check out this BookLikes discussion group thread:

Discussion: What Are Good Values in a Book?

Steven King said this, and it is meant, in my eyes, for aspiring writers.

Sometimes, it can be hard to sit down and write an entire novel, or even a paragraph. Words can become stuck, and no matter how long you sit at the computer, nothing flows onto the blank screen.

The easiest advice? Just write word-by-word; write in small bits, and eventually, you will have a completed piece! Super simple!

We have to keep chiseling away at our blank computer screen, or notebook, until it is chock full of adventure and inspiration!

Happy writing, and thanks Steven King!

The Ice Dragon, written by Edith Nesbit, is a wonderful short story full of snow, Northern Lights, sealskin dwarves, and a dragon made completely of ice! Be careful, though, the Ice Dragon is extremely hungry!

We've just started a discussion group here at BookLikes, called Fantasy Books & Good Values.

Do you have great fantasy books to recommend to others that contain good values?

Do you have thoughts on what makes for good values in fantasy lit?

Or maybe you'd just like to chime in with your personal thoughts on books up for discussion. Initial titles: Momo (a lovely book, if you've somehow missed this classic by author Michael Ende) and Tuck Everlasting.

More wonderful titles to discuss will be posted soon!

How time flies when you're having fun, creating good books!

Five years have passed since our first Crickhollow Books title of October 2008.

It was The I Love To Write Book, by Mary-Lane Kamberg. It's "an inspiring guide for young writers, with tips, techniques, and templates for writing success . . . activities, worksheets, and best practices for classroom, home-school, or independent writing projects."

It's still one of our bestselling books, for good reasons. Lots of people know a young writer they'd like to encourage.

"An ideal gift for the young potential author in one’s life.” – Midwest Book Review

This Fall, we'll be doing some things to celebrate turning five . . . including announcements of several new titles . . . and maybe some giveaways of other titles from Crickhollow Books (& our sibling imprint, Crispin Books).

Stay tuned! And happy reading!

Since it's October . . . here's a post from SpookyWeb.org about The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, a classic American ghost story by Washington Irving.

In a delightful twist, the story’s main character, Ichabod Crane, eagerly sought out spooky stories himself . . . even if they made him just a little jumpy when he had to walk home through the woods at night.