Stories are a God-designed way to impact hearts. In a world increasingly anti-Christian, how can you communicate in a way that slides under listener's defences? How can you leave them hungry for more? But many Christians reject stories as just for kids. Christine Dillon has trained thousands of people in storytelling. 10 myths come up over and over again, and they block Christians from using this life-changing ministry tool. MYTH 1: Adults won't listen to stories MYTH 2: Stories are only for non-literate cultures MYTH 3: Men won't listen to stories ... MYTH 6: Storytelling won't grow mature disciples MYTH 8: Storytelling will lead to heresy ... Using stories from around the world Dillon tackles each myth and challenges you to master this tool. This book is also available in both forms of written Chinese.

A hilarious, spooky tale by a celebrated author and illustrator This book is NOT a bedtime story. It’s scary, strange, and rather gory. Bedtime stories make you sleepy. This book won’t. It’s much too CREEPY. Except it isn’t... This book is told by a group of monsters who think they’re very scary, but in fact they’re not—they’re cute and cuddly. They try their hardest to frighten—in a haunted house, creepy wood, ghostly ship, and darkest dark, but each time they fail! The problem is, these monsters aren’t at all scary, they’re a bit silly and a bit cuddly. They share the insecurities and worries of us humans and all they want is a good night’s sleep.

A thoughtful picture book illustrating the power of small acts of kindness, from the award-winning author of Sophie's Squash.

A new, interactive approach to storytime, The Whole Book Approach was developed in conjunction with the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art and expert author Megan Dowd Lambert's graduate work in children's literature at Simmons College, offering a practical guide for reshaping storytime and getting kids to think with their eyes. Traditional storytime often offers a passive experience for kids, but the Whole Book approach asks the youngest of readers to ponder all aspects of a picture book and to use their critical thinking skills. Using classic examples, Megan asks kids to think about why the trim size of Ludwig Bemelman's Madeline is so generous, or why the typeset in David Wiesner's Caldecott winner,The Three Pigs, appears to twist around the page, or why books like Chris Van Allsburg's The Polar Express and Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar are printed landscape instead of portrait. The dynamic discussions that result from this shared reading style range from the profound to the hilarious and will inspire adults to make children's responses to text, art, and design an essential part of storytime.

In No Talking, Andrew Clements portrays a battle of wills between some spunky kids and a creative teacher with the perfect pitch for elementary school life that made Frindle an instant classic. It’s boys vs. girls when the noisiest, most talkative, and most competitive fifth graders in history challenge one another to see who can go longer without talking. Teachers and school administrators are in an uproar, until an innovative teacher sees how the kids’ experiment can provide a terrific and unique lesson in communication.

Perfect for story time, New York Times Book Review editor Pamela Paul's funny and charming story about books, pets, and reading together will enchant readers of all ages. This spunky, self-assured cat has always loved Rectangle Time--when the boy and the man he lives with curl up with their rectangle and read aloud from it. The cat knows how helpful he is during Rectangle Time, of course--his presence is vital to the very ritual! But when the rectangle starts to get smaller, the stories start to get quieter, and worst of all, the boy no longer needs the cat's "help," the cat must find a way to reclaim his part in Rectangle Time, even if slightly different from before. In this fun, funny, and ultimately sweet story about growing up, embracing change, and the ways we all can misread social cues, we see the power of stories to bring everyone together--there's always room for everyone at story time. Praise for Rectangle Time: "The story subtly celebrates the pleasures of being read to and of growing toward reading independence. . . . A good option to hand educators needing to teach inference and for lovers of silly cats." --SLJ "A sweet story about falling in love with reading." --Kirkus "Comforting . . . clever." --Publishers Weekly "This readaloud is sure to become a read-along as the listener's own literacy and vocabulary skills increase." --BCCB "Truly delightful . . . kids will giggle over the familiar feline antics." --Booklist

"Scribble, the book's main character, never thought he was different until he met his first drawing. Then, after being left out because he didn't look like everyone else, Scribble teaches the drawings how to accept each other for who they are which enables them to create amazing art together!"--Provided by publisher.