Storyformed.com is live! — Sarah Clarkson

I could burst with delight and relief and pride and... many other things too. Storyformed.com is finally live! I've been working on this website (and an accompanying book) for the last eight months. With the help of a brilliant friend, the website has become a online literary world and I am so happy to finally present it to the world.

It's definitely still in progress as I will be filling out all the various pages with book reviews and research, but the bones are there and it's explorable.

The heart of the Storyformed venture is simple: to get great books into the hands and hearts of children everywhere. My goal is to help parents and educators discover the best children’s books to be found. I've created Storyformed.com as a place to celebrate, and defend, the soul-forming power of imagination, story, and beauty to form children to love what is right, hunger for what is good, and grasp what is true. Because to read a great story might just be to start living one too.

To that end, Storyformed.com is both a literary online resource, and the home of a new publishing imprint, Storyformed Books.

We’ll be republishing excellent out-of-print classics, releasing new fiction by contemporary authors, and publishing a series of essay collections on reading and imagination. My book, Caught Up in a Story, written largely to explain the Storyformed worldview, is the first to release with the imprint. We’ll follow it soon with Just David, one of the favorite children’s classics of my childhood.

The website, meanwhile, was designed to be richly stocked with book reviews, research, quotes, and reading lists, countless resources to guide parents and teachers as they enter the world of children’s books. If I could, I’d have every single reader into my library for a cup of tea, but for now, a ramble round the literary rooms of the website will have to do. Here’s a quick tour of what will be on the storyformed.com:

The BLOG is an ongoing quest and conversation in the realms of imagination and story. You might find book reviews, quotes, pictures from my literary travels, featured artists, thoughts on imagination, or any number of other tidbits. Check back often.
The LIBRARY is a searchable database of book reviews and recommendations. If it’s in there, it’s good. This page will be continually updated. You can search by categories and tags.
The BOOKSTORE houses the newest releases from Storyformed Books.
The BOOK LISTS page, also continually updated, will offer families various top ten lists for easy reading ideas.
The RESEARCH page will be continually updated with resources specifically for parents and teachers. From studies and statistics on reading, to essays on imagination, to books on education, to websites of children’s classic illustrators, this is where parents can find their own source for education and delight.

Anyway. I'm just bursting over here and couldn't bear not to let the world know the website is up. There will be an official launch in August (along with the release of my new book Caught Up in a Story), complete with giveaways and all that good stuff. But for now, it's an open house for exploration. If you know any interested friends, please pass on the word about the new website. Read on!