September 2009

This weekend’s Bedtime Pick is Can we be friends?, a short little number by michellej47 that was an instant hit thanks to it’s keen sense of boy/girl relationships and clever dialogue. Graced by the whimsical yet stylish art of Sebastiaan Van Doninck, we dare you and the kids not to laugh after reading this 3-page ditty.

Last week’s pick

Spy Girl by missK

What would the Queen have managed with these wonderful artists who just joined Storybird? Now, as the King would say, begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.

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Chichiboulie from Bondues, France. Lighthearted watercolor whimsy.

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Pascal Campion from San Francisco, USA. Animated adventure and friendship.

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.Cindy & Mindy from Mechanicsville, USA. Mid-century nostalgia.

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Blue Dog Rose from Seattle, USA. Rabbits and animals with literary undertones.

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.The Art of Shishir from Mumbai, India. Jungle adventures and intrigue.

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.Andy McNally from Sugar Tree, USA. Robotic wonder with a hint of ice cream.

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.Morphadoodles from Princeton Junction, USA. Kid’s drawings made real.

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.Aaron Blecha from London, England. Boyish games and mischevious zombies.

Curiouser and curiouser!

This week’s Weekend Bedtime pick is Spy Girl, a sassy little rhymer by one of Storybird’s emerging stars, missK. Featuring the ever-adorable artwork of Paul McDougall, the story has been a consistent hit since we opened the doors two weeks ago. There’s even talk of a sequel—if we can manage to cajole Paul into creating more of the pint-sized, orange-haired spy.

Last week’s pick

Waiting for a smile by tandrusiak

Hold your mistakes up, before they turn the summer into dust.

Alberto Cerriteño for Terrible Yellow Eyes.

We’re happy to announce that our little bird has taken flight. Or is that hatched? Either way, we’re happy and we hope you’ll be happy too.

Some liner notes and thank yous are in order.

First, this is release v0.1, which is a purposefully ambiguous software label to indicate “in progress.” Yes, we could have used “beta.” But you’re tired of that. And who wants to start playing when you’re tired?

Ambiguous as it is, release v0.1 has everything you’ll need to read, make, or share Storybirds. What comes in the next versions will only make it more bionic. So have fun knowing it will only get funner. And stronger. And wear a red Adidas track suit.

Second, we’d like your input, ideas, and love. If you use Storybird with your kids, parents, students, friends, nieces, granddaughters—tell us what we can do to make it easier, faster, and smarter to connect, have fun, and create stories with the people you care about.

If you’re an artist, sign up and start experimenting. Connect with your fans, test new characters, imagine new worlds, run contests to make stories with your readers. In other words—geek out. This is your platform. And a chance to push its artistic, commercial, and communal capabilities.

Finally, share you stories. Here, there, and everywhere. And not just your Storybirds. Your stories about Storybird. Tell us how you and the kids are using it and if you’re having fun. (Tell us if you’re not having fun, too.) Same goes for artists, writers, and teachers. Is Storybird a golden egg or a lame duck?

OK. Some thanks.

To the artists who took a chance on our crazy idea and allowed us to prototype our ideas with their beautiful work: Sebastiaan, Aaron, Paul, Victoria, and Irisz. However this turns out, you are all our first loves.

To the community that embraced us, commenting, RTing and #followfridaying us into the streams of artists, writers, editors, publishers, game-designers, DIYers, librarians, teachers, and parents. Bless you.

To our friends and families for putting up with lost evenings and weekends. Turns out they weren’t lost. They’re all here, cast in code and sprinkled with unicorn tears.

Finally, to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Apparently, that’s all of you.