Ten-Word Tiny Tales by Joseph Coelho

Notice the subtitle: ‘To Inspire and Unsettle.’

Colby Sharp mentioned this book as one he read to his fifth-grade class in April. I was immediately intrigued and then I went down a huge rabbit hole where I discovered more and more about this book which I think would be a wonderful stimulus for class writing. Part of my rabbit hole came from investigating the 21 artists who have illustrated this book. I looked for familiar and unfamiliar names and was not at all surprised to see our own Shaun Tan as one contributor.

Bookseller blurb: Is it possible to spin a tale using just ten words? It most certainly is! In this unique and magnificent compendium designed to spark the imagination, Joseph Coelho brings us stories of underwater worlds, demon hamsters, bears in outer space, and portals to places unknown ... all in just ten words! Each tale has been paired with one of the finest illustrators working today – and, together, the words and pictures will create a space for creativity as young readers imagine how the story might unravel. They might even be inspired to pen a ten-word tiny tale of their own!

Here is a list of the illustrators (my links take your to their webpages): Alex T. Smith, Camilla Sucre, Chuck Groenink, Daishu Ma, Dapo Adeola, Dena Seiferling, Flavia Z. Drago, Freya Hartas, Helen Stephens, Julia Sarda, Katie May Green, Karl James Mountford, Maja Kastelic, Mariachiara Di Giorgio, Nahid Kazemi, Raissa Figueroa, Reggie Brown, Shaun Tan, Thea Lu, Yas Imamura and Yoko Tanaka.

On this blog I have talked about books illustrated by Alex T Smith; Dena Seiferling; Karl James Mountford; Maja Kastelic; Mariachiara Di Giorgio; Nahid Kazemi; Shaun Tan; Yas Imamura; Yoko Tanaka; and Julia Sarda - just pop their name into my search bar. I want to especially mention Yoko Tanaka who illustrated Sparrow Girl - a favourite book of mine and also her wordless book Dandelion's Dream. You could also explore some of these illustrators on the Let's Talk Picture books web page. I would LOVE to see Here and There by Thea Lu - it looks amazing but of course it is way too expensive here in Australia. 

My question (after watching these fifteen minute videos) is how Joseph Coelho assigned the stories. Did the illustrators pick the one they wanted to work with or did Joseph just send each illustrator one random ten-word tale. If that is the case, then somehow Shaun Tan ended up with the perfect text. 

"Every year they honoured their son by decorating his skull"

What comes into your mind with this ten-word tale: "My splintered oars are lost as my boat speeds onwards." Now click here to see the illustration by Alex T Smith. 

Here are some other ten-word tales:

• We watched the teacher lead the children through the portal.
• "Invite me in," she says outside my tenth storey window."
• The fisherman's catch is full of astronaut suits and skeletons.
• The diver swims into the carnival: radio contact is lost.
• The second giant’ who ‘cam crashing out of the white cliffs.
• They say they can’t see me, and now they’re fading

" ... this is a book for older children to pore over and let their imaginations flower. With twenty-one different illustrators representing many styles, media, and settings, each of the spreads stands apart so viewers can concentrate on a single page or read the book through for a disquieting experience." The Horn Book quoted by the publisher.

I don't usually talk about books I have not actually opened, touched, experienced - but this one just seems SO good and I have seen many of the pages and watched several of the videos between Joseph Coelho and his illustrators that I feel I can share this book here. I have popped it onto my own enormous shopping list but I might wait for the price to be reduced a little. 

Invoking multiple dimensions in his notes to readers and the tales themselves, Coelho invites illustrators to consider interplanetary space, undersea caverns, and realms between. The interplay of words and resulting double-page spreads—at turns, inexplicable, sweet, or sinister—evokes the work of Edward Gorey and Chris Van Allsburg. Kirkus

In the classroom, this would be an amazing tool to help pupils unlock their creative writing skills. The blank page is often the enemy of the writer however given a ten word tale and the amazing illustration which accompanies it, a young writer would be able to add their imagination by expanding the story. They would be thinking about the character development, what happened before, after, scene description and so much more. Reading Zone

Writing ideas page from Ten-word Tiny Tales

You will want to pair this with the wonderful predecessor by Chris van Allsburg. I once owned this book in the form of a set of charts - I gave them to a teacher - I hope she has made good use of them: