Ten-Word Tiny Tales: To Inspire and Unsettle

Praise

A global roster of 21 distinguished illustrators contributes imagery for Coelho’s cryptic 10-word stories. Invoking multiple dimensions in his notes to readers and the tales themselves, Coelho invites illustrators to consider interplanetary space, undersea caverns, and realms between. . . . Twisty, playful fun.
—Kirkus Reviews

Each tale is thought-provoking and guaranteed to elicit questions and debate. An afterword encourages readers to illustrate and expand a tiny tale, offering additional prompts and questions to help would-be writers tap into their creativity. . . this will engage sophisticated readers and be welcomed by creative writing classes.
—Booklist

Laughter, puzzlement, shivers—10-word morsels from U.K. children’s laureate Coelho, each illustrated by contemporary artists including Raissa Figueroa, Júlia Sardà, and Shaun Tan, evoke a startling panoply of thoughts and feelings. . . . Various artist contributors take different tacks in visualizing the lines, many developing the concepts. . . . Front and back matter detail the book’s beginnings and suggest using the tales as writing prompts, inviting readers to expand, create, and let their pens and imaginations soar.
—Publishers Weekly

In an exercise destined to end up in language arts classes, author Coelho teams up with twenty-one artists to create ten-word short stories. . . . There’s really not a dud in the bunch; from humorous to scary to melancholy, there’s something here for everyone, meaning readers of all sorts can follow Coelho’s writing tips in the front and backmatter to create and expand upon their own tiny tales.
—The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Illustrated by twenty-one accomplished artists from around the globe, each of the twenty “tiny tales” gives the reader just enough in word and picture to generate curiosity and discussion. . . 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

Mr. Coelho’s sentences have an eerie quality that is likely to please children ages 7-10, though most of the artwork steers clear of anything downright ominous. The exception, and by far the book’s most striking piece of artwork, is a painting by Shaun Tan himself, made to accompany the line: ‘Every year they honored their son by decorating his skull.’ . . . It is an arresting scene—and, as Mr. Coelho will have hoped, almost impossible to regard without wanting to make up a story of one’s own.
—The Wall Street Journal

The subtitle of this slender volume by U.K. Children’s Laureate Joseph Coelho says it all: ‘To Inspire and Unsettle.’ Gorgeously illustrated by 21 artists, these 10-word snippets of stories are strange, eerie, evocative and absolutely enchanting. The book is a provocation to young (and old) writers and artists, an invitation to take the seed of an idea and let it bloom into something beautiful and new. Anyone who reads it will come away with some favorites.
—The Virginian Pilot

One of my favorites of 2023! Poet Laureate Coelho created a bunch of spine-tingling stories using just words and I am so here for it. . . . Working with educators, however, leads me to my favorite parts about this book: it will inspire young creators to imagine their own stories, illustrate one of the tiny tales in their own style, or take a tiny tale and grow it.
—Lorie Barber, Anderson’s Bookshop