The Storyworld Box: Create-A-Story Kit Cards – August 10, 2010

This set introduces you to StoryWorld, which was made with considerable care.These are large, durable cards used to tell a story. It is recommended that you deal out several cards and those would be the impetus for a story for children and adults that still have childlike (not "childish") imagination. Once shuffled, you never know which cards will "come into play" and you use your own imagination and skill to craft an entertaining story. I highly recommend this, as each time you can have a totally new and exciting experience. If you're an "amateur fantasy writer", this could very well be a tool to help you around "writer's block."

The idea of offering characters on cards instead of a pre-conceved story is a wonderful help for writers. We can find the name of the character, its general characteristics, a picture very richly detailed, and a few questions at the back which are meant to help you begin a story for your child, and the picture that your child looks at helps him/ her participate to the story through imagining or asking questions about the picture.It's a wonderful and very helpful set, which easily helps you find your way to your inner imagination. It guides you more than tells you how to do things, imagination is stimulated through vision, touching and listening (if you are asked the questions that are written at the back of each card), it's a co-creative story that emerges, I can only praise it!

I really can't say enough about the Storyworld Cards (this original set and all the add-on sets as well). The illustrations are gorgeous, the details are amazing and there are so many little details on each card that I don't think we'll ever run out of new ideas for storytelling using these cards. I use them to tell my daughter stories and she uses them to tell me stories. She is even working on a larger story using many cards as a writing project for homeschool. Very, very fun!!

I got these for my grade 5 classroom and can't wait to use them. Wonderful colorful illustrations and good questions on the back of the cards to get the story-writing creative juices flowing. I know the kids will love them! Fun writing for the end of a long very structured school year! These would also be terrific "If You Are Done With Your Work" activity the rest of the year.

So I just purchased the base set of Storyworld cards for my son's first oracle. They're very big - I was expecting them to be over-sized and I still went, "Ohhhhh, BIG cards!" when I opened the box. The booklet that comes with them doesn't explain any of the cards and just details some storytelling games that can be played with them, which we will probably do as a creative exercise, but the cards are such strong fairy-tale archetypes (The Enchantress, the Spindle of Loss, The Wild Beast, the Magic Mirror) that I don't think we'll have any trouble understanding. Looking forward to the Haunted House expansion!This deck smells like new books, which is pleasant and fitting. The cards are about 3in x 5in, HUGE, bigger than my hands! They're super-glossy, slippery, and fan beautifully, but they're a bit hard for the boo to handle with his tiny paws. Lightweight, I worry about how they'll stand up to extended shuffling and fortune-telling use, but I suppose we'll see.There are forty cards in the basic deck. They're brightly colored and easy to read, plus the text on the back helps add a little identity. However, the lack of a back design does mean you can't look at the cards from either side without instantly knowing which card you're looking at. Drawing blind will take a bit more effort. The text also contains questions which are meant to germinate story ideas, but I think could be handy to aid their use as an oracle. Any child with a good background in fairy tales should find the Storyworld cards easy to recognize and read.

Good way to start inventing stories the cards contain questions that make the story teller move forward but not in a specific direction. Very good.

I love the idea and the execution of the set. However, several of the cards leans to heavily on occultist imagery and ideas. I removed several cards that I felt uncomfortable with. Otherwise it is a beautiful set.

I purchased two sets of these to help with a story telling workshop that i was running. I gave each participant 4 cards and asked them to use them as a basis for creating a story. The cards come with a little booklet which gives you some ideas on using them as an individual or as part of a storytelling game. The book is a bonus, but the real treasure here are the cards themselves. Each of the 40 cards in the pack is beautifully illustrated. There is enough imagery on each card to create a story in itself, there are also useful words and suggestions on the back of the card to help you get the story started.. So I could easily have got stories from giving out just one card. I have used these cards to give me ideas to kick start my own stories, and I have picked a few cards and told night time stories from them to my 3 year old. There are a few varieties of story telling cards around, and I would not hesitate to recommend these ones. They are slightly larger than others i have seen (larger than playing cards) but this just gives more space to view the wonderful image on each one. A great buy.. and one i shall continue to use

I can't rate these cards too highly (and have bought two other sets in the series to follow up as birthday and Christmas gifts!)They were first recommended to me by a teacher, who has been using them at school.This set of gorgeously illustrated cards comes with a little book explaining ways of using them, but we dove straight in! My little girl has Autism and she loves poring over the pictures and telling stories about each character. We spread them out on the floor and she chooses six of them and let's her imagination take flight, telling - and often - writing long, flowing stories about these characters and their wonderful adventures. The illustrations are so detailed that she has no trouble describing them and she loves searching them for other little details often hidden in the background...These cards would be suitable for young children up to any age! I love them and use them to make up bedtime stories for her - guaranteed no two the same!We have used them to talk about the pictures and people, feelings, places, clothes, jobs, etc.Thoroughly recommended!

Having read the reviews I decided to buy these. The illustrations are just beautiful and put the usual kind of basic story start cards in the shade. I bought this set to take to school to help my pupils with creative writing, but my daughters liked them so much they want to keep them so I now need to buy more! A really lovely idea. You could start a story with just one of these lovely cards. There are lots of little objects in each picture so there is so much just in one picture. The cards are a good size and the little questions on the back can help to fire the imagination.

Thanks

This was bought on a whim, after my daughter mentioned 'magical' cards used at school in English lessons. They were given to her for her 10th birthday, and she pronounced them the 'best present ever'. The pictures are beautiful, and act as inspiration for imaginative minds. She loves writing stories, and these Storyworld cards have stimulated even more writing. I really recommend them; they make a wonderful present, and are destined to be treasured for the future as well.