Curved House Kids: Making Books Fun and Empowering for All Children

your own books

We are here!

The Curved House Kids series hit the stores in November 2013. Our books aim to empower and inspire children by allowing them to produce their very own book.

Our fun, tactile, dynamic method allows kids to use their own ingenuity to develop three crucial elements of literacy: Vocabulary Reading Comprehension Visual Literacy Our books are for children of all ages, all abilities and all learning styles.

Write

There are two types of books in our series.

The WRITE books have illustrations but no words, so children can create their own story based on how they interpret the illustrations.

We work with talented, creative illustrators and call upon a panel of teachers, parents and experts to ensure the books have a logical flow and lots of visual clues for the kids to pick up on.

This is visual literacy at its best!

Illustrate The second type of book, ILLUSTRATE , has a story but no pictures so kids can illustrate their own book.

The stories are carefully crafted by talented children’s authors and editors to ensure they contain suitable language, lots of learning tools, and plots and characters that the kids can associate with.

By allowing kids to write their world into a book we encourage a direct interaction with books and a way in to the stories for all kids.

All our books come with...

ER N N A L P re BOOK n how you a e to pla ok Use this pag ate your bo tr s lu il to g goin

a book planner, so the kids can plan their great book!

Tips from authors and illustrators on how to write and draw

So glad this boo ly need a kid k has landed in Y O U R hands beca who L O V E S use got this gre to draw – th at story tha a t’ s y o u , is n’t it? t our friend u to add so Chester wro me pictures te b ut we and make th ow, maybe is your very you just wa own nt to jump ri Or maybe y ght in, in wh ou want a h ic h case, elping hand a few tips fr , in which ca om some re se, ally awesom e illustrators ...

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P L A N , S TA N! adult to help you get sta rted with pla ng to do is te nning your ar out this m book. The iddle part o BOOK PLA f the book, th N N E R on th e en you can o o draw. Ma ther side to work out wh ybe an adu lt at you’re or a brothe ut what to d r or sister ca raw. Don’t w n help you orry if you m e book plan ake mistake ner is for! s – that’s

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GET INSP IRE Good illustra D ! tors draw w hat appears but they als in the story o use their o wn special usually insp style. They’r ired by the e world arou get inspirati nd them. Yo on E V E RY W u can H E R E . Look right now – around you what do yo u see? May wearing a b be your frie aseball cap nd is ? Perhaps th with a huge ere’s a wom umbrella? O an r a bird flyin All of these g in the sky things can in ? spire your d rawings!

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SKETCH It’s time to st art drawing your illustra Lots of illust tions. rators use p e n cil first so th have to wo ey don’t rry about m aking mista do this too a kes. You can nd if you m ake a mista out. And do ke, just rub n’t forget to it draw from drawing is a your heart – good draw every ing if it com es from the heart!

ADD COL OUR When you’r e happy wit h your sketc coloured pe h you can g ns, pencils o o over it wit r crayons. T exciting! Do h his is where n’t forget to it gets really look around colours can you for insp you see? Are iration. Wha there patte use to deco t rns and sha rate your sn p es that you owman? can

5

SHARE Wow, well d one! You’ve just finished your first bo illustrating ok. What no w ? Read it to friends, give your it to someon e you love o photo to ou r upload a r Curved Ho use Kids on www.curve line gallery dhousekids. at c om. You’re a now, so it’s publisher time to share your aweso the world! me book w ith

Lots of places for kids to personalise their books.

I, the illustrator, dedicate this book to:

My Summer Snowman R AV I S W R I T T E N B Y C H E ST E R T I L L U ST R AT E D B Y :

Guidance notes to help teachers, parents and carers get the most out of our books.

And kids can upload their finished books to our online gallery!

Empowering kids to publish their own books!

Books with benefits INCLUSIVE Some kids are good with

words and numbers and others learn visually. These books offer a way for all kids to learn to read, no matter how their brain works, what their level of learning is or how confident they are.

EMPOWERING Books can be scary,

especially for less confident children.

Taking ownership of a book can help those kids overcome their fears.

CREATIVE Literacy is a priority in

mainstream education, but ‘creative literacy’ (encouraging kids to imagine, express themselves freely and explore their artistic talents) is often undervalued. We want to give creative kids a way in to books

FUN AND INTERACTIVE Books

now compete with a huge range of devices and distractions. Our books are interesting, interactive and fun, encouraging kids to read for pleasure.

PERSONAL The statistics on reading are

frightening: only 40% of England’s 10-year-olds having a positive attitude toward reading. Giving kids the chance to draw or write themselves into a real book is a great way to unlock the pleasure of reading.

ACCESSIBLE 14% of children in lower

income homes rarely or never read books for pleasure. We want to change that by making our books accessible for all children.

Events, Workshops and Festivals These books are a fantastic tool for running events for children.

All of our authors and illustrators are creative, vibrant individuals who have lots of experience working with children and we have designed and tested some great event ideas, like this one We covered a whole room in chalkboard paint and wrote a story on the wall that the kids then had to illustrate! It was a huge success.

We’d love to hear from schools, galleries, shops, festivals and anyone else who would like to run one of our events.

Accessibility is at the core of this series and we strive to produce books that make books and reading accessible to all children. The Curved House Kids is proud to support Booktrust’s Children’s Reading Fund, specifically the work they do with children with additional needs.

Kids love our books!

...and so will you!

Contact the Publisher

Distribution (UK/Ireland)

Publisher

Central Books

Kristen Harrison

orders@centralbooks.com

The Curved House

Fax: 0845 458 9912

kristen@thecurvedhouse.com

Phone: 0845 458 9911

Phone +49 17687602770

Mailorders: mo@centralbooks.com