The Best Story

The best story is one that comes from the heart. The library is having a contest for the best story, and the quirky narrator of this book just has to win that rollercoaster ride with her favorite author! But what makes a story the best? Her brother Tim says the best stories have lots of action. Her father thinks the best stories are the funniest. And Aunt Jane tells her that the best stories have to make people cry. A story that does all these things doesn't seem quite right, though, and the one thing the whole family can agree on is that the best story has to be your own. Anne Wilsdorf's hilarious illustrations perfectly capture this colorful family and their outrageous stories in Eileen Spinelli's heartfelt tale about creativity and finding your own voice.

Stories have tremendous power. They can persuade, promote empathy, and provoke action. Better than any other communication tool, stories explain who you are, what you want...and why it matters. In presentations, department meetings, over lunch-any place you make a case for new customers, more business, or your next big idea-you'll have greater impact if you have a compelling story to relate. Whoever Tells the Best Story Wins will teach you to narrate personal experiences as well as borrowed stories in a way that demonstrates authenticity, builds emotional connections, inspires perseverance, and stimulates the imagination. Fully updated and more practical than ever, the second edition reveals how to use storytelling to: Capture attention * Motivate listeners * Gain trust * Strengthen your argument * Sway decisions * Demonstrate authenticity and encourage transparency * Spark innovation * Manage uncertainty * And more Complete with examples, a proven storytelling process and techniques, innovative applications, and a new appendix on teaching storytelling, Whoever Tells the Best Story Wins hands you the tools you need to get your message across-and connect successfully with any audience.

How to use the principles of Pixar-style storytelling to meet the needs of entrepreneurs, marketers, and business-minded storytellers of all stripes. Pixar movies have transfixed viewers around the world and stirred a hunger in creative and corporate realms to adopt new and more impactful ways of telling stories. Former Pixar and The Simpsons animator and story artist Matthew Luhn translates his two and half decades of storytelling techniques and concepts to the CEOs, advertisers, marketers, and creatives in the business world and beyond. A combination of Luhn’s personal stories and storytelling insights, The Best Story Wins retells the “Hero’s Journey” story building methods through the lens of the Pixar films to help business minds embrace the power of storytelling for themselves! “Award-winning Pixar storyteller, artist, and writer Matthew Luhn has a message for CEOs, marketers, and business professionals: to capture your audience’s attention, you need to hook them with a great story.” —Seattlepi.com

A witty, fresh romantic comedy, set on one fateful prom night, about two high-schools seniors who can’t quite admit they are in love. Think E. Lockhart meets Katie Cotugno. It’s the end of senior year, and Rose Regnero is over it. She’s over chasing stories for a school newspaper no one reads. Over missing out on “normal” high school life. And most of all, over Grant Leitch: editor-in-chief, former close friend, never-quite-boyfriend. Now all she wants is a typical prom, complete with handsome date, fancy corsage, and dancing to cheesy pop songs. It’s the end of senior year, and Grant Leitch is in denial. He’s in denial about handing over the reins of the paper to an unworthy underclassman. In denial that Rose suddenly, inexplicably quit the paper and now won’t talk to him. But mostly he’s in denial that she is at prom with another guy, and it’s no one’s fault but his own. Grant’s only hope of luring Rose back to him (and the paper) is a juicy story she won’t be able to resist. In the end it takes a toga-wearing prom crasher, an emergency lockdown, a secret stalker, and a wild after-party to bring Grant and Rose together for one last story...and one final chance to admit that they’re made for each other.

CHANGE CAN BE EASY. CHANGE CAN BE FAST. Do you want a new story? Most of us do. We are all looking to shift the stories in our lives. But the question remains: How? This book is the how. A result of thousands of hours of research from the best minds in the field of human potential, Live the Best Story of Your Life harnesses the power of your personal story and provides a guide to creating positive shifts in any area of your life. Bob Litwin, a leading performance coach on Wall Street and a World Champion tennis player, brings you 33 personalized coaching sessions that will help you reach new levels of success on every level of your life. Where therapy fails, his brand of storytelling is a faster, more effective way to lasting change. Live the Best Story of Your Life does not shift what we do, it shifts who we are. It will also show you how to: • Get clear on your old stories and learn to leave them in the past. • Discover the excitement and energy of your new story. • Access the 33 strategies followed by people who always seem to win at life. Are you on the cusp of a brand new story? If you can feel change brewing, if you want that change to be painless and almost instantaneous, Live the Best Story of Your Life is your hand to hold, your private coach, the map you’ve been waiting for to live the best story of your life.

A New York Times bestseller! “These days, it seems more important than ever for books to show young people how to act with thoughtfulness, civility, and kindness.” —The New York Times Book Review When Tanisha spills grape juice all over her new dress, her classmate wants to make her feel better, wondering: What does it mean to be kind? From asking the new girl to play to standing up for someone being bullied, this moving story explores what kindness is, and how any act, big or small, can make a difference—or at least help a friend. With a gentle text from the award-winning author of Sophie's Squash, Pat Zietlow Miller, and irresistible art from Jen Hill, Be Kind is an unforgettable story about how two simple words can change the world. One of Chicago Public Library's "Best of the Best Books 2018"

Pulitzer Prize–winning author Will Durant chronicles the lives and ideas of several key philosophical thinkers throughout history in this informative yet eminently readable text. An essential read for anyone fascinated by the development of Western philosophy.

Five tales. 3-6 yrs.