Short Stories
Flaco Flies Free!
For some time now, I’ve been writing children’s stories for a company called Chapter One. (I talked about it in a few previous blog posts. You can read one of them HERE.) And you can find my stories on the Chapter One website, in the Global Free Library section, which is an online collection of stories and materials that celebrate the world’s diversity.
In my latest Chapter One story, I paid tribute to a great New Yorker. Who is this icon of the Big Apple? Is it James Baldwin? Stephen Sondheim? Whoopi Goldberg? Martin Scorsese? Nope! None of the above. Give up? It’s Flaco the Owl. The story I wrote is called “Flaco Flies Free,” and it was illustrated by the incredible Arantza Valdivia. You can read it right HERE.
And if you scroll down on that page, you can also see a few of the other Chapter One stories I’ve written.
Here’s the official description of “Flaco Flies Free,” from the Chapter One site:
“The story of Flaco the owl, who fled his enclosure in the Central Park Zoo and was determined to survive on his own. In doing so, Flaco has behaved like a classic New Yorker and attracted legions of fans.”
I’ve also made short videos for all of the Chapter One stories I’ve written. In these videos, I explain what inspired me to write the story in question. You can see the “Flaco Flies Free” video once you scroll down after reading the story of the same name. But you can also see the “Flaco” video right here:
And while you’re on the Chapter One site, feel free to also check out the landing page for the Global Free Library.
I Wrote One of the Stories In Yoto’s 5-Minute Holiday Stories Collection!
Happy Holidays! Hey, speaking of holidays, guess what? I wrote a Hanukkah story for Yoto’s 5-Minute Holiday Stories collection, which is out NOW!
The story I wrote is called “The Dreidel Thief”! In it, Allison plays detective as she tries to find out who took her family’s dreidel. Will she solve this mystery? Download the story or purchase the story card to find out!
Here’s Yoto’s official description of the 5-Minute Holiday Stories collection:
Marvel at the magic of the holiday season in these five stories about winter celebrations: Diwali, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and New Year’s.
Experience the magic of the season with our heartwarming collection of winter holiday stories: help twins Gautam and Trevir choose the perfect Diwali gift for their Dadima, join Detective Allison as she hunts for the thief who took her family’s dreidel, find a last-minute Christmas tree on Christmas Eve with Bif the Bear, go on a Kwanzaa-themed scavenger hunt with Tia and Tyreke, and help Bella the New Year’s Eve ball countdown to the New Year!,,These stories are guaranteed to fill your heart with the spirit of the winter holidays.
Written by Joe Vitale, Taeryn Booker, Arie Kaplan, and Sanjeev Sirpal
But wait, there’s more…
I have also written two Christmas-themed children’s books, both of which came out earlier this year. The first one is The Gremlins Little Golden Book, which was illustrated by Meg Dunn. It’s out now from Penguin Random House. As you may have guessed, The Gremlins LGB is an adaptation of the classic 1984 film Gremlins.
And the second one is The Nightmare Before Christmas Paper Models Book, which is out now from Thunder Bay Press. This book is filled with behind-the-scenes anecdotes and trivia about the making of the classic 1993 movie The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Purim Panic!
Recently, I’ve been writing short stories for a company called Chapter One. You can find my stories on the Chapter One website, in the Global Free Library section, which is an online collection of stories and materials that celebrate the world’s diversity.
One of the stories I wrote for Chapter One is called “Purim Panic,” and since it’s Purim, I figured it’d be a good idea to mention it.
“Purim Panic” was illustrated by the wonderful David Concepcion, and you can read it right HERE.
I’ve also made short videos for all of the Chapter One stories I’ve written. In these videos, I explain what inspired me to write the story in question. You can see the “Purim Panic” video once you scroll down after reading the story of the same name. But you can also see the “Purim Panic” video right here: