Cover Reveal: The Story Pirates Present – Stuck in the Stone Age by Geoff Rodkey, ill. Hatem Aly

When I lived in New York City I cultivated the usual roster of brigands, ne’er do wells, shifty eyed squatters, and general layabouts. In other words, actor friends! One of them, a good one, joined at one point with an organization called The Story Pirates. And though I never saw them perform in my particular library system, I heard that when they did they were quite popular with the kids and parents. Founded originally in 2004, these days they visit schools and go all around the country performing. Performing what exactly? Well the general gist is that kids submit their stories and then the Story Pirates perform those tales. I’m old enough that I remember a television show from the 1980s that actually had the same premise and that ran on PBS, though the internet is disappointing me today and I can’t find the name of it. But I digress. The point is that The Story Pirates started small and now they’re so popular that they’ve branched out into a whole new arena.  They’re making books.

Last year the group held a contest for the kids. The challenge was for the children to write a story that could be taken by fabulous author Geoff Rodkey (you still haven’t read The Chronicles of Egg?!?) and turned into a full-length book. Not only that, but the illustrator would be Hatem Aly. Does that name sound somewhat familiar? I bet it does. Ever heard of a l’il ole Newbery Honor winner called The Inquisitor’s Tale? Who illustrated that exactly? That’s right. Finally, there’s a section of the book that’s filled with tips and tricks about how kids can write their own stories.

Now for the cute part. The kid who wrote the winning idea? Here’s a video of him finding out for the first time:

I’m such a publishing nerd that the high point of the video for me the when we get to see what the Rodale publishing offices look like.

So here it is, folks. The one. The only. The new cover for Vince and Geoff and Hatem’s newest book:

Thanks to Jason Wells and Rodale for the reveal.

Filed under: Cover Reveal