A FEW FUN FACTS ABOUT ELLE GREY STORIES
THE GROWING COLLECTION?
When The Values Collection was written, it included the stories; Peer Pressure, Stealing and Words. However, after putting The Values Collection together, these three particular stories seemed to truly stand on their own. They were then removed from The Values Collection and an entirely new Collection was formed just for them. You can also find the stories Judgement, Monsters, and Unique in The Growing Collection!
Elle recently wrote three new stories in this Collection- Reset, Forgiveness, and Stand Together.
This Collection was called The Growing Collection because each of these stories are topics that will need discussing with our children as they grow and face new learning opportunities at different ages. Also, this is the ONLY Collection that will continue to grow every year- with new stories always being added, giving double meaning to the Collection title!
WHAT IS THE "SURPRISE ENDING" IN EVERY STORY ALL ABOUT?
Every Elle Grey Story has been left just as it was originally written for Elle's daughter. However, once the decision was made to share them, she wanted every child to know something special had been written with THEM in mind too! Every story was then given a SURPRISE ENDING, tucked away in every book; words written just for your little one! The surprise ending words manage to somehow enhance the story. "I think sharing these stories and having other families and their children in the thought process of bringing these stories to life has made each one better!!" says Elle.
WHAT IS THE "LET'S TALK" PAGE?
There's a LET'S TALK page at the end of EVERY story - meant to open a dialogue between parent and child by providing questions you can ask of your child; giving you insight as to how they understood it and giving you a launching pad for even more discussion! Each question is written so it can be asked today and tomorrow; again and again- encouraging conversation every time!
This Let's Talk page is from the Elle Grey Story, PEER PRESSURE. Wouldn't it be great to know if our child has already been peer pressured and who did it?! And, what if we could know how they would handle it now, going forward? That's what this page is all about!
IS EVERY STORY WRITTEN IN RHYME?
Before Elle even started writing these stories, she knew she needed to make sure they were fun to read so they would be embraced. She knew rhyming the words would do the trick! EVERY SINGLE Elle Grey Story rhymes, making it so much fun and often times, very funny!
"We all get frustrated at times, maybe even upset. But it never has to ruin your day- at any moment, you can choose to reset!" -Elle Grey from the story, Reset in The Growing Collection
"You can make a choice to be patient, or you could not, but if you choose impatience, you may end up in water that’s hot!" -Elle Grey from the story, Patience in the Values Collection
"Hope is a four-letter word and only four letters makes it very small. But Hope itself ignores this fact and instead stands very tall!" -Elle Grey from the story, The Emotion Hope in The Emotions Collection
"Oh, the voyage of a germ and how it loves to multiply. But did you know, many germs find it quite fun to land right in your eye?!" -Elle Grey from the story, Protection from Germs in The Protection Collection
WHAT AGE GROUP ARE THESE STORIES FOR?
Each story was written in such a way that it could be read over and over, throughout the years. These are not stories our children will outgrow, after all, it's impossible to outgrow life's lessons! Elle has purposely included one or two words in every story are that considered more "mature" words allowing our younger ones to question an adult as to the meaning, providing reason to interact!
The ideal age for many of the stories is between three and twelve years old (depending on the story). But there have been people as young as seventy years old tell Elle they were so grateful to have been reminded of the lesson for themselves and felt the story was written for them!
TELL ME ABOUT THE COVERS...
It's not just the stories that get so much love and attention. Each cover also receives tons of time, attention, and love. Elle loves symbolism and hidden meaning, she always has, so she incorporates so much of the story right into the cover itself. Every cover is agonized over by her, looking for ways to make it better, to bring meaning and a story to it before even opening the book! These stories are all about opening a dialogue between parent and child-she wants to start that dialogue as soon as each story is picked up!
It's fun for all ages! Much of the hidden meaning is understandable to a young reader, while other elements require an experienced in life eye! This makes each one fun for adults and for our kids as they age!
WHY ARE SOME STORIES ILLUSTRATED WITH ANIMAL CHARACTERS AND OTHERS WITH PEOPLE CHARACTERS?
Great observation! The answer is simple really...Because Elle didn't want to exclude any age group. She felt these lessons were too important for a child to, "feel" like the story was too young for them simply because of the illustration. She felt that the animal characters may appeal more to a younger child, while the people characters may appeal more to an older child. Remember, the lesson itself is timeless, but the illustration can make all the difference in the mind of a child. Believe it or not, every story, except for just a few, will be illustrated both ways; allowing you to decide which one would better suit your child!
*Only the stories, MONSTERS, STAND TOGETHER, and JUDGEMENT will not be illustrated with animal characters. Elle felt these three stories, in particular, needed to be only with people characters simply because of the topic.
WHY CAN'T I PURCHASE THE BOOKS NOW?
Good news...The Elle Grey Stories WORDS and PEER PRESSURE are available for purchase on Amazon.com and right here on the website! The rest of The Growing Collection will follow. The remaining collections will come after The Growing Collection in the following order: The Values Collection, The Emotions Collection, and then The Protection Collection.
WILL I BE ABLE TO DOWNLOAD THE INDIVIDUAL STORIES TO MY IPAD?
Yep, whether you have an Apple or an Android based system, any digital story will work beautifully!
WHAT IS AN, "ELLE GREY STORY CONTRIBUTOR"?
*Previously know as an, "Elle Grey Stories World Reader."
This is a special person, that through interaction on Instagram, contributed in some magical way to an Elle Grey Story to make it even better! Maybe they named a character or maybe they offered an illustration idea, etc... They get some pretty fantastic perks as a, "Thank You" for contributing to the creation of the story:
They are given recognition directly in the story.
They also receive a complimentary, signed copy of the story to which they contributed.
And, maybe best of all, they get a twenty percent discount on the first Elle Grey story they purchase from EACH COLLECTION! (Which means, currently there are four Collections, so they would get four books-one from each Collection, twenty percent off!)
Being an Elle Grey Story Contributor is pretty great! Be sure to follow us on Instagram so you can contribute to the stories and become an Elle Grey Story Contributor too!
WILL THERE EVER BE MORE STORIES?
There are currently thirty-nine stories across the four Collections! Once The Growing Collection is complete, illustration work will begin on The Values Collection, followed by The Emotions Collection, and The Protection Collection. Elle plans to continue to write and seek new inspiration from children and their families all over the world! She believes everything in life has brought her to this point-and she plans to continue bringing more stories, within new Collections to the world - More stories to guide, shape, and protect our children!
HOW WILL I KNOW WHEN NEW STORIES ARE READY FOR PURCHASE?
We encourage you to enter your name and email right there on the Home page and go to @Ellegreystories on Instagram. Just go to Instagram, find @Ellegreystories and follow us. You will then receive the updates as the stories progress. Instagram will let you track the progress and truly become a part of our journey as we release original sketches and all kinds of fun behind the scenes pics as we get closer and closer! You can also be sure to enter your email on the bottom of any page of our website and we will email you directly.
A LITTLE WRAP UP!
Some additional, important facts about the books themselves, that we're proud to share!
