What happens when a bunch of creative kids tell a story in only actions and sound effects?  A whole lot of space lasers and adventure all interpreted by a volunteer scribe.  Check out an excerpt from one of these weird and wonderful ‘performed tales’:

Patrick was drinking hot chocolate when suddenly his cup turned into a nose!  He saw himself in the mirror and he got scared, so he went to space and was breathing through an oxygen mask.  Patrick felt a loose tooth and wiggled it.  He tied a string to the tooth and tied the string to a spaceship – he hugged his teddy bear – and then the spaceship flew off to the moon and crashed, bringing the tooth with it!

 

Things are in full force here as we prep the launch of our first BIG fundraiser.

Exciting news! Our judges are…the fabulous Charles Spearin (Broken Social Scene), the lovely Sharon Hampson (Sharon, Lois and Bram), the fantastic author, Anthony De Sa (Barnacle Love), Canadian funny man, Ron James and the crazy creator, JJ Johnson (This is Daniel Cook and Dino Dan).

Purchase your tickets HERE!

Every Friday at Story Planet, a new class of fearless writers embark on a collaborative storytelling  journey.  

Our two-hour Alpha workshops are an exercise in communication and spontaneity. Students are invited to open their minds and brainstorm together as they craft one story. The collaboration doesn’t end here—once the story has been realized, talented illustrators such as Eric Kim and Callen Schaub help bring the tale to life by illustrating the kids’ ideas. The final destination of each student’s journey depends on their own unique voice, as endings are written individually. Every writer’s tale (complete with illustrations) is bound into a book to take home.

Recently, we’ve seen quite a few groups of creative intergalactic travelers take part in our Alpha workshops. St. Anthony’s grade 6 class wrote the story of Iron Bob, a thick-skinned fish with a bully on his tail. St. Anthony’s grade 5 writers took us to the world of Ying Yang, a land of light and dark, (and rather useful robot farts). Ogden Junior’s 4’s and 5’s introduced us to Bunny Boy, a bunny who dons a classy suit, even while he’s on the run from a nasty gang of cats. Brock Public’s grade seven class wrote about Buklao, the cloud-fighting clown with a catch phrase to match: “Sorry to rain on your parade”.  The stories continue every week, here at the Story Planet. Stay tuned for more great work from our Alphas!

At Story Planet, we are fortunate to work with people who are not just super talented, but who have a big and open heart. Patrick is one of those people. As a spoken word artist, he is currently inspiring young people here at SP to dig deep – in a safe environment infused with his warmth and humour – to find the poet inside of them.  Follow Patrick here and click on the video on our home page to get inspired yourself!

Our incredible group of Thursday Writers have been busy creating collective stories and fake advertisements.  They are working to produce a completely student-run zine – check back soon for a sneak peak at their final publication!

Story Planet invites young writers and fans of YA fiction to join us for an evening with Kelley Armstrong, author of urban fantasy series Darkness Rising. On March 6^th at 6:30pm, Kelley will be visiting the Story Planet ITA to read from her novel The Gathering.  Following the reading, guests can take part in a question period.  This is a great chance for fans to discuss Darkness Rising with the author herself, and for young writers to chat with a bestselling author.

Reserving a spot is easy: just send an e-mail with your name (if you’re coming with a group, you can include their names too) to Story Planet’s Kaleigh Wisman.

Take part in our Q&A with Kelley Armstrong                                                                           Story Planet is looking for a few special fans to facilitate the question period during Kelley’s visit.  Facilitators will guide the Q&A by choosing whose turn it is to ask a question.  If you’re interested in taking on this volunteer role, we’d love to hear from you.

Join the Live Tweet                                                                                                                Can’t make it to the reading?  Story Planet will also be live tweeting the event.  If you have a special question for Kelley, tweet it to @StoryPlanetITA today!  We’ll be taking questions up until March 6^th, when we’ll be live tweeting Kelley’s answers.  Join us on Twitter March 6^th to read live tweets during the event!

Help us spread the word
You can help us spread the word by sharing this event on Facebook and Twitter.  Do you have questions about this event, or ideas for our next one?  Add your comments to the discussion by using the text box below.

Directions for Intergalactic Travellers                                                                                     Story Planet is located at 1165 Bloor Street West.  Simply hop into your space vehicle and navigate your way to Dufferin Station.  Upon emerging from the station, cross the street and search for the number 1165.  You can also use this handy map to find us!

 

Join us this Sunday, February 17th for a reading of The Stamp Collector and a letter-writing session (when was the last time you sat down to write someone a letter?!). This beautiful book is geared at kids 8 and up, although all ages and families are welcome to attend.

We have opened up two more days of FREE programs. Starting on Monday, Feb 4th, our Art Portfolio session will run for 8 weeks. Grade 7s can dig into their creative talents learning from some wonderful artists while getting a jump on their portfolios for art high school.  January 31st is the beginning of our Thursday Writing Club. For grades 6 to 8, this weekly session is for kids with the writing bug! Launch into creativity!

BlogTO has listed Intergalactic Travel Authority as one of the best new cafes of 2012! A big thanks to our amazing team of ITA volunteers who keep the cafe running, as well as the array of intergalactic travellers that pass through for a cup of Blackhole Brew. Everything purchased at the ITA continues to help to fund Story Planet’s amazing programming, so we hope you will continue to caffeinate yourself for this good cause!

“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.”
– Edith Lovejoy Pierce

All of us at Story Planet are looking forward to the Stories of 2013!