Storybuilders makes imaginations come to life

Ever heard of Special Agent Zebra Paddock?

No relation to Paddock Publications, but instead the whimsical name was created by a 9-year-old Crystal Lake girl after she read “Spies, Inc., The Story of Dash Danger.”

The book has activities pages that accompany the narrative, including one on creating a spy name by mixing and matching familiar items listed in two columns.

“It's basically a combination of my favorite animal and my street,” says Therese Carlson, who has discovered a newfound love of reading after picking up the spy book.

“She didn't really like to read before, but with all the activities in this book, it sparked her interest,” says her mother, Jamie. “I think she's turned the corner.”

That comes as music to the ears of former reporter Carolyn Starks, who launched her publishing company, Storybuilders, to entice more tweens to read.

“I was worried about my own daughter's reluctance to express herself in writing,” Starks says, “and her fine motor skills that weren't very strong.”

And then a light went on: She watched her daughter snuggling up on the couch one day with an interactive, do-it-yourself book, that encouraged her to journal, right along side of the pages.

“That's when I found the key that unlocked the puzzle,” Starks said. “I knew in order to interest her, it had to be something funny --- that didn't feel like homework.”

When her McHenry County news bureau closed up in 2009, it left Starks with a feeling of relief, she says, and suddenly free to pursue a secret dream of creating something “good.”

For the last year, Starks has worked with her husband, Daily Herald photographer John Starks, to start the publishing company. Their goal was to create witty, engaging books for preteens that encouraged them to express themselves right along with the story.

Using John Starks' ability as a photo technician, readers can personalize their own book, as Therese did, by incorporating a customized photo on the back cover, and they are encouraged to contribute to the storyline as well.

In Therese's case, her photo also appears in disguise --- presumably as Agent Zebra Paddock -— with a hat, big glasses and a mustache.

“I loved it,” Therese says.

Storybuilders' first title was written by Carolyn Starks' journalist colleague John Keilman and illustrated by Steven Ravenscraft and Rick Tuma. Going into the holidays, its sales were tripling every month.

“I've written thousands and thousands of newspaper stories, but I had never written a book before,” says Keilman of Elmhurst. “It turned out to be much harder than I thought.”

Starks helped him get started by suggesting a spy book for his first one, and with plenty of interactive activities built in, like code breaking and other engaging exercises for young readers.

Going into it, Keilman turned to some valuable resources: his two school-age children, and his mother-in-law, a former elementary schoolteacher who had plenty of ideas on writing exercises for young readers.

Keilman wrote the book as a “story within a story,” with the hero, a fifth-grade boy, reading a fictional spy book about Dash Danger, while tackling his own mystery caper, when the class bully sends him on a mission to steal a secret cupcake recipe from the lunch lady.

The young hero consults his favorite spy book for advice, but that's where the readers come in. They read over the shoulder of the young hero and contribute key elements to solving his dilemma. For instance, the reader can create a cool spy name, map out a plan, design gadgets and develop a secret code.

“I wrote the stories in tandem,” Keilman says, “so that the plot would advance together. So when the fictional spy gets caught, the fifth-grader gets caught by the lunch lady, but now he has an idea about how to react.”

Starks likens the book to a three-dimensional exercise that she believes is key in reaching today's young readers.

“The child can make the story their own,” Starks says. “The story stops and asks the reader to help out with some ideas.”

It also includes 100 ruled pages at the end for the reader to create their own spy adventure.

“Getting children to read and write is often a daunting, nagging task,” Starks says. “Our mission was to create books that reluctant and ravenous readers couldn't wait to get their hands on.”

What: Spies, Inc: The Adventures of Dash Danger, an interactive book for second- through sixth-graders that prompts them with activities throughout.

Cost: $14.95 or $19.95 for the personalized version with a photo on the back cover of the intended reader.

Online: storybuildersbooks.com