In addition to our client work, we often come up with ideas for personal projects that we’d like to pursue and develop. This month we’re pleased to announce our first Kickstarter project, developed in collaboration by Li’l Robin’s Anke Stohlmann and her husband Richard Baker, and inspired by their daughter, Luna.

Luna loves stories, and when she was younger Anke and Richard told them to her all the time—in the morning, on the train, over dinner, at bedtime. But sometimes they found it challenging to tell a captivating story on the spot—coming up with a funny, mysterious or whimsical plot on demand is hard. (Luna may be Anke’s toughest client.)

Thus we’ve created Li’l Stories, a series of cards that stack the deck, so to speak, with elements—characters, locations, and objects—for the start of a good story. The cards are tools for parents to help make storytelling a little easier and a lot more fun. We’re launching the project via Kickstarter, and our supporters will be able to contribute their own ideas for cards in the series.

The Li’l Stories cards are designed to provide you with inspiration for unique and interesting narratives. Each card in the series has an illustration on the front (drawn by Richard Baker), and 10 “facts” on the back that provide additional information and ideas. We chose themes that inspire new stories and may also trigger a memory, so you can weave both into your tale and take it in new, personal directions. Base your story on a single card or combine it with others for more unusual twists. Or try trading cards with your child and swapping stories with your li’l one. The possibilities are endless.

The initial four sets of cards include:
Awesome People: Amelia Earhart, Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King, Jr., Abraham Lincoln
Cool Places: the Eiffel Tower, the Egyptian pyramids, the Statue of Liberty, the Taj Mahal
Great Animals: an elephant, a lion, a monkey, a penguin
Mysterious Objects: an air balloon, a bicycle, a steam engine, a telephone

Each category is literally one card short of a deck: we’ve saved the fifth and last card in each set to be adopted by a Kickstarter supporter who will have the opportunity to select the featured theme.

So what was Abraham Lincoln doing at the pyramids with an elephant? What did Amelia Earhart see at the Statue of Liberty? How does a monkey talk on a telephone? The rest of the story is up to you.