This was a great book full of amazing story ideas! I will definitely be using some of these with my students! Whatever I can do to help their creativity and writing grow!

Thank you NetGalley for the early copy of this book. I really love these prompts and think it would be a great resource in classrooms.

As someone working in Education, I was instantly intrigued by Stories Without End. I am always on the lookout for new and creative ways of engaging students by making learning both fun and approachable. After reading the description, I knew this book could do just that. The activities included with each story help students to feel more engrossed in the reading and eager to write their own story. I am always a fan of anything that gets kids excited to read and write!

I loved, loved the concept of this book. While I am not a teacher myself, I am always on the lookout for creative ways to encourage my kids to read, comprehend their reading, and write more. This book provides a way to do all of that in one neat package.
The idea of this book is straight-forward - an open-ended story along with a before you read section to prepare you (with vocabulary words and discussion questions), an after you read section that includes additional discussion questions followed by projects that students can work on based on the story they have read.
The questions and projects allow for critical thinking skills and a lot of creativity to come into play, making this a great resource in classrooms.

Notes:
I would preread the stories to ensure they are appropriate for the intended student audience, as there were a few I would not have my younger middle-grader read.
The book was written primarily to use with ESL students but can be accommodated for any and all students by selection and making some creative updates on part of the teachers using this book.

In Summary: A great teaching and learning resource; one that I know I will be glad to use at home for my kids, and for myself!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the eARC of this book. A long overdue review, but one that includes my honest opinions.

It’s rare to find good resources to use with my multi-cultural groups of Adult Literacy students, so I was delighted to receive a review copy of ‘Stories Without End’. The idea is simple – you get the first part of a story and you have to finish it. Sapp also includes starter activities on vocabulary and discussion, and after-reading questions to check understanding and get the creative juices flowing. Of course, I preferred some topics to others. Some I felt were better aimed at younger students and others might be culturally inappropriate for some of my learners. But there’s still several chapters I can ‘pick-up-and-use’ and others that may still give me ideas for class activities. So useful is this book that, in addition to the review copy, I bought myself a copy to use at work. I recommend it to English teachers of all kinds.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC .

Short stories that get one asking 'what if?' and helps you to continue writing the story giving it the ending you desire. I loved the exercises, it helped kick start my flow of writing.
Thanks Netgalley for the eARC.

I loved create your own ending books as a child and this book is even better than those. Stories Without End engages students through very short but intriguing stories which leave space to create your own ending. Each story has introductory questions and vocabulary activities, and is followed up with discussion questions. This book is a very flexible resource which can be used for many different types of creative writing or discussion assignments.
Great resource!

*I received an advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for my honest review

This book contains 24 open-ended stories meant to inspire students who may benefit from guided prompts. I reflect back on my time teaching English. I had my students begin class with a few minutes of writing in their journals. Most days I offered a simple question or prompt, because I learned when I gave them a chance to write about anything, too many of them ate up too much of the time stymied with what their topic should be.

In Stories Without End, there are two options available: short and mid-length takes, organized accordingly. Each begins with a short Before You Read section, a vocabulary exercise, the writing prompt, then some After You Read questions and a Projects section. The 15 short takes run 500 words or less and are more general. The 9 mid-length takes can run up to 2000 words in length and are to be used to stretch students to create more detailed stories. Additionally, there are supplements to close the book; they are created to expand any of the open-ended exercises into other creative ventures.

The topics can be imaginative, but I admit the execution was below my expectations. Enter this text with an acknowledgement that there has been a lot of preparatory work with brainstorming questions and continuing projects along with stories that might engage the students, although they're below the written quality I would have preferred to recommend to my classroom. The longer takes read better due to the details, but sometimes they read as a short story, not needing any expansion.

While this collection may be geared to ESL students, any writing classroom could benefit from this resource, with two qualifications. First, in my classroom, the time spent journaling was brief, and these exercises can be more time consuming. I suggest, if using this outside of an ESL room, to stick with the reading prompt alone so children can continue the story. Otherwise, time outside of the classroom would need to be used if a more thorough writing project is expected or the vocabulary and supplementary projects are going to be pursued.

Second, although it would take slightly more work on the teacher's part, one could pare down the story to its essentials to give the students even more guidance (for instance, in "The Glass is Half..." prompt, instead of reading out the text, summarize it by offering, "There are two friends, one eternally optimistic, the other forever pessimistic. Write about a typical outing they might have together").

I received a free digital advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book was well written and very fun to read. The characters were great and I enjoyed the world building. The author does a great job at introducing the characters and moving the plot along. There were a few things that I didn't like, but it wasn't enough to really sway me one way or the other. It's definitely a story that I can get lost in and both feel for the characters. It is definitely a go-to novel that I highly recommend to anyone who loves a great read. Definitely a highly recommended read that I think everyone will enjoy.

Stories Without End
24 open-ended stories to engage students in reading, discussion, and creative writing
by Taylor Sapp
Alphabet Publishing

Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles
Middle Grade , Reference
Pub Date 23 Apr 2018


I am reviewing a copy of Stories Without End through Alphabet Publishers/ Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) and Netgalley:

This book includes twenty four open ended stories for students to discuss and expand upon in the classroom or homeschool setting. They cover a variety of topics. Fifteen of these stories are shorter mainly under five hundred words, and nine are mid length ranging from 500 to 2000 words. The discussions at the end of the stories allow for discussion and critical thinking skills to come into play.

The stories in this book are great for ESL students who are just beginning to master the English language.

I give Stories Without End five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

These creative writing exercises for kids remind me of the “choose your adventure” books, except the kids to get to write/finish their own story. With all of the prescribed five paragraph essay requirements for kids in school these days, it’s refreshing to see more organic teaching methods and prompts for kids to get their creativity flowing. I especially like the “After You Read” sections after each story. Great idea for a book!

Fascinating book on teaching reluctant readers how to write. Contains stories meant to be expanded with vocabulary and intriguing questions on which ending they would prefer.

Every classroom should own a copy of this book. Heck, All of us who journal or write for ourselves should won this book! I love the idea of story prompts. They come in really handy when you hit a writers block. This books has loads of story prompts to use with students in a class or just for yourself for inspiration. I am sure I will add this one to my to buy list in the coming year.