Turn an old book into new

 Have you ever found yourself looking at the mountain piles of books in your child's bedroom (or yours for that matter) and wondered where you could store them so you could fit some new ones in?
Its ideal if you have plenty of space or cool storage spaces, and very lucky if you have a book nook. But even if you have wonderful excess space you can still find it becoming overly cluttered, or it may just be time for a change or a good spring clean new look!
Then why not change the room, or add colour!

Books add colour to any room, or revamp a space up and give it a new colourful look that is bright and cheerful.


Some ideas to consider to add colour to your room.  

1. Hang some colorful curtains
2. Paint the bed and the walls
3. Use removable wall decals
4. Add colorful seating or large slouch cushion beanbags
5. Add colorful storage baskets


6. Create a colorful book display, add colorful books.
7. Hang books from walls and ceiling
8. Wallpaper an accent wall with your art
9. Add brightly colored tassels
10. Display a colorful quilt


11. Make a tent
12. Use colorful pillows
13.  Paint or paper the inside of a bookcase

14. Paint or paper craft your journal your sketch books or old books
15. Add a colorful cushion to your bench seating


16. Paint the door and your headboard
17. Add a brightly colored rug
18. Hang a map
19. Display a vibrant painting

What do you do with your excess books

But once you or your child have an excess of books, or books that are tatty, old or just not going to be touched for whatever reason, there are many things you can do to make a difference. You know those books that only ever gather dust. They must either go to a new home, or you make a new book out of them.
 Decide which ones are decent enough to go to a library or a charity shop. Even better to donate to shelters, or places where they can make a difference. Then there may be some decent hardbacks that have been scribbled on, or have a page missing, well if you like creating and arting, turn them into a new working journal. You would cover the inside pages with gesso, then you can paint, stick or blend any amount of colouring mediums to it.
Your imagination is your only limit. See links here on amazing images of colour and how to start building ideas for a new journal out of an old book   colors of the world
                                                                                               journaling -my- journal

Then there will always be the odd few old favourite books that stay with you forever. Those ones you still have today possibly from childhood. The loved books your childhood was made from; your companions of old, trusted and always near.
The good thing about keeping these books, apart from the obvious sentimentality, is the fact that one day you could look through them and realise they are now sought after, a vintage book! Wow, now you will never give it away (well, unless it was worth thousands).
I did find myself with a few vintage children's books and I love them on my new bookcase.
What can be better on a bookshelf than old books and new books together.
Why not look through and see if you remember any oldie books, or see if there are any here you still own.

pinterest.com/KidLiterature/vintage-childrens-books

                                       


Taking stock.

I think it is important in life to stop and appreciate the things around you. So many times we get caught up in our busy, daily lives that we really can forget how much we have accomplished. We are always striving for the next winning line, and hoping to soar over the next hurdle along the way. If as writers (or anything in life for that matter) you are always being hard on yourself or others, (there is something so negative about people who are too busy being good at spotting the downfalls of others, that they can hardly see their own shortfalls) then just stop for a moment and take stock of exactly what you have achieved so far. Do you write for the love of your family, or the love of writing? does it give you pleasure? then if so you are on the right path to success and or contentedness. Why would you want to come to the end of the journey so quickly? Why would you want to miss out on all the fun, learning, and love along the way? Let your story move in its own way and at its own pace.

If you are able to share your stories or any part of your writing, if one person is reading, or one person knows where you are coming from, then you are going the right way. Enjoy every minute of it and make the most of these moments that bring you to a new understanding.
Writing: always seems impossible until it is done.
 Be what you can, with what you have and at where you are.

AuthorKarenEmmaHall

From picture books to Kid literature

We can all remember the time when we first got hooked into a book as a child. Where the magic began.
We may still have that book, or still remember the warm feeling it gave us and the memories it evoked when recalling it back to mind. It is like the first album we bought, never to be forgot. We also must remember the books we loved but can't for the life of us remember what the title was, or who the author was. We just liked the story, and still search for it from time to time through google/good reads. That was how I began on the road to the kid literature community. Through searching for children's books, and wondering how hard it may be for children to find the many wonderful books that are out there, that don't even make it to a bookstore.

 Kid Literature Authors come together only last year to bring you a magic treasure trove of children's lit!
Lit as in literature. From bonny picture books, to captivating and enchanting stories that children will want to read again and again.
Being able to read and write is a must needed basic foundation for knowledge and a building block for family values. This propels us as children into a world ready for discovery. With literacy comes a quality of life that can take us to the far ends of the earth without even leaving our own room. Obviously you can go anywhere in your imagination and to have a book at your fingertips literally is an accomplishment in itself, you have the universe in your hands. 
So a simple basic need in primary school children, learning them to read, is in a way like giving them the world.

Then we can combine the ability of reading to children and showing them how to enjoy a story from a picture book. This is better adapted first in the very early years as babies on your lap with a book to look through, the wonderful picture books that start the whole process off. 
But for some of those children who do not have book loving parents or who were never interested in a book and especially in a time where gaming technology is the new must have in today's society, some may ask- do books still have a place in today's modern society? 
When living at a faster paced lifestyle is it all to easy in the short run to just hand them a gaming console to make your life simpler?  ... 
Well of course these games are a blessing surely when they can keep the kids quiet until bedtime. It has to be so much easier to keep them happy and quiet and out of your way. Maybe we need to stop and think that through.
 There is obviously a lot of plus points that come with console or mobile games and with parental supervision and time allowances certain child friendly games can be fun and  creative. But it is the games that require a higher score and that are not the most suitable for children that can cause problems. If any game gets a hold of your child to a point where they show distress symptoms when asked to put them down, or you see a pattern forming where the child is in their own game/mobile world for a lot of the day (maybe even night) and would prefer to interact with this world rather than family outside of it, then that can be a problem that must be avoided. It is so paramount to allow only certain times for these devices and parents/carers need to be vigilant to prevent distress symptoms from occurring in the first place.
 By making more time for children, and showing an enjoyment in whatever activity they are doing, and always listening to them and being encouraging can be the tools to use to avoid this addictive technology slide and often unsocial behaviour in children. Reading and sharing time with your children and showing them the enjoyment of books should be a big part of their life. Books are needed today more than ever for this reason. If they see you read regular, they are more likely to do the same.
Picture books are the key to introduce young children to more of the world. They can travel to the moon/another planet/another country! They can meet creatures and people they may never know about, and also imaginary animals who can speak and other magical things just as examples. This gives them an appetite to pick up books for themselves eventually. Once they get to the age of 7, 8 and up-over  they may want to read to themselves. 
If you have a young reader (6-10 years) who is reluctant to pick up a book after the picture book stage, or finds it a chore, give them the diary of a whimpy kid then later the dork diaries, for examples and they will find fun laughter and enjoyment and then you can introduce them to more in-depth books like Harry Potter, Jacqueline Wilson, to name but 2 in the kids section of the local book store. It is your job as an adult to make going to the bookstore or library a treat! Go on their Birthdays and Christmas, and Easter, and a Weekend! Why even take them on your own Birthday. And as important as that- let them see you reading them, and also picking your own books. When they bring books home from school, if you show a pleasure when looking through the book, then they will pick up on that, and good habits are formed.
As parents and carers these are the basic and very important things we can do for our children. I had always loved reading to children at home and in the classroom, to bring pleasure through books.


                                                                   Kid Literature 

The Kid literature community started soon after a little research online, and then I realised how hard it was for children to actually find some books, especially indie author books. At that time it seems like the people we want to read our books are looking for us blindly in the dark, children who are still getting the hang of the internet, and lets face it would need to possess a debit card to purchase some pocket money priced e-books for their e-readers/kindles.
 So you have to rely on the people who provide and care for children to download them, so then we need them to be able to find us easy. It seemed like a big task.
Initially I wasn't sure what to look up first online, and like everyone else I had to research many topics related to children's books, as well as promoting and marketing books, and the best key words to use, and many other tips along the way. I kept a list of key words and sentences to refer back too whenever I needed to recall anything. We need a sign online directing children with the words, this is the way to children's books you will love that are not at the top of any list.
And because the majority of the time our books are not placed  in the middle of WHSmith  'book of the week' shelf then the challenge gets bigger.

Most indie authors need to be committed and write for enjoyment and satisfaction. If an author gets to do a school visit with their book that is an achievement. You have to know how to promote your book and market it. 
If you find promoting your book a burden then unfortunately it isn't even the slush pile for you. Even on days when only the slush pile will do. No, you will no doubt will give it up as a bad job before long, as you have to at least enjoy writing and always know that anything else is a bonus.
 Kid Literature came about through the constant dedication and passion for getting more books into the hands of children, amazing books that may never sadly reach them. And to also make children's literacy popular again for everyone and any age.
Kid Literature has a never waning passion for literature and letting everyone know the importance of showing children the enjoyment of  reading.

So the passion grew and we branched out into the twitteraci. 
A community of united-singing-from-the-same-song-sheet people, had no hesitation  in helping build up their group and before long Kid literature was on many other social media sites  online.
It is wonderful to bring authors together and lift spirits, offer moral support for those who have never even written a word but had always dreamed of writing, right through to the successful author.
On twitter we enjoy promoting every kind of creative person, many of your lovely stories and  illustrations, and your idea's, and tips and review feedback. We show articles relating to all forms of literature and we promote up to Young Adult books.

We want to sprinkle the magic about a bit more, right into the hands of children.
 To bring out their enchantment of reading and the wonder of a picture in a book that can inspire many little minds into great minds.  inspire, to make someone want to say read it again! When we hear the magic words, read it again! we know we have achieved so much. So much as parents, carers, teachers and creative inspiring people who decided to put one word in front of another. 
On twitter you will notice us with the handle @kidliterature and the hashtags #kidlit #kidliterature  #amwriting #Mondayblogs 












Facebook links are to be found at the top of this page, as is the founder's page and other social media links.

Are you meant to be a writer?

If you didn't have anything to say, you wouldn't even think about writing, but you do have something to say, and you know it, so should you keep moving forward?

Yes
Because you were meant to be a writer.
 You are only interested in what writers have to say and those who love books. You can't understand anyone who does not read and gets thrills from even the sight of a new book. So you stick with your own species. If you’re a writer, you get inspired, but you also have to take advantage of that inspiration. Go with the flow of your pen or keypad once inspiration hits.
It can get weary when you find yourself always reminding those who interrupt you when working that you write.
 “I have to write” you say a lot to your friends and family. The ones who wonder when you will get a proper job. 

If you’re a new writer, you may not know where to start, or what is the best thing to do, maybe you will go round in circles until it all wears you out.
But If you have to write, you have to write.
If you are inspired to write a novel, then start today. Don’t wait for when you are ready, you are ready today! Even if it is just idea's, odd words jotted down,crazy sentences in the wrong order. Then there is the  messy handwriting notes, (Will you ever remember what they mean when you go back to them?) mad ramblings! Actually this is when you know you are going to write! Start and do it today! 

You really want people to listen to your words, the way you love reading other people's words!
Get it out there today, that little nagging voice always niggling away, and if nothing else, you will be able to relax once all the words that form little sentences then stories are on paper and out of your head!

Make a difference first to yourself, and then to others; yes today! 
  Writing is never a straight path, and when you find what works for you then you are off with the flow! But about that path... it can trip you up.
Then you can learn to look for the other paths too! They are also fun to walk or climb onto, even if at first they seem a little rocky. -Words by Karen Emma Hall

Read about changing your thoughts can change your world.
And how to do it! /your-thoughts-can be changed into productive thoughts.

Do you want to be an author or just a writer?

 Do you want to be an author or just a writer?
Anyone can be a writer, all you have to do is to write.
First start with asking yourself why?
Yes, why and then what is your reason for even starting. What is it you want to do?
 What do you need to share with the world and why? Once this is very clear in your mind, make yourself a note of this.
Then give yourself a journal to refer to write down your reasons and whys and whats. This is a great inspiration motivator tool, so easy and so effective. Write and keep a journal of all your key points and notes you are going to be using and referrign back to a lot.

To become a published author you really need to build up a platform first before anything else.
But what should come first I hear you cry! Should the platform come first, or the writings? You have seen one site which suggests the platform, then another that suggests the writing!
So which is it to be?

Well you may well have been writing for years and only thought of being published. So before you go any further research and look up to read what it takes to become a published author and if you have the drive to keep it going especially in the months and years of waiting and being rejected? can you take this?

Even if you can't, do not let that put you off writing.
Do not be put off if you are only writing for your own hobby pleasure. This is what will actually keep you going on the days when you may feel like giving up. So this is a very good reason for writing initially, you must love writing.
The platform is as much as important as the writing, so if you want to be a published author they are as important as each other and it doesnt matter as much which you start first, as you are going to be doing both every day and building them both up and up and up.
I wouldn't suggest having many novels under your belt before you even look to see what is involved in a platform. Realistically as soon as you know you want to be a published author, reaserch building a platform straight away. Then get started with the basic toold of your platform straight away.
Below is a few key tools you will want to know about and it will also be a good idea to put these into your journal to refer back to.

What is a Writer/Author Platform?

Your  Authors platform is 

 your visibility as an author.

If you want to sell more books or simply get your name out there, a writer’s platform is essential.

The definition of platform, broken down, is your personal ability to sell books through:

Who you are

The personal and professional connections you have

Any media outlets (including blogs and social networks) that you can utilize to sell books

The most common building blocks of a platform include the following:

I will start with the most important block and that it is understanding that it’s about engagement; about connecting and interacting with people who are aligned with your message and affected by your story.

Plan your destination. Knowing where you want to go is the first step in getting there. What are your goals? Who is your current, potential or future audience? What are your short term and long term plans?

A website and/or blog with a large readership

An e-newsletter and/or mailing list with a large number of subscribers/recipients

Article/column writing (or correspondent involvement) for the media—preferably for larger outlets and outlets within the writer’s specialty

Guest contributions to successful websites, blogs, and periodicals

An authors page where you will be visable and can show your track book sales and reviews. Also reviews you have done.

It is important to have a bio, add it to your author page and a goodreads page too. Look to see what other people are seeing, reading. check you have follow up links at the end of your blogs and pages, so your  readers can follow onto a desired power point page ypu wish them to land on. 

Individuals of influence that you know—personal contacts (organizational, media, celebrity, relatives) who can help you market at no cost to yourself, whether through blurbs, promotion, or other means. Be willing to chat and message people, firstly introduce yourself and retweet and share and comment on their sites, pages and blogs. 

Public speaking appearances

An impressive social media presence i.e -Twitter, Facebook, instagram, linkedin, pinterest, goodreads, youtube, google+.

Create your Facebook Fan page. There is a difference between your Facebook profile and a Facebook page. Learn how to create an author Facebook page.  Join twitter and research and read

'Twitter marketing 101 for writers'.

Research hootsesuite and learn to use this.Or a smilar social media management tool that helps you execute your social media campaigns over multiple networks.

Look into joining organizations that support your goals and aims.

Join groups and communities who share/offer advice.

Further down the line another building block is media appearances and interviews—in print, on the radio, on TV, or online

Not all of these methods will be of interest/relevance to you. As you learn more about how to find success in each one, some will jump out as practical and feasible, while others will not. My advice is to choose a few and dive in deep—and don’t be afraid to concede failure in one area, then shift gears and plunge into something else. It’s better to show impressive success in some areas than minimal success in all.

Lastly, know that building a platform takes time.

Presenting your work 
 What you do need to know is how to present your work in the most professional manner possible. While nothing can guarantee that your book will be published, check out all guidelines available for publishing a book beforehand.
 Write, and then write some more. If you haven't written anything yet, now is a good time to start, a few sentences each day will lead onto a few pages before you know it. Just keep writing, anything. Editors are interested in professional finished products. If you're a new writer, editors want to be sure that you have what it takes, unique idea's combined with discipline skill,to not only complete a full-length book, but to edit and be able to change and take things out when needed. Once you have finished your first write up then the work really begins.  Have you got what it takes to have a book published? Let us look at some basic points to consider and research and make a layout of. This will be your basic foundations you will be working from.

Getting back to marketing and your book.
 Know your audience. What is your book about? Who is the intended readership? What age range? Illustrated, children's, young adult, adult fiction. These are questions an editor will ask; being able to answer them will help you choose an appropriate publisher. If your book is a novel, to what genre or category does it belong? Make sure you have one particular genre and then learn that market well. Research it.

 Research the market. Publishers do not just want you to email them to say will you be interested in my book, Instead, they want you to find the right publisher for your book. Find out who produces books like yours. Browse your local bookstore, and make a list of publishers who offer books in your category. If you're writing a children's book, for example, note who publishes books for the same age group or of the same type (e.g, picture, thriller, mystery).

 Do your homework. Look up promising publishers in the current Writer's Market or Literary Market Place in the library reference section. There, you'll find the publisher's address and the editor to contact. Specialised market books are also available for poetry, novels and short stories, children's books, romances, mysteries, and science fiction. Writer's Market also tells you what a publishing company is buying, its rates, and how to approach the editor. For example, some publishers want to see your entire manuscript, others want a query letter outlining your story idea, and still others want a book proposal and a chapter outline. Some accept unsolicited manuscripts; others only accept books from agents. If you need more information, write or call the publisher to request writer's guidelines.

 Prepare your manuscript. These days, editors won't even look at a manuscript that isn't prepared professionally. Print your manuscript on high-quality white paper. Get someone else to overlook your work. Get it proof-read. Double-space your manuscript and leave a 1-inch margin on all sides. Number your pages. Check your spelling  Don't mix fonts, and don't overuse boldface or italics or exclamation marks, try not to repeat words too often too close together.
 Submit your package. Always send the editor exactly what is requested. When emailing manuscripts, go over exactly what they ask for, if they want the first three chapters, then that is what you send, or the first 1000 words, or even just the synopsis. If you are mailing a large manuscript, use a manuscript box. Address it to the correct person, check and use names of the person.
 Include a large stamped, self-addressed envelope.

The waiting game. It may take up to several months or longer to hear anything at all. Longer for entire manuscripts. Because of this reason it is  acceptable to submit your manuscript to more than one publisher at a time. Make sure, however, that each is open to "simultaneous submissions."

 Keep going with the writing While waiting for a response to your first manuscript, get started on your next. Or, build your portfolio with articles, short stories, or other material that will put forward your skills. Start up or keep up your social media platform.


Don't give up. If your manuscript doesn't find a home right away, and nine times out of ten it will not, you just keep trying. Don't take rejection personally; sometimes you are just not in the right time at the right place. just move on to the next publisher on your list. Often it takes time, effort, and many submissions to get published. Successful writers are those who don't quit. The very act of putting your book, article, story or poem on paper places it under your copyright. You can formally declare copyright ownership by typing the words "Copyright, the year and your name on the first or title page of your manuscript You can also substitute the copyright symbol for the word "copyright." It is not necessary to register your work with the Copyright Office to protect it.

Should I get an agent? This depends to a great degree on what type of book you are submitting. Often, you do not need an agent to submit a nonfiction book to a publisher. Check the publisher's requirements first. If you find that a large percentage of the publishers in your chosen genre or subject area require agents, then you should look for an agent first.

Should I publish my book myself? With today's electronic publishing technology, it has become easy and relatively inexpensive to produce your own book. Well-targeted nonfiction books often do well; self-published fiction, however, is very difficult to market. Unless you're experienced in graphic design, it's wise to hire a professional to produce a quality product.
Be aware that self-publishing means more than getting your book printed. It also involves marketing, advertising, distribution, and sales which means setting yourself up as a small business, with all the tax and accounting responsibilities that entails. http://www.wikihow.com/Self-Publish-a-Book

http://readwrite.com/2013/07/22/10-simple-steps-to-self-publishing-your-book-on-amazon


Is it better to self-publishing or go with a vanity publishing house? Vanity presses take your money, bound to you to a lot of rights, take others from you, and give you little in return. If you're willing to pay money to have your book published, do it yourself so that you can retain full control over the process, the rights, and the proceeds. For more information on vanity publishing, see http://www.vanitypublishing.info/
 Publishing it yourself means you get all the satisfaction, all the money, and you are not bound by certain elements and rules. Self-publishing in itself is a whole new business for you to research, it can be very hard to get your social media platform going but also very rewarding if you are dedicated and strict with yourself and have the passion to keep it up.
remember,  a well-written, interesting, original manuscript is what you need, to take it forward in self-publishing, or to a publishers. Even before you think of sales there is so much to do. most of all, ask yourself, so you have the passion and commitment? Do you have skills in writing an original manuscript?
A last word for writers, do not give up at first hurdles, all of those famous authors are only famous because they did not give up. Remember to write because you like to, expect nothing in return and you will be rewarded, surprised or more one day!

                                                           Written by Karen Emma Hall

Someday At Christmas

                   Magical Christmas Past Present and future.

               "Someday at Christmas men won't be boys Playing with                                                          
                        bombs like kids play with toys" -Stevie Wonder

Memories are brought back so easy when you play the songs that were played to you as a child.
I received Motown at Christmas album and The Partridge family Christmas album the year Santa brought me a record player. I played them over and over, especially 'Someday at Christmas', and 'One little Christmas tree' by Stevie Wonder.
Every year I will get them out and dust them down. This year they are still brought out (in fact it was this morning), no need to dust them off these days as it is all digitally mastered, and with one magic click the oldies of yesteryear are brought back into the living room, bringing with it the Christmases of the past. 

My friends were listening to Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' about that time, and Boney M's 'Mary's Boy Child', closely followed by the classic Wham's 'Last Christmas' and Shakin Stevens (aging rocker, wears denim, Elvis look about him) with 'Merry Christmas everyone'!

 I haven't heard it in every shop like usual from Halloween onward, probably because I actually shopped more online this year than previously, due to one of us or the other in our household being poorly.
 Now that I have said that, it will no doubt be the very first song I hear upon setting foot into the forums and malls this week.  
I was all Motown and Partridge family. I loved those songs long before I was  aware David Cassidy or Stevie Wonder were popular.


So what does Christmas mean to you?
It meant family time to me as a young child. 
I put that question to my children and their views are similar to mine as a child. 
Children's views are mainly molded from their own experiences, still young enough to be influenced largely by your parents/guardians and surroundings they grown up in.
My youngest told me that her best friend celebrates Christmas going to church most of the day, and her other best friend (you can have more than one bestie apparently) thinks Christmas is no big deal and doesn't really celebrate Christmas time.
She wanted my opinions on that. 
Hmm
How to put it into words. 

My thoughts were along these lines - Christmas is celebrated so many different ways to some, and not at all to others. Which is right?
Well the plain simple answer is if it feels right to that person, then that way is the right way. 
Do we have the monopoly to tell someone how or even whether to celebrate at all? Certainly not in my opinion. I don't think society should dictate 'this is the done way and any other way is wrong' or feed us information to brainwash us one way or another. Let us be happy, let us celebrate, or not. Let it be our choice.

They say Christmas has the highest suicide rates, because a lot of people feel alone more at this time of year, and see no way out. A time where some have lost loved ones, or don't know where the next meal is coming from. I'm not talking about the Victorian ages here. You could be forgiven for thinking the Victorian age has caught up with us in some ways. Society is more aware of the poor needing care and support these days and not just through the media, but through living it. It isn't just happening to someone else, it is happening to your good friend, or neighbour or you. 
True richness comes not from your income but your outcome, your own out put of a smile or a gesture to offer support or care. Whether it be a kind word on the internet, or a smile to your neighbour or a positive step in getting in touch with someone you have not heard from, for one reason or another. 
Giving a kindness.
It goes a long way, and is the only real richness a person can accomplish and be worthy of. 

So today Christmas* or whatever word you want to put there in its place. means to me, the well-being of mankind.

                                   A world were men are free*

                                   maybe not in time for you and me, but someday....

                                  I hope.

                                 I hope it is in our time.

Imagination -Our whole experience of life is filtered through our minds

 A growing body of research supports what spiritual contemplatives have known for Millennia—that the human capacity for imagination not only shapes our minds but also weaves the fabric of reality itself.- By Gabriel Cohen.

Imagination
Spirituality
Meditation
Neuroscience
Do you have a lemon in your kitchen?
Put this down or a moment if you have, go cut the fruit in half, and squeeze some juice into your mouth. Notice how you react.

Don’t have a lemon? Try this little thought experiment: Imagine that you have one. Picture yourself slicing through the bright yellow rind, exposing the translucent fruit inside. See yourself holding it up, squeezing it, and letting a stream of tart juice splash onto your tongue. Can you feel yourself puckering and salivating—not in your mind’s eye, but in “real life”?

Western thinkers have tended to draw a line between reality—that which we “actually” experience—and imagination, seen as a frivolous, dreamlike diversion. For millennia, though, spiritual contemplatives and artists have taken flights of fancy much more seriously and challenged the firmness of that line. And surprising recent advances in neuroscience, particularly in the field of brain scanning, have added support to their conviction that our imagination and sense of reality are closely intertwined.

In some ways this is obvious. Back in 1928, the sociologists W. I. Thomas and D. S. Thomas conceived of what became known as the Thomas theorem, which states, “If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences.”
 If we believe that little green goblins are hiding in the woods and we change our route to avoid them, then our fantasy has affected our experience.

That may seem like an extreme example, but imagination plays a very real role in our decision making. Just look at the last two US presidential elections, in which one big chunk of the electorate managed to view Barack Obama as a radical socialist, while another saw him as a moderate saint. Both views are heavily based on myth, but they had a real-life effect on how people voted.

Political races are hardly the only arena in which we project goblins into our daily lives. Too often humanity is ruled by superstitions, stereotypes, and tribal prejudices—resulting in all-too-real suffering, violence, and war. The folly of these antagonisms became especially clear when human beings made the first journey into space and saw that the supposedly entrenched divisions between countries were just imaginary lines on a map. As Frank Borman, commander of the Apollo 8 mission, put it, “When you’re finally up at the moon looking back on Earth, all those differences and nationalistic traits are pretty well going to blend, and you’re going to get a concept that maybe this really is one world, and why the hell can’t we learn to live together like decent people?”

YOUR BRAIN ON IMAGINATION
Our mind can run away with us, leading us to act through suspicion or fear, but we can also use our imagination as a tool to change our life—a process we’re beginning to understand through advances in neuroscience.

For centuries, we have envisioned two separate areas of the brain: one that processes the evidence gathered by our senses, and one that spins off into gauzy daydreams. Functional magnetic resonance imaging has helped us understand that these two functions are not as distinct as they seem.

Using MRI scans, researchers like V. S. Ramachandran, director of the Center for Brain and Cognition at the University of California, San Diego, have found that the same cells in the brain light up whether we perform an action ourselves or watch someone else do it—which might explain why some of us find action movies so exciting. But these “mirror neurons” aren’t activated just by the things we see. The effect also occurs when we simply imagine ourselves performing the action.

Talking to a novelist and writing teacher, vivid writing lights up the brain. Recently, I was excited to learn that this is not just a metaphor. In a New York Times article titled “Your Brain on Fiction,” the science writer Annie Murphy Paul surveyed fMRI studies that show that reading about sensory stimuli or physical actions activates the same brain areas that process real-life experiences.

When you read about that lemon at the beginning of this essay, you were activating the same region that would have been turned on if you had actually tasted the juice. There’s more. “There is evidence, “that just as the brain responds to depictions of smells and textures and movements as if they were the real thing, so it treats the interactions among fictional characters as something like real-life social encounters.”

This has a profound import, not only for book lovers, but also for those who hope for a more peaceable planet. Paul cites studies by two Canadian psychologists that show that “individuals who frequently read fiction seem to be better able to understand other people, empathize with them, and see the world from their perspective.”
That doesn’t mean fiction writers should make their work into a gooey project to present characters as positive role models. In fact, I’m often intrigued by authors who create characters who are ornery, difficult, or downright unlikable—a good writer can help us to understand and care about people who are radically different from ourselves and to delve beneath surface differences to the common feelings and thoughts that could bind us together.
It raises the question: if humanity’s embattled factions had to write stories based on each other’s experience, how would that affect humanity’s willingness to wage war?
MALLEABLE MINDS
Imagination can provide us with rich lifelike experiences and give us a powerful opportunity to develop empathy and compassion. But it can do even more: it can literally reshape and retrain our brains.
For ages, scientists have believed that our neural networks become rigidly set and defined in early childhood, but fMRI scanning now reveals plasticity: the adult brain is surprisingly malleable. If, for example, we go blind in midlife, some of our neurons for processing vision can shift to dealing with sound.
What’s particularly exciting is the discovery that focused mental exercise can alter the brain. For example, scans of some of Tibet’s most advanced lamas found that through years of meditation they had strengthened the centers in the brain that deal with such vital life skills as attention, emotional balance, and compassion.
A number of contemplative practices directly recruit the power of imagination to retrain the mind. For many people the Sanskrit word tantra may conjure images of wild sex, but a Tantric practitioner may be more concerned with visualizing a certain deity in order to strengthen her own ability to share in the divine being’s positive attributes, such as patience or kindness.
Of course, contemplation doesn’t have to focus on deities. My introduction to Buddhism started with a simple mental exercise.
What about if you stumble into a Buddhist lecture about dealing with anger. “Let’s say you’re sitting on a park bench,” goes the Buddha teacher, “Now someone sits down next to you and they’re doing something you find annoying, like popping their gum or singing along with the music in their headphones.”
Our first reaction is usually to see the person as an external problem and to blame them for making us angry or depressed. Instead, the teacher asked us to change our thinking. “Imagine that you want to become more tolerant. Then you could say, This is great: Here’s somebody who has come along to help me work on that!”
As the Buddhist author Pema Chödrön argues in her book The Places That Scare Us , “Without the inconsiderate neighbor, where will we find the chance to practice patience? Without the office bully, how could we ever get the chance to know the energy of anger so intimately that it loses its destructive power?”
These teachers showed me that if I can use my imagination to help me perceive situations in a different light, I can turn all sorts of “problems” into constructive challenges—and radically alter my experience of life.
WHAT IS REAL?
The transformative power of focused imagination is central to Buddhist practice, but the Buddha himself was not content to rest there. Late in life, he confounded many of his followers with a stronger, stranger notion.

The teacher of my first Buddhist lecture introduced it simply. He held up a book and asked, “How many of you think that this exists independently of your mind?” Like the others, I raised my hand. “How do you know it exists?” he pressed. Answers bounced back. “I can see it”; “I can feel it”; “I can taste or hear it.”
After some discussion, we realized that the only way we knew the book was there was by interpreting what came in through our senses. The teacher pointed out that this is true of everything in our lives: objects, our friends and families, what we learned in school, everything . Ultimately, Buddhists argue, there is no such thing as objective reality out there.
The point is not a nihilistic one, that nothing exists, but rather that no thing has a detached, fixed identity. Phenomena “do not exist in their own right,” says the Dalai Lama, “but only have an existence dependent upon many factors, including a consciousness that conceptualizes them.” Where I see a “book,” a rain forest aborigine might see only “strange object made out of pressed-together leaves.”
Our whole experience of life is filtered through our minds, and we continually project our own sense of meaning onto people and things. As the Buddha put it, “With our thoughts we make the world.”
In short, our imagination is not an alternative to reality.
Our imagination is our reality.

Imagination in the war against reality.

A home where there are house rules of -  ‘no TV or ipad/games you download' can be rare in these times,  Instead of either being sent outside to play, or mother would talk to you about what you had been up to at school, many children fend for themselves to the point when that is the only thing they wish to do; sit in front of a monitor or mobile phone pressing buttons repeatedly, trying to outdo the highest score.
While getting a sentence out of young children -and that probably being no easy feat, your chats can became a building block to their imagination – a tool that can help you on your way to becoming a celebrated children's author. So chatting and overcoming that barrier where it isn't a burden for either party will pay dividends.It will even become enjoyable.

 So if you do this with your children then by the time they go to university they come home after and recite lectures they found interesting to you and love your opinion.

When the TV is on, there is little or no thinking – instead of talking, everyone just sits around in a vegetative state. Even the smallest discussion about what we'd been up to that day had an impact on our ability to tell stories, and enhanced our relationship.

Imagination improves learning
Developing your child's imagination by encouraging their self-expression, play, even day dreaming, has great benefits to their life. Let them have a green sky and blue grass for as long as they can because then they'll realise it's OK to be a little bit interesting. According to Sir Ken Robinson, an international expert in learning, imagination is the "key driver of creativity and innovation" and helps children to -learn with a greater appetite.

Simple ways to build your child's imagination


Turn off the TV and read to your kids. People spend hours, years writing great picture books and stories, and you might as well utilise someone else's time.

Make up stories together
Making up stories and telling them to the kids is another great way to get your child's creative juices flowing as well as your own. Even if you think you're bad at storytelling it's a way to combine family time and creativity.

"The most important thing to remember is your kids will love you anyway, so they're not going to judge you on your bad storytelling – the fact you're there with them is what they love. They can also help you with the story – give the child licence to come up with ideas and to be part of the creative process. It makes them feel special – ‘we're in it together'.

Downtime without the screen time
Having downtime to play also helps kids to unleash their creativity.
Not video games or watching a movie but to be able to entertain themselves effectively because it makes them think.

"If they go into the backyard or into their room they will find something to do every single time – if they can entertain themselves they've got a friend for life."

Building your child's imagination really comes down to encouraging them to explore the world through their own eyes, and to allow them to think their crazy thoughts without always correcting them if it's not realistic.

"It's having their head filled with ideas. Kids often say things that are really amazing but wrong, but it's how they see the world. Encourage them to do that – let them have a green sky and blue grass for as long as they can because then they'll realise it's OK to be little bit interesting."