Inspire storytelling with Joseph Coelho's Tiny Tales
About Author
Joseph Coelho's 'Tiny Tales' tell entire stories in just ten words. His latest collection is Tiny Tales of Love, and we spoke to him to find out more.
Joseph is a performance poet, children's author, and former Waterstones Children's Laureate (2022-2024). He grew up in a tower block in London and started writing poetry at secondary school. After studying archaeology at university, his jobs ranged from being a gym instructor to a salesman. Then he discovered performance poetry, and he began to run creative writing workshops in schools and to write plays for theatres.
Interview
Inspire storytelling, writing and illustration with Joseph Coelho's Tiny Tales (Walker Books)
February 2025
Author, poet and former Children's Laureate Joseph Coelho shares his ten-word illustrated story collection, Ten-Word Tiny Tales of Love, and tells ReadingZone how these beautifully-crafted tiny stories can be used to inspire young writers and illustrators. Ten-Word Tiny Tales of Love is the second in the series that began with Ten-Word Tiny Tales.
Review: "This collection of tiny tales will inspire pupils young and old to write their own stories around these themes."
Q&A with Joseph Coelho: Inspire storytelling with Tiny Tales and Tiny Tales of Love
"The Tales came to me in strange and mysterious ways. Some of the tales appeared to me written in stars.
Some of the tales materialised on cold, misty bus windows."
1. Hello Joseph, thank you for joining us on ReadingZone to talk about your Ten-Word Tiny Tales books. What exactly is a Tiny Tale, and why did you want to write a book of them?
Hello ReadingZone it's my absolute pleasure to join you here. The Tales came to me in strange and mysterious ways. Some of the tales appeared to me written in stars. Some of the tales materialised on cold, misty bus windows. Some I heard tweeted by birds after crashing, snarling thunderstorms.
I quickly started to write the ten-word tiny tales down. I believe these tales want to be made much longer. That is why I wrote them down into a book. A Ten-Word Tiny Tale, is composed of just ten words. Just like all the sentences in this slyly crafted paragraph.
2. Your first Ten-Word Tiny Tales book has now been joined by Ten-Word Tiny Tales of Love. Can you tell us about your new book? Are you planning to write more?
The tales in this book are all about the subject of love, love for friends, family members, hobbies and passions. The first book in the series was about a range of subjects but all with a creepy edge. With this book I wanted to share the tales I have discovered on the theme of love.
I have discovered many more ten-word tiny tales on many different themes and I hope to be sharing more of these with you soon.
3. What different kinds of love do you explore in Ten-Word Tiny Tales of Love?
Lots of different kinds of love are explored from the love of dancing and music, the love for those we have lost, the love of hobbies and different passions like painting, familial love and friendship and even romance. It is so lovely to see how differently the illustrators have approached all of these different tales, one thing is certain, bright vibrant colours are present throughout.
4. How hard is it to write a complete tale in ten words? Can you share of the tales from your new collection?
Anyone who has had a go at writing their own Ten-Word Tiny Tale will know it is quite a challenge, but a fun one. The trick is to create a sense of a story with a suggestion of character and setting as well as something a little unusual. My favourite Ten-Word Tiny Tale of Love is...
"As they hugged the deep darkness away the universe expanded."
I love what illustrator Baljinder Kaur has done with this story, it is an imaginative delight as we watch a parent and child atop a huge snail gazing up into a moth-filled night sky.
5. How important are the illustrations that accompany each Tiny Tale? Do you collaborate at all with the illustrators; have they surprised you in their re-imaginings of your tales?
The illustrations are absolutely key in the interpretation of these tales. I normally gather around 40 ten-word tiny tales, these then go to the illustrators to choose their favourite ones. It is often quite interesting that many of the same tales are chose by many of the illustrators.
I am always delighted when I see the different interpretations of the tales done by the illustrators, they so often defy expectations and often take the tale into a completely different direction for instance the tiny tale - "The love he held for his bike made it amphibious" has been realised by Katherine Child in a comic book format that shows a child taking their bike from a depressed highstreet out into nature but as they cycle, their bike starts to transform into an Axolotl. The muted colour scheme is brilliant and so magical.
6. How would you like to see these stories shared with children?
This book has been designed to be used in lots of different ways. A child can independently flick through the book and find tales that speak to them, they can also choose a tale to make longer by following the activities at the back of the book.
The book can also be used in a school or home school setting with a teacher or parent using the ten-word tales and illustrations as models for the children writing their own ten-word tiny tale.
I like to read a tale to a class without showing them the picture and then to ask them what they imagine will be in the picture. When I eventually show them what the illustrator has done they are often delighted and surprised, we then use the picture to inspire a whole new story.
7. How can we use the stories to encourage children as authors - what are your top tips to get them writing for pleasure?
The stories make for great jumping off points for children to start exploring their own imagination. My top tips would be...
1: Use the word generator at www.tenwordtinytales.com by clicking a button you can get three randomly generated words from the book you can then use these within your own ten-word tiny tale.
2: Without looking at a picture, get someone to read a ten-word tiny tale of love to you, then draw what you think might appear in the illustration. Once done you can compare the illustration to your one and then use both to create your own story.
3: Choose a ten-word tiny tale of love with a friend and take it in turns to tell each other the story adding more and more details - who are the main characters in the picture? What do they want? Where are they going? What problems do they need to solve? These questions will help to add a richness to your story telling.
8. Could your tiny tales also be used to encourage children as illustrators?
Absolutely, as well as stories the ten-word tales can be used to inspire illustrations just like the illustrators featured in the books have done.
9. Where are your favourite places to go - or things to do - to seek out inspiration?
I like to visit museums and art galleries and to read as widely as possible. I find that new ideas often come from unlikely places. It is for this reason that I always carry a notebook so that I am always ready when the new idea hits.
10. And finally.... which Tiny Tale of Love will you be sharing this Valentine's?
This valentine I will be sharing this ten-word tiny tale of love...
"My lost valentine card rode the wind to her feet."
But I don't yet know how this story will end.
Ten-Word Tiny Tales of Love: A compendium of spectacularly illustrated tales - a perfect Valentine's gift!
Ten-Word Tiny Tales
