Harness the Power of
Storytelling
to Improve Behavior

Remember when stories had morals? "The moral of the story is..."

"The Tortoise and the Hare" taught that diligence is rewarded. "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" warned of the dangers of dishonesty.

In the old days, many stories depicted danger around every corner.

Times have changed. We now have the luxury of concerning ourselves with our children's success, rather than merely their survival.

Good stories teach good behavior. Bad stories teach bad behavior.

Action. Sex. Violence.

Today, too often, all we ask of stories is that they entertain. We've lost the magic of a parent telling a well-chosen story for the purpose of teaching a moral lesson.

Our children are suffering for it. Their behavior is suffering for it.

It's time to put storytelling back in your parental toolbox!

Storytelling is everywhere you look

Our political leaders tell stories about people who their policies have helped...or who their opponent's policies have hurt.

A well told story can be the best, most positive way to teach your child an important lesson or address a problem behavior. It can be infinitely more effective than telling your child,

"Stop doing that!"

What's wrong with "Stop doing that"?

1. Telling your child what to do activates your child's willfulness. Your child's reaction: I don't want to do what I'm TOLD to do.
2. Telling your child what to do doesn't explain and illustrate what the benefits of good behavior are.

What's right about storytelling?

1. A well-chosen story makes the issue about some other child. That enables your child to listen and identify with the child in the story!
2. The right story not only illustrates the benefits of good behavior, it shows the sad downside to bad behavior!

The difference between DEMANDING good behavior and ENCOURAGING IT...

...is the difference between this:

and this:

Harness the power of storytelling to improve behavior

Commandments, Edicts, The Law...

They're all rules. Children need reasons. Reasons to follow the rules.

Children are much more likely to behave if they know why they're doing it and believe they'll benefit!

Are you starting to understand why stories work?

	Stories explain. Stories allow children to identify with the main character.
Stories illustrate the consequences of bad behavior and the benefits of good behavior. Stories remove your child's ego and willfulness from the equation by making the focus some other child's problems.

Stories allow your child to conclude:

Picking the right story

If you want to find a story to help your child, here's what to look for:

• A story with a main character your child can identify with
• A story that's relevant to your child's problem behavior
• A story without consequences that are too harsh. (Old fairy tales often ended with dead children! That's not how we teach lessons today.)
• A story without consequences that are too mild. (The "price" of the consequences has to exceed the "benefit" of the bad behavior!)

Remember also that stories are lessons, and lessons have to be learned and re-learned. Ask yourself: How will I repeat the story's message without it being obvious to my child what I'm doing?

Put the story in written form, with lots of blank space on each page. Why?

So that your child can illustrate it. Every time your child returns to the story, it's one more repetition of the story's important message.

Make sense?

Now you can go looking for such stories. Or, if you're a creative type, you can write such a story. Or, if one of the common behavior problems below is one your child is struggling with...

You can use one of my stories!

The Child Behavior Books

I've written some special stories for parents who want to harness the power of storytelling to help improve their children's behavior.

These are Ebooks you can download easily and put to immediate use. If your child enjoys drawing, then your child is the right age for my Child Behavior Books.

(See what other grown-ups have said about them.)

The Author

My name is Steve Barancik and I've spent almost my entire adult life writing and telling stories for a living. I've published stories in magazines, I've written movies, and I perform stories taken from my life for paying audiences. (Google me!)

I've used those storytelling skills in creating the Child Behavior Books. And here's a story that isn't fiction:

I'll sell these books to you for a tiny fraction of the cost of a standard children's picture book.

• Why? Because I can.
• How? Because you do the printing.

Here's the deal:

1. Choose the book that speaks to your child's problem behavior.
2. Pay me three dollars. Yes, three dollars.
3. Download the book. In fact, download two books, because I'll throw in a 2nd Child Behavior Book - a story about Picky Eating - for free. (I wrote this one with my wife - a dietitian - because what family doesn't have a picky eater???)
4. Print, and put the power of storytelling to use!

When you click a Buy Now button below, you'll be taken to PayPal, a secure site. There you'll have the option of paying by credit card or with a PayPal account.

Once you've paid, click on the link that says, "Steve Barancik, LLC" (or just wait). You'll be taken to the download page.

To make the best use of your behavior books, print and read the instructions as well!

And please write back to let me know how it goes. In fact, if you send me one of your child's illustrations, I'll post it to an online gallery (anonymously, of course).

Because these are ebooks, you can print out as many copies as you need for your family! (Note to institutional purchasers: please contact me for bulk pricing.)