The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories: Volume I

The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories is exactly what it sounds like. Culled from more than 8,000 submissions on Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s art collaboration website, hitRECord, Tiny Book features 33 illustrated micro stories nestled between its 4×6 covers. The shortest story is one word long and the longest one is seven pithy lines long, but almost all of the stories are the products of several collaborators.

It is very possible to flip through all 88 pages of the book in under 10 minutes, but I’m not sure why anyone would want to. Aesthetically speaking, one can easily lose track of time flipping back and forth between the pages just to admire the different styles of art. The great thing about this book is that since there are so many different collaborators, there’s also a ton of variety in the illustrations.

The same can be said for the stories. It’s fun to see how much people can say with a scant handful of words. Some of the stories serve to capture fleeting moments of innocence in their characters’ lives, while others were surprisingly poignant. Of course, there were several that simply delighted in whimsy and silliness. This story was one of my favorites (click to see larger image):

And, you know, there’s something to be said for the overall cuteness of the book: it fits in your hand, it lends itself well to random browsing, and it just makes you want to smile. When you mix that in with the quirky storytelling and evocative artwork, it’s impossible to go wrong. Volume II and Volume III are planned for release in 2012 and 2013 respectively, and I’m very eager to see more of the collaborations that hitRECord has in store.

Oh, and one more thing:

Come on…I can’t mention Joseph Gordon-Levitt on this blog and not post a gratuitous picture! You’re welcome.

The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories: Volume I was released on December 6, 2011 by It Books, an imprint of HarperCollins.

IndieBound | Powell’s | Amazon
I read it as a(n): hardcover
Source: publisher review copy
Pages: 88