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An Awesome Book
- angrycoder 16y agoHere is the author's blog: http://dallasclayton.com/ http://dallasclayton.com/ Warning: contains awesome poetry. It makes me happy that people like this exist.
- devinfoley 16y agoDallas is an inspiration to me, and I think his story would be inspirational to a many in the HN community. Nobody gave him permission to be a children's book author. He decided to just go for it. He wrote the book, published it himself, and put it for sale on his website. He didn't seek a book deal. He bootstrapped. He didn't buy advertising. He got in his car and drove around the country doing readings at schools, libraries, and hospitals, handing out free copies to lots of kids. He made a product that people wanted, put it in their hands, and those people evangelized the product for him. It reminds me of AirBnB's talk at Startup School this year, how they traveled from door to door, meeting their users face to face to promote their business. I don't think he wrote the book with the hopes of selling a buttload of units, but rather because he wanted his son, and other kids, to read it. It's a happy accident that somehow he ended up selling a buttload of units. For every book he sells, he gives a copy away for free through the Awesome World Foundation.
- exit 16y ago> It makes me happy that people like this exist. i find people like this extremely unnerving. this kind of oceanic "awesomeness" enthusiasm comes across as someone struggling to convince themselves that just the opposite isn't the case.
- harscoat 16y agostop reading the words then, look at the awesome drawings
- dhyasama 16y agoDo you have kids? The oceanic awesomeness of this book is no match for thhe boundless optimism and enthusiasm of my two-year old daughter or any child for that matter. I'm all for being a realist, but with children it pays off in spades to fill them up with hope, optimism, and fearlessness.
- webXL 16y agoI am a new father and totally agree. With parenthood comes plenty of new responsibilities that interfere with our ability to dream. Since children have far less responsibility and fear, they need to be the dreamers. Many recent college grads are too career focused or idealistic to start having big dreams, so you got to start 'em early.
- stickhandle 16y agototally agree -- i have three: 6,5 and 1. The joy on a young one's face at the sight of a balloon ... or bubbles ... is simply mind boggling. If anything could make me that happy ... <sigh>. Kids come with hope, optimism, and fearlessness - its up to us not to ruin it.
- locopati 16y agoThe opposite being what? That things aren't awesome? Sure, the world has troubles, people struggle, and the world also has majesty and joy - that's acknowledging what's around you. But how we approach the world, that's entirely in our hands. Who wouldn't want to unlock their boundless enthusiasm, energy, and creativity? Three cheers to anyone who can. Let them inspire the rest of us, for whom it doesn't come easily.
- shaunxcode 16y agoYou might benefit from considering the stoic position on awesomeness. The logical conclusion of cynicism IS an embrace of the "oceanic awesomeness" in that you learn to appreciate all that is now because it will end/leave/die/fail. To disengage or lose hope because of this fact rather than to embrace and engage is a mistake.
- sz 16y agoObviously the message is naive or delusional at face value (I would agree with you about a person that has this mentality wrt everthing) but it has a grain of truth—two, actually, that I can spot. I suspect the author realizes this. Just as unnerving are adults that think it's too late for them to be taken with childlike wonder or enthusiasm, but there's no reason for that. It's a remarkable feat to convince yourself that the world is predictable and that some things are impossible. (Not saying that you're one of these people, but that extremes of both sides are bad.)
- mtodd 16y agoI want my future children to read this.
- Dylanlacey 16y agoI want mine to not have too.
- angrycoder 16y agoI'm not a fan of kids, but this makes me want to have kids just so I can make them read it.
- raghus 16y agoThere are simpler ways: nieces and nephews for example
- angrycoder 16y agoonly child unfortunately.
- dolphenstein 16y agoThere has been a continuous replication and mutation of your gene pool since the first prokaryotes came into existence several billion years ago. So you planning to put a halt to it?
- angrycoder 16y agogood point
- mdda 16y agoObviously this is a little biased - you're not asking your own non-existent younger brother the same thing, are you?
- koningrobot 16y agoThere has been continuous suffering and pain since the first prokaryotes came into existence several billion years ago. I can't speak for the grandparent, but yes, I am planning to put a halt to it. There is all the reason to do so, and no reason not to.
- ckuehne 16y agoYou realize of course that the logical conclusion of your argument is suicide.
- djshah 16y agoThe simplest message in the most creative manner. I thought it was perfect to post to HN!
- brandonkm 16y agoI really enjoyed the illustrations. Really brought back memories of the picture books I loved as a kid.
- devinfoley 16y agoWeird to see this on HN. My friend wrote it and published it himself.
- devinfoley 16y agoHe also has a new one out if anybody is interested. http://veryawesomeworld.com/awesomebookofthanks/inside.html http://veryawesomeworld.com/awesomebookofthanks/inside.html They are well made and a good purchase for anybody has has or knows kids.
- auston 16y agoI'm a skater & love theberrics.com - he's been on there often, heres the backstory: http://theberrics.com/dailyopspost.php?postid=2440 http://theberrics.com/dailyopspost.php?postid=2440 warning: an ad will roll before you see the real content.
- callmeed 16y agoI will read this to my kids on the iPad tomorrow night (they are already asleep)
- hartror 16y agoOooooh i get it. Right don't have an iPad and haven't spent more than 5 minutes on one so didn't recognize the formating. Clever.
- jdale27 16y agoCLICK TO PURCHASE
- devinfoley 16y agoActually, you'd have to dig a bit to find a way to purchase from this link. It's the entire book online for free.
- jdale27 16y agoI guess you didn't read all the way to the end.
- devinfoley 16y agoYou are right. I sincerely apologize!
- aik 16y agoSo? How is this different from any other person posting their creation here? Both the illustrations and story are great. Thanks for posting.
- jdale27 16y agoThe book has an implicit anti-commercial message: Instead they dream of furniture of buying a new hat of owning matching silverware could you imagine that? Instead they lay awake at night wishing for a car not one that runs on jellybeans but one that's reg-u-lar etc. I just thought it was a bit (too) ironic to end with a big BUY NOW link.
- seabee 16y agoerror: aren't (midway through)
- zzeroparticle 16y agoObviously a great read for kids and adults alike. The only thing to add is that I love its message of cultivating that sort of mental playfulness, which allows you to explore the fantastic, unknown territory where great ideas can be found.
- parbo 16y agoI would really like to have this in a Swedish translation, so I can read it to my kid.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- Raphael 16y agoimg { display: block; }
- evanrmurphy 16y agoOr remove the <DIV style=" width:32000px;... Goofy markup aside, it's a beautiful book. :)
- dejb 16y agoI can't help but notice this tends to paint 'ordinary' people as somewhat sad and deficient. Imagine the story was written in the same manner, but in praise of physical coordination/agility instead, and you can see what I mean. Perhaps it is an understandable reaction to the historical under-appreciation of imagination in society and educational environments. But I'm not sure how much sense it makes for a child that doesn't face this environment or is more practically minded. It does look pretty cool though.
- riffraff 16y agoit is my completely unproved belief that it is a reaction to the lack of more concrete problems (such as: how do I survive the winter). Not that lack of imagination is not a real problem, it's just that it was less important in earlier times. I am quite sure the educational environment in the 19th century was _way_ less keen on letting imagination run wild than it is now (e.g. montessori's work was disruptive but looks "normal" nowadays), but we have Peter Pan and the Neverending Story only in the 20th.
- adriand 16y ago> But I'm not sure how much sense it makes for a child that doesn't face this environment or is more practically minded. Is there such a thing as an unimaginative child (or a practical one, for that matter)? As a child I seem to recall that all my friends and classmates were imaginative and creative, and my child and his friends are just the same in that way. Lego is universally popular, as is playing "pretend", and so on. Obviously these traits are present in children to different degrees, but I think the point of this book is to emphasize that the lack of imagination and creativity in adults and its replacement by banality and commercialism is the product of socialization and choice. > Imagine the story was written in the same manner, but in praise of physical coordination/agility instead We'd probably be offended if, in that case, the uncoordinated people were drawn as obese (although the same effect could be achieved by simply displaying them as immobile). What's interesting, though, is that the book actually could be written that way. Children are far more active than adults and, because physical coordination and agility can be improved through practice, are often faster and more nimble than adults (I'm speaking anecdotally here, but if you visit a playground and watch a kid evade their parent and the point is made.) Just as imagination and creativity are often lost or suppressed on the journey to adulthood, many people also shed their love of physical activity, with unfortunate results. Perhaps the point, ultimately, is that there's lots we can learn from children, and much that is in them innately that we can help nourish.
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- marcamillion 16y agoI would love to see his sales history after this stint on HN's front page. devinfoley, you say this guy is your friend. Tell him to write a post-mortem on sales of the HN effect. Also tell him, that will likely get him more sales :)
- devinfoley 16y agoI'll find out. It would be interesting. He'd never heard of HN before, but thought it was cool.
- ekanes 16y agoThis book is made of win. Please pass along an encouragement to make it available on Amazon if possible. I'm sure he's thought of it, but please add a +1 to the thought. For better or worse, lots of people buy there because the checkout/CC/etc process is already set up.
- ThomPete 16y agoI was thinking the exact same thing. He can at least count me down for one copy. Just bought it can't wait to show it to my little dreamer.
- ScottWhigham 16y agoSame here. I have a six year old boy who will love the book. The first 5-7 pages will get him laughing and into it while the final bits will hopefully help him stay unique. Thanks to the author and OP for posting this!
- 2mur 16y agoYup same. Three boys (5, 3, 1) (and ? on the way) who will love this book.
- shaunxcode 16y agoI just bought the set of 10 (5 of each) once I read that they/he donates a book to libraries/school/hospitals for each book purchased. I am really excited to give these to my nieces and nephews!
- gizmomagico 16y agoYes, very Quirky. "Do what you want - not what you're told".
- harscoat 16y agoand a man who has a Million dreams that Roar is called an artist or an Entrepreneur.
- RexRollman 16y agoDjshah: Thanks for posting this on Hacker News. Both of Dallas's books are simply wonderful and his blog is amazing.
- djshah 16y agoMy pleasure!
- shasta 16y agoJust to be a contrarian, why are we always encouraging kids to think ridiculous things? Shouldn't we be encouraging our kids to think about interesting things? Beige furniture and giant cars woven out of spaghetti are both pretty boring thoughts from my point of view.
- jimwise 16y agoAgreed. There's something slightly condescending about the book -- about an adult trying to think of awesome `childlike' things, and only coming up with outlandishness. I've tried encouraging my children to remember and write down their dreams, and my impression (they might disagree!) is that the ones which struck them the most are those which were unlike reality in some small, but important way; not those which were simply bizarre.
- snarfel 16y agoI just bought it. They nailed the title! It's probably the most awesome book I've ever read. My daughter needs it in her library.
- kentf 16y agoThank you Dallas.
- danielson 16y agoI share a washing machine with this dude; Way to go Dallas! Y'all [the HN community] have great taste.