Kids' Stuff

No matter what new topic I tackle, I always turn first to a children's book on the subject.  Not a "See Dick Run" sort of book, mind you; a basic primer aimed at young kids of ages 8-12 or so.

It may seem a waste of time, but I swear by them. After all, they really are primaries for whatever topic is at-hand -- and, though they rarely include any deep talk or complexities, they are a quick way to get an overview of the subject. I find that, even if I am intimately familiar with whatever it is I am studying, a quick read-through of a children's book on the topic reminds me of what I've forgotten.

I wrote this because I am working on the Chill gaming material (as I have mentioned, oh, once or twice, I'm sure), and tabletop RPG material is generally aimed at younger people -- not necessarily "kids" -- teenagers and young adults (YA), at least.  That being the case, while the book in question is extremely well-written, and the information it provides is obviously for a fictitious game and fictional backdrop, it includes a lot of accounts taken from "real" source material.

In reading the book, I recalled many of the tales it recounted and very few of them had been significantly altered to fit in with the game material they were presenting; they were basically just included, as-is. So few were changed that I decided to look into some of the accounts myself and include a few here, if I can find anything worthwhile I think might interest you.