Before we get on to the business of self-publishing, allow me to introduce my own book, Tales From the Enchanted Forest. At the top right is the cover image to the book, and a glimpse of the interior can be viewed by clicking on the cover. This feature is courtesy of a program called Book Flipper Publisher. I'll be using material from my book to demonstate the process of formatting your book, and self-publishing. I'll discuss some of the books' history, and the history of children's literature as well. Here is the PDF for the introduction to the book- Folklore: An Introduction to History, Art & Literature. Although this book is primarily intended for ages 8-14, the introduction is scholarly material for parents, teachers and mature readers that may provide elementary education and inspiration to artists of any age. This is a book of old-fashioned fairy tales with regional art from the El Dorado County National Forest in Northern California, U.S.A. It was inspired in part by our local Renaissance Fair and it is fashioned around classical children's literature which emerged just after the medieval Dark Ages. This book contains witches and warlocks, as indeed these were features of Medieval times. The Renaissance period which followed the Dark Ages sought to eliminate these superstitions by way of education. I've wanted to write a book of children's fairy tales since I was a child. But it was not until I came to live in the El Dorado County National Forest and attended our local Renaissance Fair that I decided to pursue a formal education. Our community college places a special emphasis on the impact of the Renaissance on education. In addition to self-educating myself, my college courses uncovered some of the mysteries of children's literature. Were it not for these two factors, self-education and formal education, this book would never have been written. At this site we will go through the process of creating a children's book so that you, too, may create your own book, a children's book or otherwise. The Renaissance began in Europe during the 15th, 16th & 17th centuries. One of its major features was the conflict between the Catholic Church, which emphasized faith rather than education, and the Protestant Church, which emphasized education over illiteracy. During this time the printing press was invented and reading material was disseminated to the masses like never before in history. It was a time of great social change and social mobility for the underclasses as they gained skills in literacy. Here is a good link to a scholarly site on the history of children's literature at UCLA, and highly recommended reading: Fairy Tales and the Art of Subversion by Jack Zipes. One of Mr. Zipes theses is that children's literature began as a part of the European culture's civilizing processes: the European culture being a dominant culture.
