Author P.H.T. Bennet and his team have created an innovative fusion of interactive illustrations, music, and activities to tell the story of ‘Raising Sleeping Stones,’ a groundbreaking ebook app about dreaming. As they follow Kiva and DeeDee Stone’s struggle to master the dream skills they need to protect themselves from their enemies, readers will learn how to tap the boundless creativity of their own dreams. There’s nothing remotely like this currently on the market, but this cutting-edge project needs Kickstarter backers’ support to come to fruition.
Boston, MA -- (SBWIRE) -- 06/18/2014 -- When his six and nine year-old daughters complained about being repeatedly tormented by nightmares, P.H.T. Bennet knew that he had to do something to help. What he did went far beyond the ordinary parental soothing. He took them on a journey of nightly dream explorations that began with taming the monsters in their dreams, then led to other, bolder dreams whose results amazed him as much as them. His daughters’ adventures and discoveries as avid dreamers became the inspiration for those of Kiva and DeeDee Stone, the heroines of “Raising Sleeping Stones.” Bennet’s writing was also informed by decades of studying the insights of dreaming pioneers ranging from yogis, philosophers, and anthropologists, to psychologists and neuroscientists. The resulting, highly-entertaining fantasy adventure is presented through a unique ebook App designed to show middle-grade readers how to become adventurous explorers of their own dream worlds.
In ‘Raising Sleeping Stones,’ Kiva and DeeDee live in Solasenda, a town where everyone is so focused on training and working for the trade guilds that all mention of dreaming was banned by the town centuries ago. When the girls discover a mysterious plot to get rid of them, they run away and meet the last surviving members of the DreamKeepers, a forbidden and embattled group who can use their dreams to do incredible things. As these elders take them upriver to the Eyland of Return, they train the girls to develop dream powers greater than anything they had ever imagined. But can they learn fast enough to defend themselves from the enemies that are hunting them? The answer lies somewhere in the broken history of Orora Crona, the Valley of Dreams lost centuries ago, and whoever can piece it together first will rule for centuries to come.
As Bennet explains, this is so much more than a book.
“This project is all about tapping and expanding each reader’s unique potential. If we want to help them discover how creative they can be while they’re asleep, why not meet them where they are being creative while awake- on their devices? What we’ve done is to ‘gameify’ the story so that each time readers uncover a layer hidden in the music, illustrations, or plot, they are also learning skills that can help them uncover hidden dimensions of their dreams. My hope is that Kiva and DeeDee’s dreaming journey will inspire readers to start their own. “
With a further $12,000 required to complete production of the App, Bennet is turning to Kickstarter and the public for funding. Donations of all size are greatly appreciated and rewards range from digital downloads of the book and App up to an opportunity to have Bennet conduct a live reading (with music and visuals) in any U.S. city.
“To date the story has won a Newbury Comics Faculty Fellowship Grant and a Faculty Development Grant from Berklee College of Music and the interest of beta readers across the country, so we all know this project has huge potential to impact the lives of young readers. We urge all who believe in encouraging young people to listen to, shape, and follow their dreams to back the project and be a part of something very big,” Bennet adds.
For more information on ‘Raising Sleeping Stones’ and to back the project, visit: http://kck.st/1vt7cmY.
Official book website: http://raisingstones.com.
About the Author:
Raising Sleeping Stones will be the first in a series about the Stones sisters dream adventures. Though P.H.T. Bennet has been working on the books for the past 11 years, he has been researching, writing about, and exploring dreams for over 30 years. He is a sculptor who has exhibited across the country and France, and a writer of screenplays and novels. He is also a professor of Critical Thinking at the Berklee College of Music, where he also co-directs a cutting-edge neuroeducation program, Training Transformational Teachers. He is constantly consulting his daughters, Paola and Juliette, on edits for the series.