On a radio show recently, the host asked me about our brand name of “ManiaTales.” What does it mean? Why did we choose it?
As for the “Mania” part, Dictionary.com defines mania as “excessive enthusiasm or excitement, a craze.”
“Enthusiasm” is our core essence. Not only are we excited about EggMania and the many ebooks planned for the ManiaTales series, we are genuinely enthusiastic, perhaps even excessively so, about getting today’s digital kids excited about reading and learning! That’s it — the heart and soul of ManiaTales. We chose the name carefully and intentionally. And yes, with enthusiasm.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” Why would that be? Drive and passion are inherent in enthusiasm, and these two qualities are essential for a project or brand to succeed.
Yet, there’s a rarely discussed aspect to enthusiasm that has great value. Most experts in Psychology consider enthusiasm to be one of the highest emotional states that humans can experience. Interestingly, there’s a rating system called the Emotional Tone Scale, which categorizes emotional states from lowest to highest as they equate with vibrancy of health. Enthusiasm sits at the top. Death and apathy rank at the bottom.
Psychology research shows that when depressed people are around a person who is genuinely enthusiastic, their emotional tone changes to a healthier state than they previously occupied on the scale. Though they may not have the emotional capacity and/or physical health to rise up to the state of enthusiasm, they feel better and resonate with increased interest. In a nutshell, enthusiasm lifts all emotional states below it.
In conjunction with the buoyancy of the psychological factor, there’s another key element of our Mania name and that is the fantastical bigger-than-life art that is featured in EggMania. All ManiaTales ebooks will showcase amazing, original art, thanks to the illustrator, Denise Caliva of Caliva Arts, who is one of the most talented, enthusiastic, and vibrant people I have ever known. Because of who she is, her art can be nothing less than jump-off-the-page enthusiastic. And dynamic art is known to stimulate multiple cerebral lobes in both hemispheres of the brain.
Aside from the brain effect, why intentionally create bigger-than-life art? Kids often feel small and inconsequential in this great big world. One of the nonverbal messages we embed in the illustrations is, “If you feel big on the inside, you can do huge things in the world.”
Now, what about the “Tales” part of ManiaTales? Beyond the obvious of tales being stories, narrative holds the power to transport readers to a different world, to ignite imagination in an explosive way. The value of imagination has been discussed in other blogs; its significance is immense and key to developing children’s psyches and brains, especially problem-solving skills.
Einstein was big on fairytales and their ability to develop the part of the brain that can ask questions and readily explore possibilities of all kinds. In addition to vocabulary and language development benefits, we believe such narratives also help children believe in their ability to overcome challenges, negative circumstances, and toxic people. Even kids are on a heroic journey. They need strong role models, who are kids too, to identify with.
“EggMania” and all ManiaTales ebooks are essentially modern-day e-Fairytales. They feature at least one kid who struggles with challenges and learns significant life lessons. And all embrace animals with tails. Oh the fun of these phonetic word plays and lexical humor!
Enthusiasm is contagious, and if you catch it, you don’t die from it. Instead, you live more fully.
Let’s get today’s digital kids excited about reading and learning. Carpe Diem!
Sherry Maysonave