“The universe is not made up of atoms; it’s made up of tiny stories.”

It’s a great beginning to a very tiny book. The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories: Volume 1 by hitRECord and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Actually, the great beginning was the end paper. It’s full of tiny drawings and all the detail and work that went into it are just amazing.

Then, there are the stories — they are truly tiny. Maybe a sentence or two, with a drawing to go with them. They are sad and funny and wonderful.

My favorite, which I have stolen for a tagline on my favorite forum, reads:

“Okay, I’ll admit, I have a few skeletons in my closet; but they weren’t skeletons when I put them there.”

They’re all like that — little gems that you want to read out loud and share with people. The book is tiny enough that you can read it at a long stoplight, but you’ll be smiling for much, much longer, remembering it.

The book is from hitRECord, a collaborative art project. It’s a production company where people log in, upload their stuff, the directors combine it with other cool stuff or the artists grab the cool stuff and remix it. When they get something they think is finished, they sell it, like The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories, and split the profits 50/50 with the collaborators.

Now, I consider myself a creative person, but I don’t think you’ll find my kind of creativity (my book  reviews, my knitting, my recipes) on their site. But I think it’s a terrific idea and I am more than happy to lend my voice to it here. (I’m also happy to buy cute stuff on their website — put your credit card where your mouth is.)

My copy of The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories: Volume 1 was an Advanced Reader Copy, provided free of charge. The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories tote bag? That, I bought for myself.