Biography
Jack Canfield joins Mark Victor Hansen in compiling the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" books, which contain heartwarming tales that offer proof of humankind's capacity to love and forgive. In addition to books for adults, Canfield's series also targets younger readers with the titles Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul: One Hundred and One Stories about Life, Love, and Learning, Chicken Soup for the Kid's Soul: One Hundred and One Stories of Courage, Hope, and Laughter, Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul's The Real Deal: School: Cliques, Classes, Clubs, and More, and Chicken Soup for the Preteen Soul: One Hundred and One Stories of Changes, Choices, and Growing up for Kids Ages 9-13.
First book in the popular series
The first book in the popular series, Chicken Soup for the Soul: One Hundred and One Stories to Open the Heart and Rekindle the Spirit, sparked what Time reviewer Andrew Ferguson dubbed "the publishing phenomenon" of the 1990s. Noting the coauthors' background as motivational speakers, Ferguson added that in the series, "the tone is unvarying: earnest, unadorned and ruthlessly uplifting." "Chicken Soup" titles have been directed at gardeners, nurses, teachers, military veterans, pet lovers, and people from a variety of religious faiths.
Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul contains inspirational anecdotes and poems from everyday teens along with cartoons and contributions from well-known figures such as Helen Keller and poet Sandra Cisneros. The brief stories recount family problems, peer-group issues, and personal-growth tales. Booklist critic Stephanie Zvirin commended the mix of well-known adults writing about their teen years and ordinary adolescents using "plainspoken" language, as she put it. Zvirin predicted that the work will resonate with its intended readership "because it proves that there is, indeed, some light at the proverbial end of the tunnel."
Popular with teen readers
Popular with teen readers, the series sparked several sequels as well as the related titles Chicken Soup for the Christian Teenage Soul: Stories of Faith, Love, Inspiration, and Hope and Chicken Soup for the Girl's Soul. Commenting on Chicken Soup for the Christian Teenage Soul, John Green noted in Booklist that the book contains a "familiar mix of the inspirational, the sad but heartwarming, and the sweetly funny." Divided into sections that include "On Faith," "On Gratitude," and "On Loss and Grieving," the book contains "an emphasis on God working in surprising ways," according to Green.
Since the first Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul book was published in 1997, Canfield has receive up to one hundred letters a day, many expressing thanks and some containing stories from teens relating how the book helped them improve their own lives. In response, Canfield joined co-compilers Hansen and Kimberly Kirberger to create Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul: Letters of Life, Love, and Learning. A teen with a fatal disease and a teacher in a juvenile detention facility are just two of the correspondents whose stories "often wind up as a tool for sharing experiences," noted a Publishers Weekly reviewer.
Canfield, a former high-school history teacher, began collecting and publishing self-esteem materials for school students, and his first published book was One Hundred Ways to Enhance Self-Concept in the Classroom. "Three books later, I started to give motivational talks to schools and to corporations," he once explained. "One day an audience member said, 'You have the best stories I have ever heard anywhere. Have you ever thought of putting them in a book?' With that prompting, I began to write down the stories that, three years later, with the help of Mark Victor Hansen, became Chicken Soup for the Soul. Although the first "Chicken Soup" book was rejected by over forty publishers, fourteen months after it was published by Health Communications it made the New York Times bestseller list, and stayed there over two years. The "Chicken Soup" books have since been translated into twenty-three languages.
"What motivates us to continue to work so hard compiling, editing, and writing these books are the thousands of letters I receive that describe the powerful impact the books have had on so many lives, including prisoners, students, teachers, managers, parents, cancer survivors, and numerous others," Canfield added. He and Hansen donate a portion of all sales to charities, including Soup Kitchens for the Soul, which places inspirational literature in prisons and jails. As Canfield explained to Dennis Hughes in an interview for Shareguide.com, "My life's mission is to inspire and empower [people] to live their highest vision in the context of love and joy."