Story starters

Crusty Goober story starters

Crusty Goobers are the odd little characters from Kevin Coulston’s drawing books: lumpy, bumpy and full of personality. Draw a Goober first, then pick a starter and tell its story.

12 story starters to pick from

  1. A Crusty Goober wakes up and finds it has grown a third eye overnight.
  2. The smallest Goober in town wants to join the Goober marching band.
  3. A Goober finds a sock under the couch and decides it is a treasure map.
  4. Two Goobers both think it is their birthday today.
  5. A grumpy Goober refuses to leave its bathtub.
  6. A Goober gets lost on the way to the Great Goober Picnic.
  7. A Goober opens a lemonade stand that sells very odd lemonade.
  8. A Goober gets a letter with no name on it.
  9. A shy Goober is chosen to give a speech to the whole town.
  10. A Goober tries to make a pet out of a dust bunny.
  11. A Goober builds a robot to do its chores.
  12. A Goober finds a door in the back of its fridge.

Stuck in the middle? Add one of these:

  • Suddenly, all the Goobers start to float.
  • Suddenly, its shadow walks away on its own.
  • Suddenly, it starts raining gravy.
  • Suddenly, the dust bunny starts to talk.
  • Suddenly, everybody turns purple.
  • Suddenly, the floor begins to wobble like jelly.
Printable Crusty Goobers story starter cards Print the starter cards (PDF)

Two pages: 12 cut-apart cards and a three-panel comic with the first starter already filled in.

Make it a comic

Turn a starter into a comic

Your comic story

1 · Beginning

A Crusty Goober wakes up and finds it has grown a third eye overnight.

“Uh-oh.”Draw it here!
2 · Middle

Suddenly, all the Goobers start to float.

TA-DA!Draw it here!
3 · Twist ending

How does it end? You decide!

The big finish
Print a blank template

Draw in the boxes with a finger, a stylus or a mouse, or print the comic and draw on paper. The speech bubble and sound effect are just ideas: use them, change them or make up your own.

Draw it first

Draw the characters with a free lesson

Then write it

Story sheets that go with it

Fold-Up Mini-Book story sheet

Make a bookAll ages

Fold-Up Mini-Book

One sheet of paper becomes an 8-page book: a cover, six story pages and an “about the author” page on the back.

Bubble Talk story sheet

Comic stripsAges 4–6

Bubble Talk

Two friends meet in a two-box comic. Fill their speech bubbles, then draw what happens next.

The books

Draw them from the books

As an Amazon Associate, FirstArtBooks earns from qualifying purchases.

More Crusty Goobers at crustygoobers.com.

More story worlds

Free for subscribers

Get the free Story Writing Pack

12 printable story writing pages (comic strips, a character file, a villain planner, a story map, a choose-your-path planner and an author certificate) sent with your welcome email. After that, new free pages and book news.

Keep creating with Kevin

New book announcements and free drawing and coloring activity pages, delivered by newsletter.