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."