Approved NPS Educational Enrichment Vendor ✦ Building Confident Storytellers ✦ Creating Published Young Authors

Your Voice Holds Weight.

LitKids Create helps children trust their ideas, develop their stories, and express what's inside them without shrinking their voice along the way.

Through books, creative experiences, publishing programs, and resources for the adults who support them, we help young people discover that what they have to say matters.

Every child has a story worth telling and a voice worth hearing.

Explore Our Programs Join the Story Hustle Vault

Partner With LitKids Create

Paula Banks, founder of LitKids Create Paula Banks Children's Author + Youth Voice Advocate + Speaker Founder, LitKids Create
Approved NPS Educational Enrichment Vendor Featured on WAVY TV Amazon #1 New Release Award-Winning Children's Author Featured in Authority Magazine Successful Black Parenting Contributor Creator of Published Student Author Experiences
Free 5-Minute Assessment

Discover Your Child's Storyteller Profile™

Every child has a story worth telling, but not every child tells stories the same way. Answer a few quick questions about what you've noticed, and get simple, practical ways to nurture your child's storytelling confidence.

  • Takes about 5 minutes
  • No right or wrong answers
  • A personalized profile you can revisit as your child grows

Get Your Invite

Enter your info and we'll take you straight to the assessment.

We'll email you the link too, just in case.

Find Your Place

We Create Space for Young Voices to Grow.

Children express themselves in different ways. Some talk. Some write. Some draw. Some need time before they're ready to share anything at all. LitKids Create gives young people room to discover their ideas, develop their stories, make creative decisions, and express themselves without requiring every child to create the same way.

Parents and Caregivers

Nurture your child's voice, creativity, confidence, and storytelling at home. You don't have to become your child's writing teacher to help them trust what they have to say.

Explore Parent Resources

Educators

Bring ideas that support voice, creative ownership, storytelling, and expression alongside the literacy skills you're already building in your classroom — not in place of them.

Explore Educator Resources

Schools and Organizations

Partner with LitKids Create to give students experiences that help them recognize the value of their voices, develop their stories, and experience real creative ownership.

Explore School Partnerships
What We Believe

Every child deserves to grow up believing their ideas matter.

We want children to know that their voices have value before anyone grades the sentence, corrects the spelling, understands the idea, or agrees with what they have to say.

We want them to trust that their ideas belong to them — and that they can develop those ideas, express them, strengthen them, and put them into the world without learning to shrink themselves along the way.

My voice holds weight. My ideas belong to me. I can develop them, express them, and put them into the world.

That is what LitKids Create is building, one storyteller at a time.

Ways to Get Started

Programs That Turn Ideas Into Stories.

LitKids Create offers multiple ways for young writers, families, educators, and schools to experience the confidence-building power of storytelling.

Flagship Program

The Story Belongs to the Child.

Books By Me™ is a young author experience built around one powerful idea: the story belongs to the child. Young creators get the opportunity to develop their own stories, make their own creative decisions, and bring what started in their imagination into the world as a published book.

Children are supported throughout the process, but adults do not take over the story. Their ideas, choices, voice, and creative ownership remain at the center — guided along the way by our LIT™ framework (Let Imagination Take Shape™): Explore → Choose → Build → Write.

  • Builds creative confidence and ownership
  • Strengthens literacy and communication skills
  • Gives students meaningful ownership of their work
  • Supports identity, imagination, and student voice
  • Can include a published student anthology
  • Creates an unforgettable author celebration experience
Delivered through school and community partnerships, including work with Norfolk Public Schools.
Explore Books By Me ↗ Bring Books By Me to Your School
Paula Banks and a young author celebrating at a Books By Me Workshop, part of the LitKids Create student publishing experience
School Keynote

Your Voice Holds Weight.

Every young person has ideas, experiences, and stories worth expressing. Your Voice Holds Weight is an empowering school keynote designed to help students recognize the value of what they have to say — and understand that growing, learning, and developing their skills should never require them to shrink who they are.

Through personal storytelling, reflection, and engaging student interaction, Paula encourages young people to trust their ideas, express themselves authentically, and keep developing their voices even when others may not immediately understand or value what they have to say.

Students will leave encouraged to:

  • Recognize that their voice and ideas have value.
  • Trust and take ownership of their ideas.
  • Express themselves without believing they have to sound, create, or think like everyone else.
  • Keep developing their voice instead of shrinking it in response to criticism, comparison, or uncertainty.
  • Understand that their voice can grow stronger without becoming less theirs.

Interested in bringing Your Voice Holds Weight to your school? Reach out to learn more about bringing Paula Banks to your students.

Inquire About School Speaking
Paula Banks speaking to students at a school assembly, with a "Your Voice Matters" poster visible behind her

The Writing Cypher™

A guided online writing experience created to help young writers move from imagination to a completed story. Children use the LIT™ framework (Let Imagination Take Shape™) to explore their ideas, choose the story that excites them, and shape it into something they're ready to write.

Explore the Writing Cypher ↗

Story Hustle™

Supporting the adults behind young voices

Story Hustle™ offers practical ideas, resources, and conversations for adults who want to encourage children's creativity, confidence, storytelling, and expression — without taking over the process.

Discover Story Hustle
The Foundation Behind LitKids Create

Every Child Has a Story Worth Telling.

Before children can become confident writers, they must first believe their voices are worth hearing.

At LitKids Create, everything begins with one conviction: a child's voice holds weight. Writing is one way children express themselves — but so is storytelling, drawing, and speaking. The child and their voice stay at the center, no matter which form that expression takes.

Traditional writing instruction often places immediate attention on spelling, grammar, structure, and correction. While those skills are important, many children begin worrying about getting everything right before they have had the opportunity to discover what they want to say.

We begin somewhere different: by helping children understand that their ideas matter, their experiences have value, and they are capable of creating something meaningful.

This does not mean writing instruction or revision becomes less important. It means children are more willing to learn, revise, take creative risks, and continue creating when confidence grows alongside skill.

Storytelling becomes more than an assignment. It becomes a way for children to strengthen communication, develop creative thinking, explore identity, and discover the confidence to share their voices with the world.

Our Four Foundational Beliefs

These Four Principles Guide Every LitKids Create Experience.

01

Voice Before Perfection

Children need room to discover what they want to say before they become overly focused on saying it perfectly. When young writers are encouraged to share their ideas without the fear of immediate correction, they become more willing to participate, experiment, ask questions, and continue writing. Skill development still matters, but it should never silence a child's voice before that voice has had the opportunity to grow.

02

Confidence Before Correction

Children become stronger learners when they believe mistakes are part of the process instead of proof they are incapable. We encourage feedback that builds confidence while helping children strengthen their skills. Revision becomes an opportunity for growth instead of something to fear.

03

Identity Drives Literacy

Children connect more deeply with storytelling when their lives, cultures, interests, experiences, and imagination are welcomed into the learning process. When children recognize themselves within the stories they create, literacy becomes personal, meaningful, and something they genuinely want to continue developing.

04

Every Child Is an Author

Authorship is not reserved for children who already write perfectly. Every child with an idea deserves the opportunity to develop it, share it, and experience the pride of creating something meaningful. When children begin seeing themselves as authors, they develop greater ownership of their words, their learning, and the stories only they can tell.

How This Comes to Life

More Than a Belief. It Is How We Work.

This belief shapes every LitKids Create program, resource, workshop, and publishing experience. It comes to life through:

  • →Books By Me™ student publishing experiences
  • →The Writing Cypher™
  • →LIT™ (Let Imagination Take Shape™)
  • →Story Hustle™ parent resources
  • →Parent Voice Notes
  • →Telly, the Story Hustle Sidekick
  • →School workshops
  • →Story intensives
  • →Student anthologies
  • →Author celebrations
  • →Professional development for educators

Every part of the LitKids Create ecosystem is intentionally designed to help children move from uncertainty to ownership, and from having an idea to believing they are capable of sharing it.

Paula Banks teaching a Books By Me writing workshop
A Story-Development Framework

LIT™ — Let Imagination Take Shape™

Explore → Choose → Build → Write

LIT™ (Let Imagination Take Shape™) is a child-centered story-development framework that helps children explore their ideas, choose the story that sparks their curiosity, and shape that idea into a story they are ready to write — while keeping creative ownership in the child's hands.

Explore

What could my story be?

I have possibilities.

Children are given room to imagine, talk, draw, question, play with possibilities, and follow their interests without pressure to immediately choose or begin writing.

Choose

Which idea has a spark for me?

This is the story I want to tell.

Children consider their possibilities and identify the idea they feel curious or excited to develop. Adults may notice and reflect a spark, but the child makes the creative choice.

Build

What does my story want to become?

I know enough about my story to start telling it.

Children give their chosen idea a simple story path using beginning, middle, and end. The goal is not to plan every detail, but to develop enough of the story to be ready to begin writing.

Then → Write

Guiding Principle

The child owns the story. The adult guides the discovery.

Adults ask questions, listen, encourage exploration, and provide enough support to keep the story moving without taking over the child's creative decisions. Children maintain ownership over their topic, characters, events, direction, title, and other creative choices.

LIT™ Helps Children Recognize

I have ideas.

I can make creative choices.

I can guide my own story.

My story belongs to me.

A Note on LIT™

LIT™ is a story-development framework, not a writing method. It does not replace writing instruction, grammar instruction, revision, editing, or the established writing process. LIT™ focuses specifically on story development — from possibility to a story the child has chosen and developed enough to begin writing.

"Confidence is not something children should have to earn after they become strong writers. Confidence is part of what helps them become strong writers."

LitKids Create helps children build literacy without losing the imagination, identity, curiosity, and courage that made them want to tell a story in the first place.

The story is the star.

Explore Story Hustle Resources Bring This Approach to Your School

Learn More About Story Hustle™

The Research Behind the Work

What the Research Helps Us Understand

Our work begins with a belief: a child's voice holds weight. Research helps us better understand the conditions that can support children as they learn to trust, develop, and express that voice.

That includes research across areas such as confidence, self-efficacy, belonging, agency, creative ownership, motivation, and literacy development. Together, these areas help us examine not only what children produce, but what they may be learning to believe about themselves while they create.

The research currently featured here looks specifically at writing self-efficacy and learning environments — one important part of the larger picture. As LitKids Create's research work grows, we'll continue exploring the evidence surrounding children's voice, agency, expression, creativity, belonging, and ownership.

One Important Area of Evidence

What We Know About Confidence and Writing.

Writing research supports one part of the LitKids Create approach. It does not define the entire mission.

Confidence Matters in Writing

Children don't come to the page with skills alone. They also bring beliefs about what they are capable of doing.

Research with elementary-age students has found positive relationships between writing self-efficacy — what students believe about their ability to write — and writing achievement. A 2024 study of children ages 9–11 found significant positive relationships between both narrative-writing self-efficacy and writing achievement and writing-skills self-efficacy and achievement.

What children believe about their ability to write matters.

Martin, M. S., & Bell, S. M. (2024). Relations Between Writing Motivation and Achievement of Elementary-Aged Students. Journal of Education, 204(1), 190–202.
doi.org/10.1177/00220574221112630

Writing Confidence Is Shaped by Experience

The experiences children have with writing can contribute to the beliefs they develop about themselves as writers.

In a study examining writing self-efficacy among 1,256 elementary, middle, and high school students, perceived mastery experiences accounted for the greatest proportion of variance in writing self-efficacy among the sources examined. This was consistent across girls and boys and across elementary, middle, and high school students.

Experiences with writing don't only produce assignments. They can also help shape the story a child begins telling themselves about who they are as a writer.

Pajares, F., Johnson, M. J., & Usher, E. L. (2007). Sources of Writing Self-Efficacy Beliefs of Elementary, Middle, and High School Students. Research in the Teaching of English, 42(1), 104–120.
doi.org/10.58680/rte20076485

Self-Belief and Writing Performance Are Connected

Research with fifth-grade students found that writing self-efficacy made an independent contribution to predicting writing performance, even when writing aptitude was considered. Writing self-efficacy was also related to students' writing apprehension and how useful they perceived writing to be.

The finding doesn't mean confidence replaces writing ability. It reinforces that skill and self-belief can both matter in a child's experience with writing.

Skills matter. So does the child developing them.

Pajares, F., & Valiante, G. (1997). Influence of Self-Efficacy on Elementary Students' Writing. The Journal of Educational Research, 90(6), 353–360.
doi.org/10.1080/00220671.1997.10544593

Learning Environment Matters, Too

Children's confidence doesn't develop in isolation. A study of fourth- and fifth-grade students found that greater school belonging and classroom satisfaction, along with less classroom friction, were associated with higher language-arts self-efficacy.

When the researchers considered the classroom and school environmental variables together, school belonging emerged as an important contextual influence.

The environments adults create around children can matter alongside the instruction we provide.

McMahon, S. D., Wernsman, J., & Rose, D. S. (2009). The Relation of Classroom Environment and School Belonging to Academic Self-Efficacy among Urban Fourth- and Fifth-Grade Students. The Elementary School Journal, 109(3), 267–281.
doi.org/10.1086/592307

What This Affirms for LitKids Create

Research on writing self-efficacy reinforces something we have observed in our work with young storytellers: what children believe about their ability to write matters.

LitKids Create does not believe confidence replaces instruction. Children still need opportunities to develop grammar, spelling, structure, revision, reading, writing, and storytelling skills.

We simply believe adults should pay attention to something else happening at the same time: the child is developing a belief about themselves. Our work asks adults to nurture both.

Nurture the Voice.
Build the Confidence.
Strengthen the Craft.

Confidence Before Correction™

Confidence Before Correction™ reflects a simple shift in sequence. It does not remove instruction, feedback, revision, grammar, or correction from the writing process. Instead, it asks adults to recognize and nurture what is working before immediately focusing on what needs to be fixed.

The goal is not to tell children everything they create is perfect. The goal is to help children develop enough confidence in their voices to remain open to learning, feedback, revision, and growth.

"Before you point out what needs fixing, point out what's working."— Paula Banks, Founder, LitKids Create

Research gives us evidence.
Children show us what it looks like in real life.

At LitKids Create, we want children to develop strong literacy skills. We also want them to develop those skills without losing the belief that their ideas are worth sharing.

A Note About Our Approach

LitKids Create draws from established research related to writing self-efficacy, student belonging, motivation, and literacy development, alongside our direct work with young storytellers. The independent studies referenced here did not evaluate LitKids Create, LIT™, or Confidence Before Correction™. References to research describe findings from independent studies and should not be interpreted as evidence that LitKids Create programs or frameworks have undergone independent efficacy testing.

Explore the Research
Martin, M. S., & Bell, S. M. (2024). Relations Between Writing Motivation and Achievement of Elementary-Aged Students. Journal of Education, 204(1), 190–202.
https://doi.org/10.1177/00220574221112630
Pajares, F., & Valiante, G. (1997). Influence of Self-Efficacy on Elementary Students' Writing. The Journal of Educational Research, 90(6), 353–360.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.1997.10544593
Pajares, F., Johnson, M. J., & Usher, E. L. (2007). Sources of Writing Self-Efficacy Beliefs of Elementary, Middle, and High School Students. Research in the Teaching of English, 42(1), 104–120.
https://doi.org/10.58680/rte20076485
McMahon, S. D., Wernsman, J., & Rose, D. S. (2009). The Relation of Classroom Environment and School Belonging to Academic Self-Efficacy among Urban Fourth- and Fifth-Grade Students. The Elementary School Journal, 109(3), 267–281.
https://doi.org/10.1086/592307
Optional additional reference (secondary education only):
Korpershoek, H., Canrinus, E. T., Fokkens-Bruinsma, M., & de Boer, H. (2020). The Relationships Between School Belonging and Students' Motivational, Social-Emotional, Behavioural, and Academic Outcomes in Secondary Education: A Meta-Analytic Review. Research Papers in Education, 35(6), 641–680.
https://doi.org/10.1080/02671522.2019.1615116
Books From LitKids Create

Books That Help Stories Grow.

Story Hustle: How to Raise a Confident Storyteller (Even If You're Not a Writer), book cover by Paula Banks
The Book Behind Story Hustle™

Story Hustle

Story Hustle introduces parents and educators to a confidence-first approach to storytelling. It offers practical strategies that help adults nurture creativity, communication, and storytelling without turning every creative moment into a lesson or correction.

Get Story Hustle
I Got a Story to Tell: Original Stories by Young Authors, a LitKids Create Anthology compiled by Paula Banks, book cover
Amazon #1 New Release

I Got a Story to Tell

This student anthology celebrates the imagination, courage, and creativity of young authors. Each story represents a child who moved from having an idea to seeing their words inside a real published book. The anthology reflects the mission of LitKids Create: helping children understand that their voices matter and their stories deserve space in the world.

Meet the Young Authors
A Storytelling Sidekick

Meet Telly.

Your Story Hustle Sidekick

Telly is an interactive storytelling companion designed to help children and families explore ideas, develop characters, solve story problems, and keep the imagination moving.

Telly can help young storytellers:

  • Brainstorm story ideas
  • Create memorable characters
  • Think through settings and story problems
  • Strengthen an unfinished story
  • Work through moments when they feel stuck
  • Continue practicing storytelling outside a workshop or classroom
Telly works best when a parent, caregiver, or educator remains involved in the child's creative experience. Telly is a creative tool, not a substitute for a teacher, parent, or professional educational support.
Talk With Telly ↗ Opens in ChatGPT
Telly, the LitKids Create storytelling sidekick, a friendly cartoon television character holding a pencil and notebook paper
Free Parent and Educator Resources

Unlock the Story Hustle Vault.

Get free storytelling prompts, writing activities, conversation starters, classroom tools, parent guides, and confidence-building resources created to help young storytellers keep growing.

Storytelling Prompt Cards Voice-First Writing Warm-Ups Parent Conversation Starters Character-Building Activities My First Author Bio Template Story Planning Sheets Confidence-Before-Correction Guides + New resources added over time

Unlock the Story Hustle Vault

Free for parents, educators, and schools. New tools added regularly.

No clutter. No daily emails. Just useful resources and meaningful updates.

For the Parent Who Needs Encouragement Too

Story Hustle Voice Notes for Parents.

Supporting a child's confidence does not require you to have all the answers. These short audio messages offer encouragement, practical storytelling ideas, and reminders that meaningful literacy moments can happen in ordinary family life.

Listen to the Voice Notes ↗
Expanding Access

The I Got a Story to Tell Scholarship.

LitKids Create believes financial circumstances should not determine whether a child gets the opportunity to develop a story, build confidence, and experience authorship.

The I Got a Story to Tell Scholarship helps provide young writers with access to creative writing support, the Writing Cypher, and opportunities connected to student publishing.

Learn About the Scholarship ↗ Become a Scholarship Sponsor
Impact in Action

Stories Are Becoming Books, and Young Writers Are Becoming Authors.

LitKids Create is creating meaningful opportunities for children to strengthen their literacy skills, trust their ideas, complete their stories, and experience the pride of seeing themselves as real authors.

01

Nine Young Authors Published

Nine young writers became published authors in I Got a Story to Tell: Original Stories by Young Authors, the first LitKids Create student anthology.

02

An Amazon #1 New Release

I Got a Story to Tell reached Amazon #1 New Release status, placing the stories of young authors in front of families and readers beyond their classrooms.

03

An Approved NPS Educational Enrichment Vendor

LitKids Create partners with Norfolk Public Schools to provide creative literacy, storytelling, and student publishing experiences.

04

Students Guided From Idea to Publication

Through Books By Me™, the Writing Cypher™, workshops, and individual story support, young writers receive guidance that helps them move from an idea to a completed story.

05

A Growing Library of Learning Tools

LitKids Create has developed books, writing frameworks, digital learning experiences, parent resources, classroom activities, and publishing tools designed to strengthen literacy and creative confidence.

06

Featured Across Media and Educational Platforms

The work of LitKids Create and founder Paula Banks has been featured on WAVY TV's Parenting Unscripted, Authority Magazine, Successful Black Parenting, podcasts, conferences, and educational platforms.

Every accomplishment represents more than a number. It represents a child who was given room to imagine, create, and believe their story deserved to be heard.

See LitKids Create in Action
Media and Conversations

As Seen, Heard, and Read.

Paula Banks shares practical insights on literacy, storytelling, parenting, publishing, creative confidence, and helping children understand that their voices matter.

Television

Parenting Unscripted

A conversation on raising confident storytellers and what parents can do at home to support their children's creativity, communication, and confidence.

Watch the Segment ↗
Podcast

Authors Impact Hub

A discussion on building author platforms, publishing, and the Build First approach.

Watch the Episode ↗
Podcast

Book Talk Visibility

A conversation on visibility, storytelling, and what it takes to bring a book into the world.

Listen on Spotify ↗
Article

Generational Language

Successful Black Parenting

An exploration of how the words adults use with children can shape confidence across generations.

Read the Article ↗
Feature

Education Revolution

Authority Magazine

Paula Banks of LitKids Create discusses innovative approaches that are transforming how children learn to tell their stories.

Read the Feature ↗
Paula Banks, founder of LitKids Create Paula Banks
Meet the Founder

Meet Paula Banks.

Children's Author · Youth Voice Advocate · Founder of LitKids Create

At the center of Paula's work is a simple conviction: a child's voice holds weight. Through storytelling, creative expression, publishing, and experiences that protect children's ownership of their ideas, she works to help young people trust what they have to say, develop it, and bring it into the world without learning to shrink themselves along the way.

She is the creator of LIT™ (Let Imagination Take Shape™), Books By Me™, the Writing Cypher™, and Story Hustle™ — tools and experiences designed to help children build confidence, strengthen literacy skills, express their ideas, and discover the power of their own voices.

Through books, school partnerships, publishing experiences, workshops, and speaking engagements, Paula has helped young writers experience the unforgettable moment of becoming published authors while equipping the adults around them with tools that make storytelling a meaningful part of learning.

LitKids Create is an approved NPS Educational Enrichment Vendor, and Paula's work continues to demonstrate what becomes possible when children are encouraged to see themselves as authors before they believe they must become perfect writers.

Paula is also the editor of I Got a Story to Tell: Original Stories by Young Authors, an Amazon #1 New Release featuring original stories created by young writers through LitKids Create.

Her work has been featured on WAVY TV's Parenting Unscripted, Authority Magazine, Successful Black Parenting, podcasts, conferences, and educational platforms. She continues to partner with schools, families, educators, and organizations that believe every child deserves the opportunity to see themselves as a storyteller.

Her mission is simple: to help every child leave believing, "My story matters, and I have the confidence to tell it."

Read Paula's Full Bio

Speaking and Training

Invite Paula to Speak.

Paula Banks brings an engaging, practical, and encouraging approach to conversations about literacy, storytelling, creative confidence, parenting, education, and student authorship. Her sessions help adults rethink how children develop confidence in their voices while giving participants strategies they can begin using immediately.

Building Confident Storytellers

How parents, educators, and communities can create environments where children feel safe expressing their ideas and developing their voices.

Confidence Before Correction

Why children need encouragement, ownership, and creative freedom before constant correction, and how confidence strengthens the literacy process.

Before We Teach Children to Write, We Have to Teach Them Their Voice Matters

A conversation about identity, confidence, expression, and the emotional foundation children need before they can fully engage as writers.

Raising Confident Storytellers at Home

Practical strategies parents can use to nurture storytelling, communication, creativity, and confidence during everyday family life.

From Student to Published Author

How publishing experiences can transform literacy instruction, classroom engagement, and the way children see themselves.

Creative Literacy Confidence in the Classroom

How educators can support literacy development while honoring student identity, culture, imagination, and voice.

Paula Banks facilitating a storytelling celebration with young published authors

Invite Paula to Speak

Tell us about your event and we'll follow up to confirm details.

Download Speaker Sheet

PDF · Speaker topics, biography, media features, and booking information

Let's Work Together

Let's Build Confident Storytellers Together.

Whether you are a parent, educator, school leader, librarian, conference organizer, media producer, or community partner, LitKids Create offers meaningful ways to help children discover the power of their voices.

Start a Conversation Join the Story Hustle Vault
Explore Books By Me ↗