Official Norfolk Public Schools Partner

LitKids Create · An EION Creative Ventures Company · Paula Banks

Every child already has
a story worth telling.

LitKids Create helps children build real confidence through storytelling — and shows parents and educators how to support that process without turning it into pressure.

Start with Story Hustle Explore LitKids

What We Do

A home for children who are ready
to own their voice.

Parents

Practical tools and guided experiences to nurture storytelling confidence at home — without turning it into another lesson.

Educators

Frameworks that bring storytelling into classrooms in ways that celebrate voice before they require format.

Schools & Organizations

Partnerships and workshops that make storytelling a school-wide culture, not just a writing unit that appears once a year.

The Method

Story Hustle is the method behind everything we do.

Story Hustle begins with a simple reframe: storytelling confidence comes before storytelling skill. When children know their voice matters, the craft follows naturally.

Start with Story Hustle
"We flip the order — identity before instruction. That one change transforms what children believe is possible for them."

— Paula Banks, Story Hustle

For Parents

Parent Lab — an experience,
not a course.

Parent Lab is an interactive space designed to help you understand your child's storytelling instincts and walk away with real tools you can use right away. If you have ever paused because you were not sure what to say when your child shared something they created, this is where that changes.

Explore Parent Lab

Trusted Partner

Proud Partner of
Norfolk Public Schools

LitKids Create is honored to be an official Norfolk Public Schools partner, bringing the Books By Me program and the Story Hustle method into classrooms across the district. This work is about more than writing — it's about helping children see themselves as authors long before anyone tells them they can.

Programs

The LitKids ecosystem.

LitKids Create is more than one program. It is a full ecosystem designed to support children, families, and communities at every stage of the storytelling journey.

Workshop

Books By Me

The signature LitKids workshop where children write, illustrate, and publish their own books. Not a writing class — a confidence milestone.

View the Anthology →
Program

The Writing Cypher

A storytelling-centered space where children explore their voice through writing, expression, and creative community.

Join the Writing Cypher →
Children's Book

I Got a Story to Tell

The published collection of original stories by young authors — the very first book born out of the Books By Me workshop experience.

Get the Book →
Resource Vault

Story Hustle Vault

A growing library of templates, prompts, and tools to bring the Story Hustle method into your home or classroom right away.

Open the Vault →
From Paula Banks

Unqualified for the Yes

A personal narrative for the grown women in your life — about surrender, identity, and saying yes before you feel ready. Not a children's title, but written by the same hands.

Learn More →

In Real Life

What this looks like in real classrooms.

LitKids Create is not just an idea. It shows up in classrooms, workshops, and real community spaces where children are actively building their voice through storytelling.

Students holding their I Got a Story to Tell books at the school library
Founding Young Authors celebrating their published books
Paula Banks with students at Lindenwood Elementary Books By Me workshop
Lindenwood Elementary — Books By Me, Volume 1

"They sat quietly. Now they stand and say — I'm an author."

About Paula

About Paula Banks.

Paula Banks

Paula Banks is a Creative Confidence Educator and the founder of LitKids Create, a storytelling initiative designed to help children see themselves as thinkers, creators, and storytellers.

Her work is rooted in a simple but often overlooked truth: most children do not struggle with having ideas. They struggle with what happens after they share them. Over time, those moments shape how they see their voice, their creativity, and their place in the world.

Through LitKids Create, Paula develops programs, workshops, and resources that shift how storytelling is introduced and supported. Her approach focuses on building confidence before correction, helping children stay connected to their ideas instead of learning to second-guess them.

She is the author of Story Hustle: How to Raise a Confident Storyteller (Even If You're Not a Writer), a guide for parents and educators who want to support storytelling in a way that builds independence rather than dependence. The book connects everyday interactions with long-term confidence, offering a different way to think about creativity, communication, and learning.

Paula is also the founder of EION Books, a children's publishing company that helps bring young authors' stories to life, and the creator of Books By Me, a hands-on storytelling experience where children develop and publish their own books.

Her work extends into schools, organizations, and communities through speaking, workshops, and partnerships designed to make storytelling a consistent part of how children are supported — not just a subject they are taught.

Through LitKids Create, she has built a growing ecosystem that includes Books By Me, The Writing Cypher, the LitKids Anthology, and the I Got a Story to Tell Scholarship — all designed to support children at different stages of their storytelling journey.

At the center of everything she builds is the same goal: to make sure children grow up knowing their ideas are worth exploring, their voice is worth developing, and their story is worth telling.

In the Media

Conversations worth sharing.

From TV segments to podcasts to written features — a look at where Paula's work has been covered and discussed.

TV Segment

Parenting Unscripted

A conversation on raising confident storytellers and what parents can do at home to support it.

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

Successful Black Parenting

"Generational Language" — exploring how the words we use with children shape their confidence over time.

Read the article → Feature

Authority Magazine

"Education Revolution" — Paula Banks of LitKids Create on the innovative approaches transforming how children learn to tell their stories.

Read the feature →
Paula Banks on the Parenting Unscripted set at WAVY TV 10

On set for Parenting Unscripted, WAVY TV 10

Paula Banks being interviewed at WAVY TV 10 studio

Behind the scenes at the WAVY TV 10 studio