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LitKids Create · 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.

LitKids Create is a storytelling-centered brand built on one belief: when a child sees themselves as a storyteller, everything changes. We serve parents who want to support that journey, educators who want to teach it, and schools ready to build a culture around it.

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
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.

Program

The Writing Cypher

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

Join the Writing Cypher
Publication

LitKids Anthology

A collection of stories written by children in LitKids programs — published, bound, and real. Proof that their voices belong on shelves.

View the Anthology
Scholarship

I Got a Story to Tell

A scholarship initiative that removes financial barriers so more children can participate in LitKids programs.

Learn About the Scholarship
See LitKids Programs
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.

Paula with students holding Books By Me certificates
Paula presenting to students in a school workshop
Paula with young authors at a bookstore celebration
Books

Words that do the work.

Paula Banks writes books that put storytelling confidence in the hands of children — and the parents and educators who champion them.

Story Hustle — How to Raise a Confident Storyteller by Paula Banks

Story Hustle

How to Raise a Confident Storyteller — Even If You're Not a Writer

The foundational guide to helping children build confidence through storytelling. Written for parents, educators, and anyone who wants to support a child's voice without turning it into pressure or performance.

Buy Story Hustle View All Books
Paula Banks

Paula Banks

Paula Banks is a Creative Confidence Educator and the founder of LitKids Create, a storytelling initiative helping children become confident creators — and the author of Story Hustle.

More About Paula

Ready to support your child's voice
with more confidence and clarity?

Whether you're a parent, educator, or school — there is a clear next step here for you.

Explore Parent Lab See LitKids Programs Work With Paula
The Brand

LitKids Create

A movement built around one belief: every child already has something worth saying. The work is helping them trust it.

Mission & Vision

Storytelling confidence first.
Everything else follows.

LitKids Create exists to make storytelling a source of identity — not anxiety — for every child who walks through our programs. We serve parents who want to support that, educators who want to teach it, and schools ready to build a culture around it.

Our work is grounded in the belief that confidence comes before craft. When a child knows their story matters, the skills of writing, speaking, and creating follow naturally.

Flagship Program

Books By Me

In Books By Me, children do not practice writing — they publish. Every participant walks away as a real author with a real book they made themselves. That moment of holding their own published work changes how they see themselves, often permanently.

What makes Books By Me different

Most writing programs teach children how to write better. Books By Me teaches children that what they have to say already matters. The writing gets better because the child believes it should — not because they were told to try harder.

The Full Ecosystem

More than one program.
A connected system.

Program

The Writing Cypher

A storytelling-centered space where children explore their voice through writing, creative expression, and community. Built for children ready to go deeper with their ideas.

Join the Writing Cypher
Publication
I Got a Story to Tell Volume 1

I Got a Story to Tell — Vol. 1

An anthology of original stories by children in LitKids programs. Features student authors from Lindenwood Elementary and local homeschooled students.

Coming May 2026

Learn More
Scholarship

I Got a Story to Tell

A scholarship that removes financial barriers so more children can participate in LitKids programs. Because storytelling confidence should not depend on a family's budget.

Learn About the Scholarship
In Real Life

What this looks like
in real life.

LitKids Create shows up in classrooms, community workshops, and real spaces where children are actively building their voice through storytelling.

Paula with young authors celebrating at a bookstore
Students holding Books By Me certificates with Paula
Joyful students holding their books in the classroom
Paula presenting a book at a school workshop

Bring LitKids Create to your school
or organization.

We partner with schools, libraries, and community organizations to bring Books By Me and the full LitKids ecosystem to more children.

Work With Paula
The Method

Story Hustle

A different way to understand how children build confidence through storytelling — and how the adults around them can either support or quietly undo it.

The Core Idea

The problem is not that children
don't have stories to tell.

Children are natural storytellers. The problem begins after they share something. The response they receive — whether correction, indifference, or the wrong kind of praise — shapes whether they keep going or quietly pull back.

Story Hustle begins there. Not with writing exercises or grammar drills, but with the moment after a child shares. What we do with that moment is the whole method.

The Shift

Confidence comes before skill.
Not the other way around.

Most approaches to children's writing start with the craft. Story Hustle starts with identity. When a child believes they are a storyteller, the willingness to work on their craft follows naturally.

When we skip that step and lead with correction, many children quietly decide that storytelling is not for them. That decision often happens before they turn ten.

"Children do not need to become better writers before they are allowed to feel like storytellers. When we flip that order, the skills arrive on their own."

Six Pillars

The Story Hustle approach

  • 1
    Identity Before InstructionA child's sense of themselves as a storyteller must come before any lesson on how to tell a story better.
  • 2
    Celebrate Before You CorrectWhat gets celebrated gets repeated. We find what is working first — every single time.
  • 3
    Success Before StretchChildren reach further when they already feel capable of reaching. The order matters enormously.
  • 4
    Voice Before FormatA child's authentic voice is worth more than a perfectly structured paragraph. Format can be taught. Voice must be protected.
  • 5
    Joy as Non-NegotiableIf storytelling stops being joyful, we have lost the point. Joy is the engine, not a reward waiting at the end.
  • 6
    Structure as a GiftStructure and framework are not limitations. When introduced at the right moment, they are exactly what sets a child free.
The Book

Story Hustle — the book
where the method lives.

Story Hustle book cover

How to Raise a Confident Storyteller — Even If You're Not a Writer

The foundational guide to helping children build confidence through storytelling. Story Hustle gives parents and educators the method, the language, and the practical tools to show up differently for the children they care about.

Buy Story Hustle View All Books
Apply It

Ready to put the method
to work?

For Parents

Parent Lab

An interactive experience that helps parents understand their child's storytelling instincts — and their own responses to them.

Explore Parent Lab
Supporting Tool

Story Hustle Resource Vault

A curated collection of prompts, tools, and guided resources for parents and educators who want to go deeper with the Story Hustle framework.

Access the Resource Vault

Start with the book. Or start with Parent Lab.

Either way, the method is the same — and the shift it creates is real.

Buy Story Hustle Explore Parent Lab
Books by Paula Banks

The Books

Each book is a conversation — about voice, confidence, and the stories children are already carrying inside them.

Featured Book
Story Hustle book cover by Paula Banks

Story Hustle

How to Raise a Confident Storyteller — Even If You're Not a Writer

The foundational guide to helping children build confidence through storytelling. Written for parents, educators, and anyone who wants to support a child's voice without turning it into pressure or performance.

For parents · educators · anyone who works with or loves young storytellers

Buy Story Hustle Start with Story Hustle
Publication

I Got a Story to Tell — Volume 1

I Got a Story to Tell Volume 1 — LitKids Create Anthology compiled by Paula Banks

The first volume of the I Got a Story to Tell anthology — a published collection of original stories written entirely by children in LitKids programs. This edition features student authors from Lindenwood Elementary and local homeschooled students.

Real stories, from real children, in a real book.

Coming May 2026

Learn More
Children's Books

Stories that see them.

Paula's children's books are written to place children — especially those who do not always find themselves on the shelves — at the center of the story. Each book is designed to spark recognition, not just entertainment.

View Children's Books
Personal Narrative

Unqualified for the Yes

Unqualified for the Yes: A Season of Surrender and Identity by Paula Banks

A Season of Surrender and Identity

Coming July 21, 2026

A personal narrative about a specific season of faith, surrender, and discovering who you are when you say yes to something you feel completely unqualified for. Honest, grounded, and deeply human.

By Paula Banks

Learn More
Anthology Contribution

Moments for Moms — Volume 4

Moments for Moms Volume 4 anthology

Inspiration & Wisdom for Every Season of Motherhood

Paula Banks is a contributing author in this collection of stories and reflections for mothers. Presented by Grace 4 Purpose Publishing, Moments for Moms brings together voices from across the country to offer encouragement for every stage of motherhood.

Get the Anthology
Why It Matters

Books that teach children they already
belong in the story.

Every book Paula writes connects to the same north star: children who see themselves as storytellers show up differently — in classrooms, in conversations, and in their own sense of what they are capable of. When a child finishes a Paula Banks book and thinks "that's me" — that is the work.

Want to go deeper?

From the Story Hustle method to Parent Lab to the Books By Me workshop — there are next steps for every reader.

Buy Story Hustle Explore Parent Lab See LitKids Programs
For Parents

Parent Lab

Not a course. An experience that changes how you listen to your child's stories — and how you show up when they share them.

What It Is

Most parents want to help.
Parent Lab shows them how.

Parent Lab is an interactive experience for parents who are watching their children struggle to find confidence — and are not always sure what to do next without making it worse.

It is thoughtful, practical, and designed for real family life. This is not a lecture series. There are no passive video modules to sit through. Parent Lab is designed to be done — not just consumed.

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.

Who It's For

For the parent who sees the potential
and isn't always sure what to do with it.

You see it in them.

Your child has so much to say — but something stops them before they say it. You are not always sure if it is confidence, environment, or something you are accidentally doing.

You've tried encouragement.

You praise them. You reassure them. Somehow it does not land the way you hoped. Parent Lab helps you understand why — and what to offer instead.

You want to be part of it.

You do not want to hand your child off to a program and hope it works. You want to understand the process well enough to continue it at home.

What's Inside

Built for the way parents
actually live.

  • ·
    Interactive activitiesWalk through your child's storytelling instincts — and your own responses to them — with guided exercises designed to create real, lasting awareness.
  • ·
    Reflection promptsIdentify the moments where your encouragement is landing — and the ones where it is not. The difference matters more than most parents realize until they see it clearly.
  • ·
    Practical toolsReal tools you can use during everyday conversations — at dinner, in the car, at bedtime. No separate practice time required.
  • ·
    Grounded in Story HustleEverything inside Parent Lab is rooted in the Story Hustle framework — the same method that drives LitKids Create programs, translated for home use.

"They stop trying to fix the story. They start becoming a better audience for it. That shift — quiet as it is — changes the whole dynamic."

Supporting Tool

Go deeper with the
Story Hustle Resource Vault.

The Resource Vault is a curated collection of prompts, conversation tools, and guided exercises for parents who want to continue the work beyond Parent Lab.

Access the Resource Vault

Ready to step in?

Parent Lab is available now. Come in whenever you are ready.

Access Parent Lab
The Founder

Paula Banks

Creative Confidence Educator. Author. Publisher. Founder of LitKids Create.

Paula Banks — Creative Confidence Educator and founder of LitKids Create

Paula Banks

Norfolk, Virginia

contact@paulaybanks.com

About Paula

Her work starts with one question:
does this child know their story matters?

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.

The Ecosystem

Built with intention.
Every piece connected.

Brand

LitKids Create

Founder · The umbrella brand and storytelling initiative housing all programs, resources, and community initiatives for children.

Workshop

Books By Me

Creator · The signature workshop where children write, illustrate, and publish their own books — the flagship experience of LitKids Create.

Program

The Writing Cypher

Creator · A storytelling-centered program for children ready to go deeper with their creative voice.
Join the Writing Cypher →

Publication

LitKids Anthology

Editor · A published collection of stories written by children in LitKids programs.
View the Anthology →

Scholarship

I Got a Story to Tell

Founder · A scholarship removing financial barriers to LitKids participation.
Learn More →

Publisher

EION Books

Founder · A children's publishing company dedicated to amplifying young voices.
Visit EION Books →

Want to bring Paula to your school or event?

She speaks, facilitates, and partners with organizations doing meaningful work with children and families.

Work With Paula
Opportunities

Work With Me

Speaking engagements, school partnerships, workshop bookings, and collaboration inquiries — let's find the right fit.

What's Available
Speaking

Keynotes & Panels

Paula speaks on storytelling confidence, identity-first education, children's literacy, and the role adults play in shaping a child's relationship with their voice. Her sessions leave audiences with something they can use right away.

Schools & Organizations

School Partnerships

Bring LitKids Create into your school or organization. From Books By Me workshops to full storytelling residencies, programs are designed to fit your students, your community, and your goals.

Workshops

Live Workshops

Interactive, experience-based workshops for children and the adults who support them. Every workshop is rooted in the Story Hustle framework and designed to produce a real, measurable shift.

Get in Touch

Tell us about your opportunity.

Whether you are planning an event, building a school partnership, or exploring a custom program — we want to hear from you.