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 Help Ideas Take Shape.

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

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
Emerging Program

The Idea Lab

Ideas can take more than one form.

The Idea Lab gives children space to imagine, experiment, solve problems, and communicate their thinking in the way that works for them. Children may write, draw, build, speak, act, design, move, or invent another way to show their ideas. The experience helps children develop creative confidence, decision-making, communication, problem-solving, and ownership without requiring every child to produce the same kind of work.

  • Encourages multiple forms of creative expression
  • Strengthens communication and problem-solving
  • Gives children meaningful creative choices
  • Supports confidence, curiosity, and ownership
  • Creates space for children who may not identify as writers
Inquire About The Idea Lab
Four children working in a bright creative studio: one explaining an idea beside a cardboard model with a pinwheel, one building the model, one gesturing with outstretched arms, and one sketching designs on a large sheet of paper
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

Ideas Before Evaluation

Children need room to explore what they are thinking before adults decide whether an idea is correct, practical, polished, or complete. Beginning with curiosity gives children an opportunity to explain their choices, develop their thinking, and take creative risks without feeling that every idea must immediately meet an adult's expectations.

02

Confidence Before Correction™

Children still need instruction, feedback, boundaries, and opportunities to strengthen their skills. Confidence Before Correction™ asks adults to first notice what a child is trying to express, get curious, affirm the thinking behind it, ask questions, and then offer useful guidance without taking ownership of the idea.

03

Expression Takes Many Forms

Children do not all express ideas in the same way. Some write. Some draw, build, speak, move, perform, design, experiment, or combine several forms. LitKids Create recognizes these differences as meaningful ways children think, communicate, and make sense of the world.

04

The Child Keeps Creative Ownership

Adults can provide structure, instruction, encouragement, and support without taking over. Children should remain connected to the choices, direction, and meaning of what they create. Their work may become stronger through guidance while still remaining recognizably theirs.

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 Idea Lab creative-expression 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

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

The evidence surrounding this work extends beyond writing. It includes research related to student voice, agency, belonging, creative self-beliefs, oral storytelling, multimodal expression, motivation, choice, feedback, and literacy development.

These areas help us consider not only what children create, but how they participate, communicate, make decisions, develop skills, and learn to see themselves as capable creators.

Student Voice, Agency, and Belonging

Children's Voices Provide Important Evidence

A case study of fifth-grade girls participating in student-voice work documented development related to agency, belonging, competence, collaborative discussion, and civic efficacy — the belief that they could make a difference in their social worlds.

Because this was a case study, the findings should not be interpreted as proof that every student-voice experience will produce the same outcomes. The study does, however, help illustrate what can become possible when children are given meaningful opportunities to contribute ideas, participate in decisions, and experience being heard.

Children's voices should not only be encouraged. They can also help adults understand children's experiences, needs, and development.

Mitra, D. L., & Serriere, S. C. (2012). Student Voice in Elementary School Reform: Examining Youth Development in Fifth Graders. American Educational Research Journal, 49(4), 743–774.
doi.org/10.3102/0002831212443079

Multimodal and Embodied Expression

Ideas Can Be Communicated in Multiple Ways

A 2024 qualitative study examined 189 videos created by fourth-grade students in one remote science class, communicating science concepts through embodied, digital, and blended compositions. Children used forms such as speech, gestures, acting, images, digital elements, and combinations of modes.

Researchers identified opportunities for children to engage creatively with science ideas, draw from personal and social knowledge, and make intentional choices about how to communicate meaning.

This study does not suggest that movement, performance, images, or digital expression should replace writing instruction. It demonstrates that children can build and communicate knowledge through more than one mode.

How children express an idea can be part of how they develop, understand, and communicate it.

Woodard, R., Diaz, A. R., Phillips, N. C., Varelas, M., Tsachor, R., Kotler, R., Rock, R., & Melchor, M. (2024). “Be Creative and Have Fun”: Elementary-Aged Children's Digital and Embodied Composing in Science. Literacy, 58(2), 167–177.
doi.org/10.1111/lit.12365

Oral Storytelling Development

Oral Storytelling Develops Over Time

A 2024 longitudinal study followed 130 African American children in kindergarten through second grade and examined the development of their fictional oral storytelling.

Across the school year, researchers found growth in story structure, the total number of words children used, and the number of different words they used. The study also documented individual differences in children's oral narrative production.

These findings reinforce the importance of recognizing oral storytelling as a meaningful area of language and narrative development — not merely a preliminary step children take before writing.

A story told aloud is still evidence of a child organizing ideas, making meaning, and communicating.

Gardner-Neblett, N. (2024). Becoming Fictional Storytellers: African American Children's Oral Narrative Development in Early Elementary School. Child Development, 95(4), 1218–1236.
doi.org/10.1111/cdev.14075

Creative Self-Beliefs

What Children Believe About Their Creativity Matters

A study of 1,322 middle and secondary students examined creative self-efficacy — students' beliefs about their ability to generate creative ideas.

Creative self-efficacy was associated with students' academic beliefs and their perceptions of teacher feedback about their creative ability. It was also connected with whether students felt that their teachers listened to them or had given up on them.

Because this research involved older students, it should not be generalized automatically to younger children. It does, however, reinforce the importance of examining how adult responses and learning environments may relate to the creative beliefs students develop about themselves.

Children are developing beliefs about themselves while they are developing their skills.

Beghetto, R. A. (2006). Creative Self-Efficacy: Correlates in Middle and Secondary Students. Creativity Research Journal, 18(4), 447–457.
doi.org/10.1207/s15326934crj1804_4

Writing Motivation as One Important Pathway

Choice, Beliefs, Environment, and Feedback Matter in Writing

A 2024 systematic review synthesized findings from 56 empirical studies that examined K–5 students' own perspectives on what influences their motivation to write.

Researchers identified nine factors: appeal, beliefs, choice, difficulty, environment, feedback, goals, help, and the instructor. Students valued choices not only about what to write, but also how, where, and for whom they wrote.

This writing-specific evidence supports the importance of considering motivation and students' perspectives alongside skill development.

Writing instruction can strengthen skills while still making room for voice, choice, motivation, and ownership.

Alves-Wold, A., Walgermo, B. R., McTigue, E., & Uppstad, P. H. (2024). The ABCs of Writing Motivation: A Systematic Review of Factors Emerging from K–5 Students' Self-Reports as Influencing Their Motivation to Write. Frontiers in Education, 9, 1396484.
doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2024.1396484

What This Helps LitKids Create Consider

The Child Is Developing Alongside the Skill

Across these areas, the research points to a broader picture. Children's opportunities to express ideas, make choices, experience being heard, participate meaningfully, and develop beliefs about their own capabilities may all influence how they engage with learning and creativity.

The studies do not establish one universal method for supporting every child. They do help adults ask better questions:

  • →Whose voice is being heard?
  • →What does the child believe about their own ability?
  • →Does the child have meaningful choices?
  • →Are different forms of expression welcomed when appropriate?
  • →Is feedback helping the child understand how to grow?
  • →Can adults provide instruction without gradually replacing the child's idea?

LitKids Create uses these questions to examine the environments, experiences, and adult responses surrounding children as they create.

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

Confidence Before Correction™

Confidence Before Correction™ asks adults to understand what a child is trying to express before immediately evaluating or improving it. Whether a child is writing, drawing, building, speaking, moving, performing, designing, or experimenting, adults begin by noticing, getting curious, affirming the thinking, asking questions, and offering support without taking over.

Correction and instruction still have an important place. The goal is not to tell children that everything they create is perfect. The goal is to help them strengthen their skills without shrinking their confidence, voice, or ownership of the idea.

"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 independent research related to student voice, agency, belonging, creative self-efficacy, oral storytelling, multimodal expression, writing motivation, feedback, and literacy development, alongside observations from our direct work with young storytellers.

The studies referenced here did not evaluate LitKids Create, Confidence Before Correction™, LIT™, the Storyteller Profile™, Books By Me™, or The Idea Lab. Their findings should not be interpreted as proof that LitKids Create programs or frameworks have undergone independent efficacy testing.

Research findings are presented within the populations, settings, methods, and limitations of the original studies. LitKids Create uses this evidence to inform questions, practices, and future learning — not to make unsupported causal or population-wide claims.

Explore the Research
Mitra, D. L., & Serriere, S. C. (2012). Student Voice in Elementary School Reform: Examining Youth Development in Fifth Graders. American Educational Research Journal, 49(4), 743–774.
https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831212443079
Woodard, R., Diaz, A. R., Phillips, N. C., Varelas, M., Tsachor, R., Kotler, R., Rock, R., & Melchor, M. (2024). “Be Creative and Have Fun”: Elementary-Aged Children's Digital and Embodied Composing in Science. Literacy, 58(2), 167–177.
https://doi.org/10.1111/lit.12365
Gardner-Neblett, N. (2024). Becoming Fictional Storytellers: African American Children's Oral Narrative Development in Early Elementary School. Child Development, 95(4), 1218–1236.
https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.14075
Beghetto, R. A. (2006). Creative Self-Efficacy: Correlates in Middle and Secondary Students. Creativity Research Journal, 18(4), 447–457.
https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326934crj1804_4
Alves-Wold, A., Walgermo, B. R., McTigue, E., & Uppstad, P. H. (2024). The ABCs of Writing Motivation: A Systematic Review of Factors Emerging from K–5 Students' Self-Reports as Influencing Their Motivation to Write. Frontiers in Education, 9, 1396484.
https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2024.1396484
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 ↗