Get the Kids Are Authors Entry Form.
Entries must be postmarked by March 15, 2013 for the 2013 Contest. Get the Entry Form now.
Kids Are Authors is an annual competition open to students in grades K–8 in the United States and U.S. international schools and is designed to encourage students to use their reading, writing, and artistic skills.

Under the guidance of a project coordinator, children work in teams of three or more students to write and illustrate their own book. The creative process of working in teams helps provide a natural environment to practice editing, teamwork, and communication skills necessary for future success. All students involved get a sense of pride and accomplishment from submitting the team project.

One Grand-Prize winning book will be published in each of these categories: Fiction and Nonfiction. The winning books will be published by Scholastic and sold at Book Fairs throughout the country.

To get started, follow these steps to establish excitement and enthusiasm for the program.

Introduce the Program
• Read the books from past winners.
• Explain the program to the students as a concluding activity to a unit on authors/illustrators or as part of a unit on teaching the elements of story writing.

Form Groups
• Will you involve the whole class?
• Will you select students or let them form their own teams?
• Do you want to take on several groups or limit it to one?

Focus on Books
• Read books by a variety of authors and illustrators.
• Compare and contrast their different styles.
• Introduce elements of story writing (plot, theme, characters).
• Which style of writing appeals to them most?
• Which art medium most intrigues them?

Idea Starters – Use questions to get your students thinking about ideas for their story.
Who? Discuss possible characters to include in the story.
Where? In what setting does the story take place? Are there a variety of settings involved?
When? What is the time period of your story: present day, the future, the past, or a combination?
What? What is going to happen in their story? What is the problem or conflict?
Why? What is the purpose of the story: to educate and inform, to entertain, or a combination? What response do you want from the reader: to make them laugh, cry, understand a different view point or opinion?
How? How is the problem or conflict resolved?



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