The saying is so true: Kids do say the darndest things. With all those new stories and characters… it’s tough to keep up!

Luckily, our friends at Scribble Press are here to help capture all those tall tales young children tell at their “make your own book” stores in Santa Monica, CA and now NYC. Citibabes is excited to be incorporating SP’s publishing prowess into some of our own favorite classes, including portfolios for art workshops and a printed and bound books for our newest edition of CitiSchool Masters, focusing on classic children’s authors. 

Here, Scribble Press’ CEO and co-founder, Anna Barber, shares some practical advice on how to get little ones thinking like young authors. Move over J.K. Rowling – there are some new kids in town!

-Tracey Frost Rensky, CEO and Co-founder, Citibabes

We are all storytelling creatures. Since cave paintings we have wanted to describe, explain, and put our own personal spin on the world around us in words and pictures. And none of us enjoy making up a story more than a child does. From the moment she can scribble with a crayon on the back of a menu, a child tells stories.

I founded Scribble Press with Darcy Pollack two years ago in order to make it fun and easy for kids to do what they are already doing – writing and drawing – and turn their stories into professionally bound books. Scribble Press is a retail studio where kids write and illustrate books that are “published” while you wait. It’s great to see the pride and joy on the faces of the young published authors holding up their new books!

These creative muscles benefit from exercise. Getting kids in the habit of writing their own stories from the time they can draw a stick figure is a great educational gift. Here are some ways to encourage your kids to make up stories or write at home:

1) Make up stories for them. There’s nothing more exciting for a child than the words “once upon a time…” spoken by mom or dad. You don’t have to be great at making up stories; you can borrow liberally from classics, movies, and books you read recently. An awful lot of the stories I tell my boys seem to feature giant fruit and talking animals. I’m never going to be a published book author, but my kids don’t care. And they’ve begun to take the characters I created and make up their own stories. 

2) Use books you’ve read together as a starting point. You can also borrow the structure of a favorite picture book and add your own personal details. This shows kids it’s okay to copy (all writers start out by copying), and gives them an easy way to structure their own stories.

3) Keep a one-line journal with your child.  She can write (or dictate to you) one sentence a day about something that happened. This is easy to do and has the added benefit of creating a great keepsake. I like to use an old-fashioned composition book for this, with wide lines. We also have a great one-line journal available on our website. This can be a part of your bedtime routine.

4) Make “books” out of construction paper. Take 3 pieces of copier paper and a colored piece of construction paper for the cover, fold in half, and staple.  It’s very tempting to create a book when presented with the empty pages. You can paste a photo of your child on the back and write a little author bio every time they create a book.

5) Make a library of their work. If you put all the books your child makes in school and at home on the same shelf, they’ll have a real sense of accomplishment, and also be able to see their progress.

For more ways to inspire your children to love writing, visit the Scribble Press blog.

Ask about making books with Scribble Press at Citibabes this fall! And don’t miss Scribble Press at Citibabes’ Bubbles, Baubles, and Babes Hamptons Family Fun Day!

By Anna Barber, CEO and Co-founder, Scribble Press

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