Write It. Read It. Love It.

As you know by now, Jumpstart is a national early education organization that recruits and trains college students and community Corps members to serve preschool children in low-income neighborhoods. Our proven curriculum helps children develop the language and literacy skills they need to be ready for kindergarten, setting them on a path to close the achievement gap before it is too late. An essential part of what we do at Jumpstart DC at American University is read.  Our activities are all based around our core storybooks, each telling a different story for children to explore.  We will now be embarking on a 6-month project to create our own storybooks for our students to explore, read and love.

With your help, we will be creating a 12-15 story anthology, which will be self-published and distributed to the seven preschools classrooms Jumpstart DC at American University services.  These stories are meant to be unique.  They can be retelling of classic stories or your own original story!  Stories need to be written and illustrated on 8 ½ x 11 paper and can be submitted electronically or in person.  Submissions should be 50-1000 words.

These stories can be fiction or non-fiction.  Consider making a story about DC or about a 4-5 year old.
Some examples of stories are: “A Day with Jayden in Jumpstart,” “Alanah the Explorer” (playing off Dora the Explorer) , “Khayla and the Snake” (if your child likes snakes), Alphabet Book – theme the book around a particular theme.  You can also retell a classic story in your own words.

If you work with children (in Jumpstart or elsewhere), brainstorm about that child’s particular interests: what they like to play with?  What did they talk about most often?

Be sure to make it colorful with lots of pictures.  Children love colors and pictures!  Use characters and ideas your children can relate to.

If you would like to only author a story or illustrate, please let us know.  There will be several opportunities to do so!

The next round of submissions is due on September 1st.
 Other deadlines are:
~October 4th
~November 8th
Final Deadline: December 6th

For questions or to submit your story, please contact:
Stacia Jackson
Site Manager, Jumpstart DC at American University
On campus: Gray Hall 115
Email: staciaj@american.edu
Phone: 202.885.3157