12/02/2025
When a student sees their book come to life, it doesn’t just excite them, it inspires them to dream big and work hard. It encourages their peers to read and write, and sparks a passion to share stories. Don’t take our word for it, take it from E. Clare, a young author who had their book professionally illustrated and published by Leap for Literacy:
For someone who loves books as much as I do, winning Leap for Literacy’s writing competition was a dream come true! As a young girl, I had always loved telling stories, even before I could write. But, until last year, I never really saw writing a book as something that I could actually do. It was more of a storytelling hobby. I think my biggest problem was myself, because I had a very hard time getting my ideas actually down on paper. I’ve lost a lot of good ideas because I didn’t want to write them out, and soon forgot about them.
When I entered the writing competition, I honestly did it for fun. I in no way thought I’d be a winner, but I still wanted to challenge myself to write a children’s book. I thought if nothing else, I would have fun coming up with ideas and writing a story. Plus, I figured that my mom would love having a children’s book in the house that was written and illustrated by her daughter.
When I found out that I was one of the winners, I think I actually cried. It was one of the most fulfilling moments of my life, because I finally realized that I could write stuff that other people would want to read. I was so blown away, because all my life I had read books and thought Wow! These writers are so talented! And now, I was one of them! Now, my mom can barely drag me away from my computer or a piece of paper, because I’m in the middle of writing something new. I had had an idea for a novel for a while, but didn’t think that I could do it until I won the contest. It wasn’t until after I saw my book, published and illustrated, that my hobby started to turn into my passion.
Having my book published has also given me many opportunities to do things that I have never done, and might never have done....
