Please visit the Favorite Poem Project, and hear Americans read the poetry they love.

The purpose of the Book Arts Bash is to have fun writing and illustrating books, and to help students and teachers reach across the curriculum to include writing and art in other areas of study. Any homeschooled student or homeschooling parent can enter. Prizes include the usual stuff you can hold in your hand plus invaluable critiques from people in the writing and illustrating biz.

Categories: There are twenty categories, each with their own page on this web site.

Age Groups: Instead of dividing by age, we are dividing by grade, to give parents and students more discretion regarding which category is appropriate. There are five different grade levels in each category: K-2nd, 3rd-6th, 7th-9th, 10th-12th, and Adult. Homeschooled college students and homeschooling parents are encouraged to enter the adult category.

Deadline: Deadline for all entries is October 1. This means your entry must be *postmarked* by October 1. Even those who submit a video or audio file by hosting it online need to send a physical entry form by October 1. If you are mailing in an entry at the last minute and you're in a place from whence mail will take a long time to get to Norfolk, VA, please send us an email to let us know it's coming in, so we can hold your category open if necessary. Email bash@littleblueschool.com to let us know the status.

Entry Form: You can download the entry form here to print on your printer.

Send your entries to:

Book Arts Bash
229 West Bute Street, Suite 410
Norfolk, VA 23510

Eligibility: Any homeschooled student or homeschooling parent can enter.

Winning: There will be 300 finalists: three in each age group in each category. There will be 100 winners: one in each age group in each category. Finalists in each category will be announced by mid-October. Change: Winners in each category will be announced as soon as we hear back from all our judges. Some results are in, some are still coming in, and we need to process the judges' comments and critiques so that you can receive your prizes. We believe this will all be sorted out within two weeks, and we thank you for your patience! The contest will be judged first by a panel and then finalists will be sent on to be judged by industry pros, bestselling authors, web celebs, and other notables.

Note: This is our first year running the Book Arts Bash. We hope to keep doing this for many years! We are learning as we go, taking your suggestions and the advice of our judges and others who write to us with good suggestions. Please be patient with us as we work out the details.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Can I enter more than one category?

Yes. Each entry needs its own entry form. The fee for the first entry is $5 and each additional entry is $3. When multiple people in the same family have multiple entries, the first entry in the family is $5 and all additional ones are $3.

What if my piece of writing fits in more than one category?

Choose the one you most want to enter. Maybe you've written a comic book that's also a fable. Maybe you've written an illustrated short story that could be a picture book. It's up to you to decide where your writing belongs, but you can only enter each piece in one category.

I live outside the Mid-Atlantic region. Can I enter?

If you are a homeschooled student or you are a homeschooling parent, you can enter. If you can't attend the event in Norfolk in November, we will miss you, but you can still win the writing contest and get a critique from one of our judges. If you are in a category with a physical prize to win, we will mail it to you. Because that's just how we are.

I live outside the US. Can I enter?

We were not expecting to attract any international entries! But you are welcome to enter.

I have a three year old who wants to make a book. Can she enter?

Yes. All of our grade groupings are meant to be left to the discretion of the parents. This is why we are dividing the category by grade level instead of age, so that you have more wiggle room if your child is writing above or below the traditional "norm" for their age. So, for our purposes, your homeschooled three-year-old can be in kindergarten.

I homeschooled up until last year or I intend to start homeschooling in six months, but as of October my child will be in some kind of school. Or, I have some kind of other ambiguous situation where I might not be defined as a homeschooler. Can we enter?

We can't check up on you and we wouldn't want to. Entering this contest means you consider yourself a homeschooling parent or your child a homeschooled student. It's up to you to assess your own situation and eligibility. We know you will be the best judge of how these definitions apply. We will assume that any writer of any work entered in the contest is either a homeschooled student or a homeschooling teacher. Beyond that, we cannot know. You are responsible for your own honesty. And we trust you.

What are some ways that this contest can help me integrate writing and art with different areas of the curriculum?

1. Write and illustrate a non-fiction picture book about some aspect of science, history, music, or math.
2. Become a paper engineer by creating a pop-up book.
3. Write a Heroic Legend about a historical figure you've studied.
4. Write a Pourquoi Legend to explain a scientific concept you've learned.
5. Make your own cover art for a novel you've read to illustrate the symbolism you studied.
6. Create a blog about any interesting area of study: pirate history, mars exploration, Mayan archeology, etc.
7. Write a short story about a travel experience, creating a character to represent yourself.
8. Create a storytelling recording relating a scene from history or the biography of a famous scientists.
9. Create a picture book of a familiar myth or legend with your own illustrations.
10. Write a comic book in which a superhero is based on a scientific concept.
11. Write an ABC book themed around a topic: The ABC of South America, the ABC of fiber arts, the ABC of physics, the ABC of classic Hollywood films. You get the idea!

Who owns the publication rights to work submitted to the Book Arts Bash?

The author retains all rights to any submission. If you become a finalist, we will ask your permission to post an excerpt of your work, but not the full piece, so that first publication rights are unambiguously yours.

Can I help my child write down the words to his/her story if he/she is not confident with forming written words or typing?

This is a situation where we can't check on you and we don't want to. If your child needs help making the words, that's completely fine, as long as the words are his.

Do you have a question? Email bash@littleblueschool.com