It’s All About Family: Rainbow Resource Center 7th Annual Book Contest
It’s time again for the annual Rainbow Resource Center’s book contest! Every year, RRC hosts this awesome contest using Lulu Junior kits to challenge kids ages 7-18 to create a story around a specific theme. This year’s theme is ‘Family Story.’
Maybe your kids have a memory to share or maybe they want to learn more about your history. This year, we want to know something about family!
Rainbow Resource Center
Rainbow Resource is a vital homeschooling resource for parents and teachers. They provide high-quality, low-cost learning materials that can easily be ordered online. With an inventory including over 50,000 textbooks and other learning materials, the RRC is a go-to for any educator looking to save money while employing the same books schools nationwide use.
So if you’re working through a curriculum with your kids, check them out for the resources you need!
Get a Book Kit
Just like previous Book Contests from RRC, your kids will use a Lulu Junior IlluStory kit to create their book. This means they not only get to create a brand new story and enter this contest, but you’ll also have the printed story to keep and remember!
First, you’ll need to grab a kit from Rainbow Resource. As part of the contest, IlluStory kits are half-price on their website for only $14.99! Order a kit from the link below!
IlluStory Kit
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Extra Pages
Does you child need to add a few extra pages? Or replace a page with an update? No problem!
We've created special lined template pages just for this contest! Download this IlluStory lined template page and print out all the extra pages you need!
Contest Details
The Rainbow Resource Center provides lots of details about their contest. Be sure to download and read the complete instructions:
You can watch this video to get more information direct from the Rainbow Resource Center team:
Share A Family Story
Once you’ve got the kit, it’s time for your kids to start their stories!
Since they’re sharing a family story, it’s probably smart to start by outlining the story. Help your kids write down the main points of the story and decide who they’ll draw for each page.
Be sure to look at the Rules & Information PDF, the folks at the Rainbow Resource Center were kind enough to add a bunch of prompts to help your kids kickstart their story!
All that’s left is to create their stories! Using the kit instructions, write all the text and draw images for each page of the book. Send the pages back to Lulu Junior for printing in the prepaid envelope.
Be sure to mark ‘RRC 2021’ on the outside of the envelope.
Want to make sure your child's book is amazing? Read our Completing Your Kit article for details about how to add text and art to the pages, as well as a list of approved art materials.
Submit The Book
Last, enter the contest by emailing Rainbow Resource! Email them at bookcontest@rainbowresources.com and provide the following information:
- “Story title” by author’s name & age __ (as of January 1, 2021)
- Parent name, email address, and phone number
- Parent/author mailing address
- Tracking number found at the bottom of the order form inside your Lulu Junior kit (SU#######letterletter)
The deadline for email submissions is September 1st, 2021 at 5 pm Central Time.
After you mail in the completed pages to Lulu Junior, it will take approximately 3-4 weeks from the time we receive your kit to get your printed copy. Pages must be mailed to Lulu Junior by September 1st, 2021.
Contest Judging And Prizes
To make sure the judging is fair, Rainbow Resource breaks up the contest into age groups: ages 7-10, ages 11-14, and ages 15-18. Each group has two winners; a first-place author with a $250 cash prize and a runner-up author with a $100 cash prize!
Plus one overall winner will be selected to have their book sold at Rainbow Resource!
Judging will be based on the criteria in the rules:
- Writing Conventions
- Story Elements
- Setting and Characters
- Illustrations
- Family Story Quality
Every entry received by the deadline will receive a $5 Dairy Queen gift card just for entering. Plus, you get the completed story printed as a hardcover book to keep on the shelf!
The contest is open only to U.S. residents and entries run until September 1st, 2021. There’s still plenty of time to enter, but don’t wait! Winners will be announced on November 10, 2021.
