What was your “best day ever” on snow?
If your child has a good story to answer that question, it could be published in an illustrated book that two powder hounds are working on right now.
Children’s book illustrator and longtime professional ski instructor Nathan Jarvis has teamed up with Kristen Lummis, a blogger at braveskimom.com, to publish the first “Illustrated Anthology of Kids’ Best Day Ever on Snow.”
Lummis says the project is an ebook they hope to publish in late October.
“So far, we've got quite a few submissions coming in from all across the country,” Lummis says. “We don't have any from Utah yet, so I totally encourage Utah parents to (submit stories).”
The deadline to submit a story at Lummis' website is Saturday night. Stories should be told by kids in kindergarten through seventh grade and limited to around 250 words.
Both Lummis and Jarvis are committed to growing participation in snowsports and says with the future on hold for now due to the world pandemic, they want to keep the enthusiasm for winter going.
“This year especially as everything has gone virtual we were trying to think of fun ways to keep people, families, children thinking about skiing to keep them excited for winter even though things are uncertain, and also just recognizing that people’s stories are really what it's like to other people to join in,” Lummis said. “So you know if your best friend tells you how awesome skiing and snowboarding is, you're more likely to say, ‘I want to try that,’ than if an adult tells you that, so it's really kind of a kid to kid sharing an encouragement, and they will also have tips focused on learning to ski. And then from my end, kind of the family survival tips.”
Only 13 stories will be chosen for publication and Jarvis will create original illustrations for each of them. Honorable mentions will be published on her website.
She says they’re looking for honest accounts of a kid’s best day on snow; anything from the ski race day jitters, a great day in the terrain park, or maybe the first time they rode the chairlift.
“We don't want it to be sort of marketing-oriented,” Lummis said. “We're not trying to sell anything. ... I'm going to steal one from one of my kids when he was little; ‘My best day on snow was the day I ducked into the trees and I lost my mom, and she almost killed me at the end until she realized that I had the skills to duck in and out of the trees.’”
Now, some parents may take issue with the fact that I let my kid go into the trees when he was little but, you know, that was a memorable day for him, he built a lot of confidence and I realized he had skills.”
The ebook downloads will be free. Each winning submitter will receive a print of one of their story’s illustrations.
