The Grannie Annie Family Story Celebration

Please Note: Plans for The Grannie Annie Family Story Celebration can vary slightly from year to year. Please check back later in the summer for 2008/2009 guidelines and entry forms.

Thumbprint Press and Portico Books, publishers of books for children, are pleased to announce the third annual international Writing Contest for One-of-a-Kind Kids: The Grannie Annie — A Family Story Celebration. 

Grannie Annie is full of stories. Just ask her! She’ll tell you about her immigrant grandparents coming to America by boat. She’ll tell you about her parents rolling up their living room rug and inviting the neighbors over to dance, and about riding in a one-horse sleigh, churning butter in a washing machine, and surviving fires, floods, and blizzards.

Who are the storykeepers in your family? Just ask them! They’ll tell you stories about “the old days” that are so amazing you’ll want to write them down. Ask about your grandparents and great-grandparents. Ask about their daily lives, their adventures, their joys, and their sorrows. Take notes!

You are invited to follow The Grannie Annie Official Guidelines and enter a one-of-a-kind story from a past generation of your family. Your story can be humorous, tragic, or inspirational. It can be a story of courage, adventure, or anything you find interesting about your family’s past.

The Grannie Annie Mission

The mission of The Grannie Annie is to celebrate family stories! The Grannie Annie encourages people around the world to interview family members to discover stories from their family’s history. When the stories are brought to life in written form, they can be shared with others and preserved for future generations.

There's even more: Behind each family story lie experiences familiar to people in different centuries and on different continents. These simple, and very personal, family stories can help writers and readers to forge a bond with people in today's world whose lives may seem very different from their own — and move the world one step closer to peace.

Submission Categories

Entries will be considered in two categories: U.S. grades 4-5 and 6-8. If you are a homeschool or international student between the ages of 9 and 14, your work will be considered in the category that corresponds with your age.

Submission Fee

There is no fee for submitting your work.

Deadline

The submission deadline for Grannie Annie, Vol. 3 is February 14, 2008. Mailed entries must be postmarked on or before this date. E-mailed entries must be sent on or before this date.

Honoring the Authors

Taking part in The Grannie Annie Family Story Celebration brings many rewards: You’ll learn something new about your family's history, develop a stronger connection with the earlier generations of your family, and hone your writing skills. In addition, you’ll produce an important story that preserves a piece of your family’s history — a story that you can share with your family, your school, and your community.

In the spirit of celebration and in an effort to honor all of the 2008 Grannie Annie authors, ten or more stories in each submission category will be chosen for publication in Grannie Annie, Vol. 3. Authors of the published stories will receive two complimentary copies of the book. These stories will also be posted on this Web site.

Titles of stories chosen for honorable mention will be included in the book and listed on this Web site, along with the authors’ names. This listing will not only honor each family’s story as a unique contribution, it will also spark readers’ memories of their own family stories.

Announcement of Contest Results

The stories that are chosen for publication will be announced on April 1, 2008, on this Web site. In addition, the authors of chosen stories will be notified via e-mail.

How to Purchase the Books

You will be able to order Grannie Annie, Vol. 3 early in 2008.

You can order Grannie Annie, Vols. 1 and 2 now through the Thumbprint Press Web site, or by phone, fax, or mail from Portico Books. The toll-free phone or fax number is 1-888-641-5353. To order by check use the printable order form on the Portico Books Web site. (Think family, friends, school and public libraries, teacher gifts, neighborhood retirement and nursing homes, holiday gifts . . . !)   

Writing Assistance

There are many resources available to help you write the best story you can write. You may find it helpful to read the stories that were selected for publication in Grannie Annie, Vols. 1 and 2. The stories are available on this Web site and in book form.

While your story must be written by you, you are encouraged to ask your friends to read and comment on your work. You may ask teachers or parents to do the same. Then decide what changes, if any, you want to make.

Guidelines for Entry

Be sure to follow The Grannie Annie Official Guidelines so that your story will be eligible for Grannie Annie, Vol. 3.

Contest Entry Form

The Grannie Annie Official Entry Form must accompany your story and/or illustration.

Submission Information For Teachers

Teachers who are submitting their students' entries must complete and enclose one copy of The Grannie Annie Teacher Submission Form in addition to their students' Official Entry Forms. The information provided on this form will facilitate communication regarding students' submissions and recognition.

The Grannie Annie in the Classroom and Beyond

We offer a variety of resources to enhance your Grannie Annie experience, complement your curriculum, and utilize the wealth of information in this collection of amazing family stories:

The Grannie Annie Calendar, The Grannie Annie Index, Your Grannie Annie Interview, Writing Your Grannie Annie Story, Revising Your Grannie Annie Story, Letter to Parents / Guardians, Poster

The Story Behind The Grannie Annie

This contest honors Ann Guirreri Cutler, the original Grannie Annie, who was passionate about saving family stories. In 1996 she and Connie McIntyre, of Books from the Heart™ and Thumbprint Press, began creation of a series of handmade books that captured Ann’s family’s stories. Through the years, Ann devised many innovative ways to inspire other families to preserve their own stories for future generations. When Connie McIntyre joined with Portico Books’ Fran Hamilton to create a writing contest, The Grannie Annie was born. Surprised by the honor, Ann was delighted by The Grannie Annie mission and quickly became an enthusiastic supporter. She generously shared her expertise through The Grannie Annie's first two seasons, until her death in 2007 following a lengthy illness.

The mission of The Grannie Annie — to discover, share, and celebrate family stories — springs from a belief in the transformative power of “story.” Imagine that you learn from a family member that your great-grandparents were treated with suspicion when they settled in a new country. They were disliked and mistrusted because their speech, customs, and beliefs were different from those of people around them. After hearing this family story, you may notice that you feel more accepting of a new student in your school. When you look at faces in the news you may see the joys, sorrows, and families behind them. In some unexplainable way, you may feel unity with someone whose life seems very different from yours. Quietly, surely, the world moves one step closer to peace.

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