Awards and Recognition

2019 NAPPA Award winner for The Princess & the Pickup Truck

2018 Vandalia Award- West Virginia’s highest folk arts award

2018 Parents’ Choice Silver Award- Raised on Hosewater, CD

2017 CityBeat Critic’s Pick- Cincy Fringe Festival

2016 Parents’ Choice Silver Award- Bottle Rockets, CD

2015 Parents’ Choice Gold Award- Wally! Come Down Right Now! CD

2015 Anne Izzard Storyteller’s Choice Award- The King of Little Things

2015 Storytelling World Award- Egg Babies, CD

2015 Parent’s Choice Gold Award- Wally! Come Down Right Now!, CD

2014 PEN Steven Kroll Award for Picture Book Writing

 for The King of Little Things, Book

2014 National Book Festival- The King of Little Things

 selected by WV Library Comm. to represent all books by WV authors

2014 Irma Black Award Honoree- The King of Little Things

2014 Kansas Reading Assoc. Bill Martin, Jr. Picture Book Award Finalist

 for The King of Little Things

2013 Parents’ Choice Gold Award - The King of Little Things

2013 Kirkus Starred Review -The King of Little Things

2002-2016 Featured Performer at the National Storytelling Festival

2013 Parents’ Choice Silver Award – Egg Babies, CD

2012 Number 1 Best Seller in its category on Amazon/Kindle

 for Muddling Through, parenting book

2012 Comedy Central Stage on Hudson

2011 Storytelling World Award- Vampire Santa, CD

2011 National Storytelling Network Circle of Excellence Award

2010 Parents’ Choice Silver Award – Vampire Santa, CD
2009 Parents’ Choice Approved Award– King of Little Things, CD
2008 NAPPA Honors Award- Mayhem Dressed Like an Eight Point Buck, CD
2008 Storytelling World Award Honors – Teacher & The Divine Bovine, CDs
2006 Parents’ Choice Approved Award – Teacher in the Patriotic Bathing Suit, CD
2003 Featured Storyteller at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival

2000 Storytelling World Award – The Monster Stick, Book
2000 PLA/ALLS Best New Books for New Adult Readers – The Monster Stick, Book
1992, 1996-1999 Five Time Champion – WV Liars Contest

 

Awards Specifically for The King of Little Things picture book

 

PEN Steven Kroll Award for Picture Book Writing 
Zena Sutherland Award for Children’s Literature
Parents’ Choice Gold Award 

National Book Festival- The King of Little Things selected by WV Library Comm. to represent all books by WV authors

2014 Korea Institute of Child Education and Culture Chief Book Selected 
Irma Black Award Honoree
Kansas Reading Assoc. Bill Martin, Jr. Picture Book Award Finalist

Delaware Diamonds Nominee

 

The King of Little Things Reviews

 

Kirkus Starred Review: “Adults and children who read this delightful and imaginative book together will find lots to talk about.”

 

School Library Journal:  “There are plenty of humorous details… The witty writing enlivens this fable about appreciating the small things in life."  

 

Wall Street Journal: "It turns out that little things are the ultimate fifth columnists. When Normous attacks, the little things rebel: "Bolts bolted. Brakes jolted. Cookies crumbled. Blocks tumbled. . . . And every little thing, everywhere, refused to work." No points for guessing which king prevails in this endearing and satisfying picture book for readers ages 5-10.here."

 

Publishers Weekly: “It’s hard to miss the point of this fable about the kindly King of Little Things…  Small, Lepp clearly feels, is beautiful. Yet the story doesn’t pall. Wenzel delivers Mad magazine–style spreads of medieval feasts, battles, capes, and crowns. Brainy wordplay abounds, and a scavenger hunt is included, too. Lepp affirms living simply without sounding smarmy, and Wenzel offers a king whose underpants fall off. What’s not to like?” 

 

Selected Appearances

 

National Storytelling Festival, TN
Smithsonian Folk Life Festival, Washington, DC
Timpanogos Storytelling Festival, Orem, UT

Indian Summer Storytelling Festival, Vernal, UT
Cave Run Storytelling Festival, Morehead, KY
Southern Ohio Storytelling Festival
Three Rivers Storytelling Festival, Pittsburgh, PA
Ojai Storytelling Festival, CA
Pigeon Forge Storytelling Festival, TN
Kansas Storytelling Festival
Four Corners Storytelling Festival, NM
WV State Parks
Patchwork Storytelling Festival, SC
Dogwood Festival, Dowagiac, MI
Laurinburg Storytelling Festival, NC
Sierra Storytelling Festival, Nevada City, CA
Selma Storytelling Festival, AL
Athens Storytelling Festival, AL
Brandywine Storytelling Festival, DE
Frisco Storytelling Festival, TX
Stitching Stars Festival, Athens, GA
Mariposa Storytelling Festival, CA
Akron Storytelling Festival, OH
Ocala Storytelling Festival, FL
Louisiana Library Tour, LA
Winter Tales, Oklahoma City, OK
Schaumburg Prairie Center for the Arts Storytelling Festival, IL
St. Louis Storytelling Festival
Buffalo Commons Storytelling Festival, McCook NE
Hoosier Storytelling Festival, Indianapolis, IN
Arkansas Storytelling Festival, Degray Resort, AR
Tapestry of Tales, Portland, OR
Florida Story Camp
Stories by Sea, Malibu, CA
Smithsonian to the Mountains Tour
Smokey River Festival, KS
Storytelling Festival by the Sea, Trinidad, CA
Michigan Storytelling Festival, MI
Bristol Storytelling Festival, IN
Bay Area Storytelling Festival, San Francisco, CA
Washington Storyteller’s Theater, DC
George West Storytelling Festival, TX

 

Publications

Audio

Book Report, Buckdog Records, Charleston, WV, 2019.

Skeeter & Bil Break the Ocean, Buckdog Records, Charleston, WV. 2018.

Raised on Hose Water, Road Candy Records, Christiansburg, VA. 2017.

Fortune Turkey Tunaball, Road Candy Records, Christiansburg, VA. 2016

Bottle Rockets, stories by Bil Lepp: Road Candy Records, Christiansburg, VA. 2015.

Wally! Come Down Right Now, stories by Bil Lepp: Road Candy Records, Christiansburg, VA. 2014.

Adverse Conditions, stories by Bil Lepp: Road Candy Records, Christiansburg, VA. 2014.

Not So Silent Night- Various Artists: Road Candy Records, Christiansburg, VA. 2013.

Egg Babies, stories by Bil Lepp: Quarrier Press, Charleston, WV. 2012.
Claude Dolin – It’s With Me All the Time- A True Story of WWII, story performed by Bil Lepp: BuckDog Records, Charleston, WV. 2011.
Diablo – or How I met My Wife, stories by Bil Lepp: Quarrier Press, Charleston, WV. 2011.
Vampire Santa, stories by Bil Lepp: Quarrier Press, Charleston, WV. 2010.
Fire! Fire! Pants on Liar!, stories by Bil Lepp: Quarrier Press, Charleston, WV. 2008.
The King of Little Things, stories by Bil Lepp: Quarrier Press, Charleston, WV. 2008.
Punching the Lard, stories by Bil Lepp: Buck-Dog Records, Charleston, WV. 2007.
The Great Rope Swing Misadventure, stories by Bil Lepp: Quarrier Press, Charleston, WV. 2006.
The Divine Bovine, stories by Bil Lepp: Quarrier Press, Charleston, WV. 2005.
The Teacher in the Patriotic Bathing Suit, stories by Bil Lepp: Quarrier Press, Charleston, WV. 2005.
Mayhem Dressed as an Eight Point Buck, stories by Bil Lepp: Quarrier Press, Charleston, WV. 2003.
Buck Meets the Monster Stick, stories by Bil and Paul Lepp: August House Publishers, Little Rock, AR. 2001.
 

Books

The Princess and the Pickup Truck, Quarrier Press, Charleston, WV. 2018
King of Little Things, Peachtree Publishers, Atlanta. 2013.

Muddling Through: Perspectives on Parenting, Familius Press, CA. 2012
Halfdollar, a novel, by Bil Lepp: Quarrier Press, Charleston, WV. October, 2008.
The Armadillo Recon Unit, by Bil Lepp: Quarrier Press, Charleston, WV. 2004.
Inept: Impaired: Overwhelmed, by Bil Lepp: Quarrier Press, Charleston, WV. 2002.

The Monster Stick and Other Appalachian Tall-Tales, by Paul and Bil Lepp: August House Publishers, Little Rock, AR. 1999.

Other

 

Lepp has published humorous articles and editorial commentaries periodically in the Charleston Gazette, the largest newspaper in WV.

 

(More) Nice Things People Have Said About Bil Lepp

 

“Bil Lepp, five-time winner of his state’s annual Liars’ Contest, goes for the funny bone…he nonchalantly lets drop the zinger to his tale. -- Johnette Rodriguez, Boston Globe

“Bil Lepp is one of the funniest men I have ever heard and what’s so amazing about Bil is that he makes you believe those wild stories he tells.”

— Kathryn Tucker Windham

 

“You got good stuff out there, kid.” – Peter Marshall, creator and host of Hollywood Squares

 

“…Lepp, a cross between Dr. Seuss and…film noir....” -Charleston Gazette