I mentioned in yesterday’s Perfect Picture Book Friday post that Katy was one of the first bloggers I connected with. Her Non-Toxic Kids blog really appealed to me and I immediately signed up to follow it – and I’m still subscribed!
Katy Farber is a Continue reading
Hurray! It is time to unveil the stories for this year’s #50PreciousWordsforKids International Writing Challenge.
The stories came from all over the United States – Michigan, Minnesota, Texas, North Carolina, Maryland, California, Iowa, Maine, and even my state of New Hampshire, plus one entry with awesome illustrations from across the pond in Northern Ireland!
I thank all of the parents and teachers who encouraged their children to participate and made it possible for us to enjoy the work of these young authors. And I thank all of the kids who shared their precious words with us!
Here were the guidelines:
And here are the stories!!!
I’M NENI
by Tessa
2nd grade
Maryland
I’m Neni. I moved this summer to the United States. At my new school, Ms. Santiago told me to present a talent. I danced. A boy stood and yelled, “Hey Miss African girl–you’re hurting my eyes.” I kept dancing proudly and everybody clapped at the end. Even that boy.
CRYSTAL RUN!
by Claire M
Age 10 – 4th grader
Michigan
I’m running through a forest with a crystal. I need to get it to the heart of the forest. Robots are chasing me! I got it so I could save the world which is falling apart. I see the pedestal! I place it down and the robots shut down.
Cupcake
by Dempsey
Age 10 – 4th grader
“I want a cupcake,” Ava yelled.
“No,” screamed her mom, “after lunch.”
“Fine,” Ava said.
So Ava ate her lunch and got a cupcake.
“I want vanilla!” Ava yelled, “Not chocolate!”
“You get what you get and you don’t throw a fit,” screamed her mom.
“AHHHHH.”
No cupcake.
The Lemonade Stand
by Elise L.
2nd grade
Rochester Central Lutheran School in Rochester, Minnesota.
It was a hot day. I wanted to make a lemonade stand. I love lemonade! First, I got lemons, ice cubes, and sugar. Then, I made the lemonade and the stand. Next, I put up my stand. Finally, I advertised for it. Lots of customers came. Best lemonade stand ever!!!
RAINING CARROTS?
by
Abel, Amoura, Anala, Andrew, Brandon, Briony, Carli, Eliana, Elias, George, Irwin, Josiah, Lakai, Liam, Lucy, Marvin, Nathan, Rinko, Ruca, Savannah, Sawyer, Sienna, Talia, and Wardah
Who are kindergarten students from:
David Lubin Elementary School
Sacramento, CA
In Mrs. Catherine Hashimoto’s Class
It was raining carrots at the David Lubin playground, so the students in Mrs. Hashimoto’s class sadly went inside. Suddenly, out came Super Bunny. She ate all the clouds; then swept up all the carrots into the bag. The kids said, “Thank you!” and ate the carrots at the playground.
The Dinosaur Loved the Dog
by Keagan
7-years old
Oklahoma
The dinosaur went through the woods.
Over the desert.
Swam the river and ate chocolate mud.
He had to take a shower.
Then he went to bed.
He dreamed he was walking with a puppy.
He woke up and found the puppy sleeping by him.
The dinosaur loved the puppy.
The Blue Jay Eats
by Amelia
6 years old
Oklahoma
Hi! I’m a blue jay. My name is Buster. I eat berries from the berry tree. The tree is green with lots of fruit on top. I fly around the tree. Lots of fruit is falling off to me. They are so very pink. They make juice for me.
The First Epic Adventure
by Linnea
8 years old – 3rd grade
Tom Wilson Elementary, Katy, Texas
One day two adventurous bunnies went on a roller coaster. They took control of the drivers seats and blasted to Mount Everest. Then they said “one small step for bunny, one giant leap for bunnykind.” Then they flew up on stars to conquer the Moon and hopefully reunite with Kirby.
TRAIN BLASTING OFF
by Ronen K.
Age 6
Saratoga, CA
Once there were some trains, one had rockets on the back. The train that had rockets blasted off into space. The train never came back, ever again. The other trains were worried that it ran out of fuel. But the train did not run out of fuel, it was electric.
A Comic Strip Cartoon Between Two Dragons
by Delenne
Northern Ireland
1. “Where’s the cookies? Humm”
2. “I don’t see any cookies”
3. “Well this is a job for Emerald Holmes”
4. “Who would eat the cookies except for me?”
5. “Ah ha!”
“You ate the cookies, didn’t you Lavender?”
“No, I DIDN’T!”
6. “Did you check the cookie cam?”
“Nope”
7. (shows green dragon eating cookies at 2am with the date 5/5/18)
8. “So, who ate the cookies?”
9. “Uhhh.”
TUXEDO KITTEN
by Ariah L.
Age 9
Biddeford, Maine
was nine weeks old when she got adopted at a shelter by a family.
FLAMINGO IS MY BEST FRIEND
The Vacation
by Nehemiah
Age 6
North Carolina
There was a boy who loved video games, but he only had 10 minutes to play. As soon as he started, it was time to leave for vacation. They saw cool animals and wanted a dog for a pet. They found one at the dog store, and they loved him.
The Playful Kitten
by Naomi
Age 7
North Carolina
There was a little kitten that had on mittens. It was cute and black with green, sparkling eyes. Her name was Sweet Pea, and she loved fish for a snack. She loved to play with her owner where the other cute little animals were playing in the park.
The End
The #50PreciousWordsForKids International Writing Challenge is now OPEN!
Last month, I hosted a challenge for writers. I invited them to create a story for children in 50 words or less. #50PreciousWords drew hundreds of participants. What amazed me was the incredible creativity that was unleashed by the restrictive word limit.
MAGIC HAPPENS WHEN YOU MAKE EVERY WORD COUNT!
Last year, one of the participants told me that she and her six-year old daughter had an amazing bonding experience. Seeing her mom writing, the little girl wanted to write a story also. And she did. And her mom shared it with me.
DINOSAUR SNOW by Bethany (age 6)
It snowed a lot through the day. Pteranodon and her sister Teethless were bored. Pteranodon said, “I planned to go outside and it’s almost time for lunch. Oh it’s 11:00. Let’s go wake Mom and Dad.” “You’re right,” said Teethless. So they did. And then they ate lunch.
And when my eight-year old grandson spent a day with me, he wanted to write one, too.
Locked Out by Jeremy (age 8)
One evening, when me and my mom got home from school, we tried to unlock our door. We heard a snap. Our house key broke! We went to our neighbors for help. They said, “Get a ladder and climb into a window.” We followed their advice. Unlocked the door. Home!
Those two stories got me excited! As a retired kindergarten teacher, I’ve always been on a mission to help kids become lovers of books and reading. As many of you know, now I write for children. And I love it! My four debut picture books will launch next year.
I thought, what if I could encourage kids to become the storytellers! And so, #50PreciousWordsforKids was born.
#50PreciousWordsforKids coincides with Children’s Book Week, April 30 to May 6.
EVERY CHILD in grades K-6 is invited to participate.
This is an INTERNATIONAL challenge…there will be stories flying in from all around the world!
Teachers can have each child write a story of 50 words or less…then the teacher and/or class will choose one story to submit. Perhaps this can be a whole-school event to celebrate Children’s Book Week. Or just a single class project. If several kids want to work together or the teacher wants to submit a collaborative class story, that would be lovely!.
Parents are invited to encourage their children to write a story at home (whether or not they are homeschooled) – parents can email me one story per child.
My only rule is that the stories must be emailed to me by a teacher or parent (or other child-care facilitator).
Here are the guidelines:
The challenge runs April 30 to May 6 and the stories need to be emailed to me: viviankirkfield@gmail.com by 11:59pm on Sunday, May 7th.
I’ll enter those stories on my Thursday, May 11th blog post.
All teachers and parents will receive a certificate that can be copied and personalized with the name of each child who participated.
Please, dear readers, help spread the word by sharing this post on your social media channels and by reaching out to your teacher and parent connections.
If you have any questions or need clarification, just email me: viviankirkfield@gmail.com.
What a wonderful opportunity for kids to become the storytellers.
Last year we had entries from 15 states and four foreign countries! I wonder where the stories will come from this year. But, no matter where they come from…
…I’m excited to read all of their precious words.
WILL WRITE FOR COOKIES
INSIGHT – INFORMATION – INSPIRATION
FOR WRITERS
TODAY’S GUEST
SUSANNA LEONARD HILL
DO YOU WANT TO WRITE PICTURE BOOKS, MG, YA? wELL, FASTEN YOUR SEAT BELTS…BECAUSE YOU ARE IN FOR A WILD RIDE. Luckily, in this kidlit community, we have a couple of amazing mentors who are always there to help. ..even in the midst of busy book blog tours!
Susanna…thank you so much for stopping by to chat with us today! Welcome to Picture Books Help Kids Soar! The floor is yours!
Hi Everyone!
(And Vivian, thank you so much for inviting me for cookies again! You know what a sweet tooth I have!)
Vivian and I thought that today perhaps we’d have a frank discussion about the writing life. Continue reading
