Award-winning artist Robin E. Kaplan creates illustrations for the winners of Mrs. P's "Be
A Famous Writer" contest. Photo: www.MrsP.com
Today, Portland-based children's story time website MrsP.com announced the winners of its first nationwide kids' writing contest.
Mrs. P's "Be a Famous Writer" contest invited kids from across the country to submit original short stories. After receiving hundreds of submissions, the judges narrowed them down to ten finalists and today, MrsP.com announced the winners:
Gabrielle Fuller, age 8, from North Carolina, won in the 4-8 year old category for her comic fairy tale Pretty Princess and Funky Frog.
Isabella Penola, age 12, from New York, won in the 9-13 year old category for her story, Spattered Mud and Crushed Petals about an elderly gardener.
Actress Kathy Kinney, who portrays Mrs. P and is one of the co-founders of the site, read each and every story submitted for the contest.
"Like everyone, I’m concerned about the state of education in America, " she said. "But based on the quality of writing for my contest, I’m happy to say a lot of teachers out there must be doing a wonderful job.”
In a previous interview with Portland Books Examiner, Kinney also talked about how much fun she had reading all of the stories. “They’re so creative, really charming, fun,” she said. “I look forward to reading those entries like you would a really good box of chocolates.”
Fuller and Penola will now have their stories produced as videos featuring Mrs. P. The video stories will be available for free on MrsP.com for a limited time beginning in March, accompanied by original artwork from award-winning illustrator Robin E. Kaplan.
In additon, Fuller and Penola will each receive a bound copy of their story, with Kaplan's illustrations. They will also receive gift certificates from Powell's Books, which sponsored the contest. The other 8 finalists will also recieve Powell's gift certificates.
The ten finalists and the two winners were selected by a panel of celebrity judges, including four with professional experience in writing: Pulitzer Prize-winner Dave Barry, Andre Bormanis (writer and producer of "Legend of the Seeker" and author of Star Trek: Science Logs), Craig Ferguson (host of the CBS "Late Late Show" and author of Between the Bridge and the River) and Diana Leszczynski (author of Fern Verdant and the Silver Rose).
Mrs. P's "Be a Famous Writer Contest" will run every September -- so look for another chance to enter later this year. The founders of MrsP.com created the contest to encourage a love of reading.
“We wanted to stimulate children’s imaginations,” Kinney said. “To give them that thrill of creating something with words and the ‘Be a Famous Writer’ contest seemed like a great way to do that.”
You can visit Mrs. P's Magic Library online to view more children's stories for free, as well as explore interactive features, activities and more.
For more on MrsP.com, check out these articles:
- Exclusive interview Part 1: Kathy Kinney dishes on the joys of reading & Mrs. P's kids' writing contest
- Exclusive interview Part 2: Kathy Kinney of MrsP.com shares the secrets of the Magic Library
- Exclusive interview Part 3: Mrs. P's Kathy Kinney branches out with two new books
- Mrs. P's Magic Library gets a makeover (and it's fantastic)
- Brush up on "Rapunzel" at Mrs. P's Magic Library before Disney's next big feature
- Before you see Disney's "The Princess and the Frog," read the original story for free with Mrs. P
- Rudyard Kipling's "Rikki Tiki Tavi" joins the collection of free stories in Mrs. P's Magical Library
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