 The wait is finally over and we have the results! Yes, it's time to announce the winners. But before I do, I'd like to thank every child who wrote a story and participated ― you are brave, creative, and you took action! You should be proud of yourself. It might seem like a small step, but it's a really important one because "Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try." ―Gail Devers The judges and I had a great time reading each and every story! We all pulled for our favorites, arranged and rearranged our choices, discussed and reconsidered the submissions according to the evaluation criteria. As a reminder, the stories were judged based on the following: connection to the theme (Pets), originality, twist, use of literary devices, creativity and overall appeal of the story/writing. We saw strong writing, imaginative plots, and we really loved the twists! So picking the winners was not an easy task, but we had to stick to the rules. (We still couldn't help it and threw in some extra recognition in the end.) Once again, thank you all for entering the KWEST Contest and a special thank you to all the teachers and librarians who assisted the students in sending their submissions. We hope you'll participate again next year when we'll make the competition even bigger and better! I know you're all impatient to find out who the winners are. Just one more announcement before I reveal the results. In April, which is poetry month, I am opening a poetry contest called Haiku Hype. I'll be giving away a kids Kindle e-reader plus a bunch of other cool prizes! Teachers will have a chance to win something, too. So stay tuned for guidelines when I announce the opening of the contest and be ready to jump in. It'll be fun!  Participate in Haiku Hype in April for a chance to win a Kindle for kids! Teachers and Librarians who submit their students' poems will be entered in a drawing for a chance to win a Starbucks gift card. Don't miss this amazing contest.  And now...Drum roll, please!   Sprinkler by Parker N. (3rd Grade, Van Elementary, IN) Once upon a time I had a hamster named Sprinkler. I build hamster tubes they ran all over the house even outside! Sooner or later he was loving the tubes. Rumble! Rumble! Crash! Crack! Boom! The hamster tubes broke and Sprinkler got out. We looked everywhere he wasn't anywhere. Until I heard Spat! A truck just came by red was on the road. He's gone. He couldn't be gone he couldn't. Two days later I heard rustling in the bushes then a small hamster comes out Sprinkler your back Mom Sprinkler is back!  Life by Chloe L. (3rd Grade, George H. Mitchell Elementary, MA) My name is Jack. I live on the streets of New York. You might feel bad for me. Nothing to eat, being shivering in the cold in the winter, but life is not that bad. Enough hot dog carts to steal food from. Enough rain water to drink. Enough love from pigeons when they purposely drop poop on your head. On winter nights I sleep in the dumpster because there might be some leftover coffee. Life was good. One day my life changed. I woke up to the sweet smell of hot dogs. I followed the smell as dawn began to rise. All of a sudden, I was in a van. A girl named Megan was taking me to her apartment. She is the most kind girl I know. I know what you are thinking, "Why wouldn't I run away from a stranger?" I was a street dog. I could now imagine being a pet. Now I like it. Life is good.  Yes pet No pet by Braelynn Jones (3rd Grade, Van Elementary, IN) Pets. Pets pets pets. A lot of people have pets. They come in all shapes and sizes. They come from all over the world. Also they come in all kinds of different breeds. Dogs, cats, birds. You name it. "Mom dad!" "I want a pet." Yelled Suki. "But you're to young." Mom said. "No I'm not." Replied Suki. "Tell you what." Dad said. "You have to show us you can take care of a robot first then we'll make a decision." "Yay." Suki yelled. So Suki and her parents went to pick up the robot in the shop. When they got home Suki went to work with the robot. She played with it fed it led it on a walk. Also dad wasn't very happy when he found out Suki fed the robot his nails and bolts. After Suki's trial with the robot her parents made the decision. "Can I please have a pet." Suki pleaded. "No!"  The Blue Fox by Alaina N. (3rd Grade, Van Elementary, IN) Once there was a blue for he lived in a small cave house on the east side of foxvill. So let me tell you how I feel about being the only blue fox in the world yup it's me the blue fox. When I was born my mom thought that I was sick so she took me to the doctor he said there was nothing wrong with me so I went home. When I got older I went to school it was horrible everyone made fun of me. When I was walking home one day a giant grabbed me and brought me to there house. They put me in a cage in a big room. Then another giant came in and looked at me the held me and hugged. I was a pet now and it was weird. Then I noticed that the giant that was hugging me was blue too! I live with the giant now. I love it.  Doggy Daycare Blues by Kristin W. (3rd Grade, George H. Mitchell Elementary, Bridgewater, MA) How is a little Chihuahua like me supposed to survive in Doggy Daycare with a dog like Max? He's the meanest German shepherd in Daycare. Minding my own business, I went to lie down on the dog bed. Max pushed me out of the way and jumped on the bed while laughing at me. Later on at lunch, Max's food fell into the water and was no good. Even though Max isn't very nice to me, I pushed my food over and offered to share. Max was surprised by my offer but happy to have some food to eat. After realizing how mean he was to me, Max apologized for the way he had been treating me. That afternoon Max and I played together will all the toys. I said to Max "It was a good day, see you tomorrow." I guess Doggy Daycare wasn't so bad after all. Max and I are now best friends. ~ ~ ~ (*No edits have been done―stories typed as received ** None of the judges had any affiliation with the schools or teachers submitting and judging was done blindly.) HONORABLE MENTIONS: Macy the Lazy Cat by Hope H. (3rd Grade) A Cat's Tale by Jillian K. (3rd Grade) Toy Animals by Braeden S. (3rd Grade)   Note to the teachers and librarians from the winning schools: Please have children who placed in 1st through 3rd place pick their choice of prize from the appropriate box in the prizes chart (find it here) and send me their preference, i.e. Amazon or Toys R Us gift card, choice of book etc. Also, please send me your school's mailing address and name of teacher/librarian recipient. If I don't hear from you in the next three days, I'll just pick for the students and mail the prizes. Prizes and special certificates will be on their way to the winners soon! Thank you all again! A huge shout out to the wonderful judges for their time and contribution. Kids, keep writing, reading, and creating!
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 The KWEST contest is now open! I am happy to introduce this new feature on my blog for elementary school students in grades 3-5 that will run periodically (no set schedule for now). This is a nationwide competition for creative writing with a theme, a twist and , of course, PRIZES! Teachers and librarians will have 30 days from the contest opening date to submit the best entries that they select to send me (see rules for the stories below). Please use the contact form at the bottom of this post and include the following with your submission: --The student's first name & last name initial --What grade they are in --The name of your school --The city and state Prizes awarded will be for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. UPDATE: We are adding 4th and 5th place prizes as well! (Check below for the current list.) Speaking of prizes . . . Third place will get one of my books of their choice (valued between $10.99-$16.99). Second place prize is a boy or girl Lego set (valued between $15-$20). First prize is a $25 Amazon or Toys R Us gift card (winner's choice)! The three winning stories will be posted on my blog and bragging rights awarded with a special certificate :) UPDATE: Author and Contest Judge, Jenna Grodzicki, will also donate a copy of one of her books to each of the first three winners! Are you excited yet? Here are the story crafting rules: 1. Write a short story of no more than 160 words with a title, a beginning, middle and end. (Title not included in the word count.) 2. The story MUST have a twist of some kind (like a surprising ending). 3. The story must be related to the theme announced for each competition. It's time to announce the theme for this installment . . . and it is . . . PETS! Any type of pet -- real or imaginary. You can make your story funny, sweet, scary, clever, gross etc. Just remember to have a twist at the end. Judging will be handled by our panel of professional writers and educators (listed below). Stories will be evaluated based on craft, execution, originality, use of literary devices, and how clever and surprising the twist is. The contest closes on 2/16 at 11:59 p.m. If you have any questions, please ask me in the comments. There's a PDF file attached with the contest rules for teachers and librarians to print and distribute to students, just add the date you'd like the entries turned in, then submit to me no later than 2/16/18. I can't wait to read your submissions. Good luck! Now, ready? Set! Go! *By submitting, you agree to allow me to post the winning story on my website and use excerpts for promotional purposes. The contest is now closed. The judges are reading and evaluating submissions. Results and winners will be posted soon! 
 Judges Panel:
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Check out the list of cool prizes!!!   |
About Rosie J. Pova
Rosie J. Pova is a multi-published, award-winning children's author and kid lit Writing Coach. She's the creator of Picture Book Mastery System™ that is proven to help emerging children's writers advance their career and get closer to their publishing goals.
Rosie's latest picture book, Sunday Rain, was featured in The New York Times and recommended by Parents magazine. Her upcoming picture book, The School of Failure: A Story About Success will be released in the spring of 2022 in both China and the USA. Rosie also loves to visit schools and her interactive workshops empower students to unleash their creativity and grow in confidence through reading, writing, and creating. Teachers and librarians love Rosie for her bubbly, upbeat personality which captures students' attention, encourages them to think creatively, and motivates them to pursue big dreams. She has been featured on TV, radio, podcasts, and print media, and also speaks on women's and moms’ topics, sharing her journey from a Bulgarian immigrant to a published author. Find out more about Rosie's online courses, mentorships, and her work by visiting her website: RosieJPova.com Check out her Critique Services here, her Workshops here, and her school visits page here. Rosie is represented by Jackie Kruzie of Focused Artists. Twitter: @RosiePOV 
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