We had more than 100 terrific entries for our recently concluded illustrated diary writing contest. One thing which is clear from the results is that kids have not only been reading popular series’ such as The Diary of a Wimpy Kid and The Dork Diaries, they have been learning how to express themselves in the genre as well. See for yourself!
First of all here is one of our three Grand Prize Winners, Amelia, with her winning entry and her prize, a signed copy of The Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
Here is Amelia’s terrific entry. Her delighted parents confirmed that 14 out of 16 Thanksgiving dinner attendees had gotten sick from the meal!
Our second grand prize entry has it all!
Our third grand prize winner Ben is much younger than the other two winners. We were as impressed as we were charmed by the effectiveness with which he integrated the illustartion and the text to paint a vivid scene.
This runner up entry helps clarify how kids feel about The Diork Diaries books.
Many parents, educators, and booksellers wonder how effective illustrated diaries are at developing kids as readers in general. We didn’t answer that question but I think it is obvious that illustrated diaries are teaching kids to translate what they are reading into a dynamic from of self expression.Many thanks to our sponsors at Simon and Schuster, the teachers who worked with us to engage kids in the contest, and of course all the kids who participated!
Nice job, Amelia and all writers! (But sorry about that Thanksgiving dinner…..)
And, thanks DDG, for another opportunity for local kids.
Tracy