Mrs. P's Reading is Cool Blog

Where are They Now? The Magic of Writing - Catching Up with 2009 Winner Gabrielle Fuller

This year will mark the 5th year of my annual Be-a-Famous Writer contest for kids.  I thought why not celebrate this in a big way.  I put on my thinking cap and came up with a grand idea.  I went back to all the past winners and some of the finalist to find out what they have been up too.  It truly has been completely magical for me to read what they have shared and that is why I decided to have “Magic” be the theme for my 5th annual writing contest.

I learned that in most cases, the Be-a-Famous Writer contest was the first contest these young writers had ever entered.  Collectively, this talented young group has gone onto win several Betty Awards, a National Gold Medal in the Scholastic Arts and Writing Contest, the PBS Kids Go Young Writers & Illustrators Contest, and various poetry contests including being selected to be one of thirty poems to be published. They have created book clubs at their schools, been selected as a reviewer for Stone Soup Magazine, served as role models in their school districts and their states, and achieved success in various library writing contests and reading council contests.
 
This will be the first of an eight week series featuring these inspirational young authors. Each week they will share their stories in a variety of ways, including excepts from some of their other writing projects. They also share their wisdom about what writing has done for them; from building their confidence, to insights about winning and what happens when you don’t.  I hope you will check back each week to read “Where are They Now?”, I think you will be very impressed, just as I have been.

So now let’s check in with Gabrielle Fuller from N.C. She was 8 years old when she won the grand prize of my very first writing contest.  Her story was a comic fairy tale and you can watch it now "Pretty Princess and Funky Frog".  

Here is what she had to say about winning the contest:

"Winning the grand prize in your writing contest was a dream come true. I’ve been writing stories since a I was really little and all I had wanted was to have a book published and your contest helped me accomplish that goal. When I do write stories now they are more on a personal family level, but I will always be grateful to you for the opportunity to see my book in print. It is beautiful. It will be fun to read this year’s contest winners’ stories."
Thanks,
Gabrielle Fuller

Next week I’ll be catching up with Brianna Beebe my 2010 winner with a special question and answer session. 

Be sure to bookmark my contest site for your classroom. The contest opens September 1st for entries. And a special thanks to my sponsors too.  BuyerTopia, Tales2Go, Powell’s Books & Polka Dots Publishing and Penelope the Purple Pirate.  They are making sure the schools win all year long with their great prizes!

MrsP.com Be-a-Famous Writer Contest Celebrates 5th Year with Exciting Sponsor Line Up!

To celebrate the 5th year of my annual Be-a-Famous writer contest for kids, I have a great line up of sponsors who all understand the power of books and how needed they are for schools across the county.  This year to contest is for classrooms only. The sponsors and I thought bringing a little "magic" into the classroom would be our way of thanking teachers across the country with some great prizes for their schools. *Parents you can still participate by telling your child's teacher about the contest.

Let's meet the 5th annual writing contest sponsors:

   

We are very excited to have Tales2Go join us as a new sponsor this year. Tales2Go is an award-winning kids' mobile audiobook service that streams thousands of name-brand titles from leading publishers and storytellers to mobile devices and desktops in the classroom and beyond. They will be providing a One-Year Subscription to Tales2Go for your Class Up to 10 users ($180 value)

myON reader ia also a new sponsor this year.  myOn is a complete literacy solution that reinvents student reading. Providing anytime, anywhere access to thousands of award-winning digital books, myON reader recommends content to readers at their interest and at their level. The winning classroom will receive a year subscription (to share with the entire school) to myON reader, a personalized reading resource. Every student will receive a unique login and password and have unlimited access to over 4,000 enhanced digital books available on desktops, laptops, netbooks, tablets, and more. Students and teachers will be able to track how many books they read, measure their reading growth and forecast the reading level. (a $7250 value).

Buyer Topia is a nonprofit established in 2002 to promote reading and foster giving to the causes, charities, churches, schools, youth groups, and service organizations that do such important work.  They now provide store systems for over 2,200,000 nonprofits, each with almost 7,200,000 products. They have the lowest expense ratio and the most features and benefits in fundraising. Buyer Topia will be providing a Gift Certificate for $100 to purchase books to the winning school and two $50 certificates to the two runners up.

Polka Dots Publishing, Inc. was founded in December of 2010. Their goal is to create interactive and educational children’s storybook apps utilizing digital technology as well as offering print books available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Penelope the Purple Pirate & Polka Dots Publishing will be making possible 2 copies of the story for the winning classroom that will be made into an actual book with color illustrations created by Robin Robinson for the classroom & school library. 

Powell's Books is the largest independent used and new bookstore in the world. They have been with us from the very first contest and we can't thank them enough for their continued support.  They will provide the winning school $150 in Powell’s Book Gift card and two other schools will each get $50 gift cards as well. 

And there are more books for classrooms just for entering the writing contest! Classrooms will be randomly drawn out of the computer.

• Five schools will receive either Penelope the Purple Pirate, Gerry the Giraffe or Clarence and the Traveling Circus for their school courtesy of Polka Dots Publishing.
• One lucky school will be selected to Skype with award winning author Melissa Northway, the writer and creator of the Penelope series along with many other unique stories. 
• 10 schools will receive Garfield posters autographed by creator Jim Davis.

                                                                 
So spread a little "Magic" in your classroom through my Be-a-Famous Writer Contest that opens September 1, 2013 for entries.  I have extened the entry dates to give teachers more time to coordinate the contest as a class project too.  See all the changes at my officical contest website! 

MARK THOSE CALENDARS! SEPT 1st!