WHYY's Seventh Annual Reading Rainbow Young Writers and Illustrators Contest a Huge Success

Extra terrestrials, dogs, rats, storks and field trips all have one thing in common, they were all themes of the winning stories in the Seventh Annual Reading Rainbow Young Writers and Illustrators Contest sponsored by WHYY.

The contest was open to children in grades kindergarten through third. Each entry had to include a story, written entirely by the child and at least five original illustrations. In all, close to 500 submissions were received from youngsters throughout the region.

The first place winners were: Julie Anna Fain of Phoenixville, kindergarten, Benny, The Hungry Dog; John Pat Mooney of Limerick, first grade, The Football Alien; Kimberly Fabian of Newark, second grade, Rats and the Trouble with Storks; and Stephan Bradley of Wynnfield, third grade, Ms. Dusty's Field Trip.

See the Winning Entries

All four first place stories will now be judged at the national level in Lincoln Nebraska at GPN-TV, the producer of Reading Rainbow. National winners will have their stories read on the air by host Levar Burton. The program airs on TV12 weekdays at 2:30 p.m.

"This type of educational outreach is one of the things that make the programming on WHYY so special. Not only does Reading Rainbow entertain, but allows participation from the children in a hands-on, creative way," said WHYY Vice President of Educational Services Roger Mitchell.

Reading Rainbow Winners

The second place winners from kindergarten to third grade are: Ashley Larson, Where is it?; Nickolas Kashem, Glook and Me; Alexander Crotinger, Alex's Robin; Aharon M. Nkwodimmah, "Cars Are People Too."

The third place winners are: Jordan Williams, Donny and the Bully; Victoria Tamburo, The Doctor and the Mouse; Alixandre Azizi, A Visit to the Hospital; Brian Powers, The Day I Touched The Sky.

The honorable mentions are: Benny Bernstein, The Story of Benjamin Franklin; Antoni Gierczak, Trouble at the Bridge; Amy Pisciella, Snowball and the Big Box; Natalie DeSantis, The Very Sad Princess.

WHYY is what a diverse community has in common. WHYY, through television, radio and other communications services, makes our region a better place, connecting each of us to the world's richest ideas and all of us to each other.