Past Guest Young Author & Illustrator Winners

1st Place Author
Samantha Patrick
Age 10
Northside Elementary School
Annville, Pennsylvania

     One day, in the Forest of Heat, a bear named Winter roared and said, "When is there going to be snow? I haven't hibernated in ten years." So he did a snow dance. The winter fairies saw that the animals were very upset from the heat. So they worked their magic. They made one little snowflake and she was beautiful. Her name was Emily and she would change the forest.

     While she was on her journey, a cloud came up to her and said, "I will make it so misty, you will not find your way to the Forest of Heat."

     "I will see through your mist," said Emily, as no one knew she carried a magic shield to protect her. Emily and her shield made it through the mist safely.

     Then another cloud said, "I will blow you away." But Emily's shield protected her.

     When she came near the sun, the sun said, "I will surely melt you!" This time the shield started melting. As soon as the shield was gone, Emily had to think fast. She saw her friend, Peggy, the butterfly and told her the plan. Peggy agreed to help and held a big bowl of water really close to a cloud. The sun loved water, so the sun ran towards the cloud. The cloud bumped into the sun and covered it so it could not melt Emily.

     Emily made it to the Forest of Heat, just like the fairies told the animals a month earlier. The animals prepared for the snow and as soon as Emily landed on the ground there was snow everywhere. The tired bears finally hibernated, the forest animals played, and everyone was happy; especially Emily.

2nd Place Author
Edward String
Age 9
Sewell Elementary School
Sewell, New Jersey

     One day, Tom saw something in the distance. It was a shadowy figure. At first, it was little, but it started getting bigger and bigger. Then it was right in front of Tom. He was very scared.

     "Who are you?" he asked the hairy creature.

     "I am a buffalo," said the creature.

     "My name is Tom. What is yours?"

     "They call me Giant," the buffalo answered.

     At first, the buffalo didn't even know what planet he was on and Tom told him that he was on Earth. The buffalo told Tom that his home planet was Neptune. Tom was surprised, but then got a big smile on his face. He told Giant that he had a rocket and he is going to use it to take his lonely, new friend back home.

     "It will be an adventure," said Tom.

     The buffalo was very excited. So Tom and his new brown-haired friend climbed aboard the huge space shuttle and blasted into space. When they arrived, it was very quiet because all of the buffalo were asleep. Tom tip-toed to the Giant's house, quietly opened the door and said, "Good-bye." And he smiled the whole way back to Earth!

3rd Place Author
Grace Battinelli
Age 9
Woodside Elementary School
River Vale, New Jersey

     When I look out my winter window I see many things. First, I see people building a snowman. It has a blue scarf on it. I bet it feels as soft as a rabbit. The snowman has sticks for arms. The sticks are big and sharp. I hope it does not melt. Next, I see people sledding. While they are going down the hill they are laughing. They laugh so hard that they fall off the sled. They go fast, their hair was flying. They were sledding on a slippery hill. Then I see people ice skating. While they are ice skating they are twirling. They twirl like angels. Also, while they are twirling, they hold hands. I hear ice scratching while they skate. The noise sounds like breaking glass. Finally, I see people making an igloo. Making an igloo is cold for their hands. It is so cold, I bet they want to have hot chocolate. Making an igloo is such hard work. I love the winter!

1st Place Guest Young Author
Zaneta Zachwieja Age 10 Christopher Columbus School #8
Garfield, New Jersey

Splash! Splash! Isabel was soaking wet and then swam off. She was a beautiful mermaid and when she came home, here friends were waiting for her.

"Why were you on the surface?" they asked. I was picking flowers and Ig the Monster followed me, so I swam away.

She went to the playground with her friends and then everyone went home, When Isabel was almost at her house, Ig ran after her. She swam and swam until she found a sunken ship and hid inside. Then she

When she came home, she told her parents, but they couldn't think of anything to do, so after school shefound a net and trapped Ig. visited the smartest wizard. The wizard said, "I'll make a potion, but you'll have to come back after school tomorrow."

After school the next day, she went back to the wizard to get the potion and thanked him. The next day was the last day of school and Isabel packed her bags to make Ig good. She said goodbye to her family and began her journey. She had to travel 16 miles to get to Shark's Cove where Ig lived alone. Soon, she came to a dark forest, but she had to be careful because there were thorns on the trees and it was very dark. Then, she came to a stop at the deep canyon, hoping there was an entrance to the other side. But she came back to the top because there was no entrance. It was a dead end. She called her turtle friends and held onto their backs as they gave the tired mermaid a ride. Finally, she reached Ig's house, but had to rest.

The next day, Isabel woke up and found herself outside Ig's house. Luckily he was gone, so she went inside and poured the secret potion on his breakfast.

Later, Ig came home and ate his breakfast, but nothing happened. Isabel thought the potion was a failure, but then his eyes turned from red to blue and his frown turned into a smile. Back in her town, the Governor congratulated her for her success. Isabel got medals and so did Ig! During her speech, she said, "You should give the wizard a medal, too." So the Governor even gave a medal to the wizard. And, because he turned good, he no longer lived alone and went back to live with his family! Of course, he still remembered to visit Isabel's family, too!

2nd Place Guest Young Author
John Pascual Age 11 Darby Elementary School
US Navy Base, Sasebo, Japan

One Easter, the Easter Bunny was planning a special gift for all of the kids. He was really excited because every year the kids had Easter clothes, hats, and other accessories. Easter was every kids' favorite holiday. But when the Easter Bunny saw the kids this year, he was shocked.

He saw the kids with Christmas clothes, hats, and accessories! The Easter Bunny was incredibly sad. He went back to his house to think of a plan that would make him be noticed. Finally, he thought of something that would really work. He put all of his Easter clothes away, bought a Christmas costume, and changed his name to the Christmas Bunny.

Every Christmas, he would give eggs to the kids. If they were bad, they got coal in their eggs. If they were good, they would get a small toy in it...not what they wanted for Christmas. When the kids saw the Christmas Bunny, they complained to him.

"What happened to Easter? Why did you change your name to the Christmas Bunny?" asked the kids.

"Because I saw you kids wearing Christmas things and not Easter things," said the Bunny in a sad voice.

"We're sorry," said the kids. "Are you going to change your name back and host Easter again?"

The Bunny thought about it, and then said, "Yes, I will." The kids were all happy.

One year later, when it was Easter again, the kids ran up to the Easter Bunny's door and screamed, "Happy Easter!"

"Thank you for this," said the happy Bunny.

Then, from that day on, Easter was the way it should be and the Easter Bunny never changed his name again!

3rd Place Guest Young Author
Sunnie Vitale Age 10 Dr. Joyanne D. Miller Elementary School
Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey

Once there was a ten year old boy named Bobby Christmas. Bobby lived in a town called "Orange Blossom." He went to school every morning, except weekends. His school was called The Best School Ever, but he didn't think it was the best school ever because everyone made fun of his last name. One boy, Ray, used to be Bobby's best friend until everyone made fun of him for hanging out with a kid named Christmas. So, Ray found some new friends and started making fun of Bobby, too, just to be cool. Now, Bobby despised him.

One Wednesday morning, Bobby met a ten year old boy named Jarred Salami. Everyone would make fun of him. But once he found Bobby Christmas, they started talking and soon became friends. They were friends for two whole months when kids started making fun of them for it. The next year, the kids met a girl named Carla Ham. She became the new, funnylast-name kid. She met the boys and they became friends, too.

Year after year, people would find new funny-last-name kids to tease and Bobby Christmas and his friends would always become friends with them. Now, Bobby is treated equally by the other students, or at least the ones with funny-last-names!

1st Place Guest Young Author
Kelsey DeFrates Age 9 Haviland Avenue School
Audubon, New Jersey

There's a Red Headed Monster that lives in my house. I don't know how she got there, she must have been quiet as a mouse. But she came in my house and I don't know how to get her out.

Don't get her mad, because she will blow. People say she is cute, but I really know. She gets me in trouble with my Mom and Dad. She does things to make me crazy and things to make me mad.

The Red Headed Monster follows me and asks me to play. I don't know why my Mom and my Dad let her stay.

She says that she loves me and gives me a kiss, but when I turn around, she gives me her fist. She has a temper the color of her red hair and sometimes it even makes me a little scared.

When the Red Headed Monster runs and screams, I wish to myself it was only a dream. If you have a little sister, you know what I mean!

2nd Place Guest Young Author
Ethan Wood Age 9 Nye Elementary School
Hummelstwon, Pennsylvania

A long time ago, there was a jack rabbit named Jumper. One dry day in Australia, Jumper saw a turtle with a huge shell. Jumper started to pick on him because of the size of his shell. Turtle felt very sad. Jumper said, "Your shell is as big as a turkey. Turtle felt so miserable, that he went to the wise man for help. So the wise man followed turtle home to catch Jumper making fun of him. Well, the jack rabbit named Jumper began picking on turtle as soon as he saw him. The wise man, who was hiding, heard Jumper and cast a spell upon him. The spell made his ears bigger to see what it would be like to be different. And that is why jack rabbits have big ears. The moral of this story is to never tease others if they look different. It's what's on the inside that counts. said, "Yes, I will." The kids were all happy.

3rd Place Guest Young Author
Cassandra Selsor Age 9 Mary Frank Elementary School
Granger, Indiana