A superhero pea, a special blankie, and perhaps the world's most spectacular pink underwear were among the subjects of winning stories in this year's New Hampshire PBS Reading Rainbow Young Writers and Illustrators Contest. NHPTV received over 900 entries for this year's contest!
The first-, second-, and third-place winners in all six grade categories were recognized at an awards ceremony at the NHPTV Broadcast Center, June 6th, in Durham.
The first-place winners in grades K – 3 will represent NHPTV at the national level, where their stories will be judged with others from public television stations across the country. NHPTV has had five national winners since 2000.
The Winning Stories!
Here is the complete list of NHPTV contest winners:
1st Place
Kindergarten Bird Poetry by Samuel Hayes, Nottingham, NH
1st Grade PeaWee The Tiniest Pea: PeaWee to the Rescue by Jordan Sara Barbour, Barnet, VT
2nd Grade Sleepover Secret by Eric Favreau, Manchester, NH
3rd Grade The Cat Who Dreams of the Sea by Marion Anne Noble Winchester, NH
4th Grade Super Kitty’s Second Adventure by Aaron Dustin, Bowdoin, ME
5th Grade L.G. : Little Giant by Kaylah Kenyata Haye, Brooklyn, NY
2nd Place
Kindergarten The 3 Friends by Nethra Sureshkumar, Hudson, NH
1st Grade The Lost Horn by Claire Emily Reynolds, Nashua, NH
2nd Grade The Snowstorm by Adam Dustin, Bowdoin, ME
3rd Grade Friendship by Sara Stillings, Jaffrey, NH
4th Grade The Legend of the Magic Whistle by Jesse DeJager, Alton, NH
5th Grade Shrink Your Shyness by Lillian Murphy, Jaffrey, NH
3rd Place
Kindergarten Like a Dragonfly by Lydia Dustin, Bowdoin, ME
1st Grade Bubblegum Adventure by Marissa Payne, Concord, NH
2nd Grade Underwear Drama by Elizabeth Mills, Moultonborough Central School, Moultonborough, NH
3rd Grade As the Seasons Change by Kaizad Irani, Lee, NH
4th Grade Whooo am I? A Lift the Flap Book by Brin Harper, Salem, NH
5th Grade Will Gets Lucky by David Kenny, Dorchester, MA
>> Full list of winners
Here, There and Everywhere!
We had 904 entries this year from New England and beyond. Where did the stories come from?
780 stories from New Hampshire children.
68 stories from Massachusetts children.
23 stories from Virginia children.
14 stories from Maine children.
14 stories from Pennsylvania children.
3 stories from New York children.
3 stories from Vermont children.
1 story from a child in Michigan.
How the Stories Were Judged
Stories were judged on the quality of both the writing and the illustrations. The judging panel was made up of local writers, educators, librarians, and NHPTV staff. All winning stories will be placed on our
Reading Rainbow Contest website in the next few weeks.
Hosted by LeVar Burton,
Reading Rainbow airs on NHPTV weekdays @ 2 p.m.
Reading Rainbow encourages children's love for reading, writing and illustration.
Contact Tamara Hindle, NHPTV Communications Coordinator, at (603) 868-4307 or email for more information.
The Reading Rainbow Young Writers and Illustrators Contest is made possible, in part, by support from NEA New Hampshire.
