Awards in the form of donated prizes valued at up to $200 each to USA, Guam, and Northern Mariana Islands kindergarten through third grade students who have written and illustrated their own stories. Everyone who enters this contest will receive a Certificate of Achievement, and national winners will receive prizes as outlined below:
Four First Place Winners (one winner per grade) will receive a tablet computer or electronic learning device (valued at $200 each), and a sponsor-specified set of Arthur books (valued at $30 each).
Four Second Place Winners (one winner per grade) will receive an e-reader or electronic learning materials (valued at $100 each), and a sponsor-specified set of Arthur books (valued at $18 each).
Four Third Place Winners (one winner per grade) will receive an e-reader, electronic learning materials, or sponsor-specified $75 gift card, and a sponsor-specified Arthur book (valued at $6 each).
Others (see text field entitled "Additional Eligibility Criteria" for clarification)
Additional Eligibility Criteria
Writers Contest Eligibility and Entry Guidelines:
- Entrants must be in kindergarten, first, second, or third grade.
- Children of employees of PBS, PBS stations, or their affiliates, sales representatives, subsidiaries or parent companies, advertising/sales promotion agencies, and judges are not eligible.
- To be eligible, an entrant must be a legal resident of the fifty (50) United States and D.C. (excluding Puerto Rico, USVI and American Samoa). Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify ineligible entries; such entries will not be returned.
- Only one entry per person will be accepted; all subsequent entries will be disqualified.
- Only single author stories qualify (no co-authored stories).
- Stories can be fact or fiction, and prose or poetry.
- Any failure to adhere to these Contest Rules may result in disqualification from the contest.
- No purchase is necessary.
Word Count Requirements:
- Kindergarten and first grade stories must have a minimum of 50 words and a maximum of 200 words.
- Second and third grade stories must have a minimum of 100 words and a maximum of 350 words.
- The word count includes “a,” “an,” and “the,” but not the words on non-story pages such as the title page or those that enhance the illustrations.
- Text must be printed or written legibly or typed.
- Children who cannot write may dictate their story to be printed, written legibly or typed.
- Text may be integrated into the illustration pages or on separate pages.
- Non-English text must be translated on the same page and the translated text (English text) must adhere to word count.
- Invented spelling is accepted.
Format and Illustrations:
- Stories must have at least 5 original, clear, and colorful illustrations.
- Original art can include drawings, collages, and 3-D created by the author or photographs taken by the author.
- Stories submitted by mail must be created on one side of the paper and numbered on the back of each page.
Pre-Application Information
This Contest consists of two rounds of judging: (1) the local judging, and (2) the national judging.
The grand prize winner for each grade in each local judging round will automatically be submitted for national judging by the local station. Please Note: Local winners do not win a national prize unless they win in the national judging round.
Official Entry Form:
- Each entry must include the official PBS KIDS Writers Contest Entry Form, with the required signature of a parent/guardian (and, if appropriate, the optional signature of the sponsoring teacher), consenting to allowing their child/ward to enter the Contest, confirming that the story and art are original, and granting certain rights to the entry materials.
- The entry form must be complete and legible to be eligible.
Number of Grants
12
Estimated Size of Grant
Winners will receive an e-reader, electronic learning materials, or a sponsor-specified gift card (valued at $75 to $200), as well as one ore more sponsor-specified Arthur books (valued at $6 to $30).
Before starting your grant application, please review the funding source's website listed below for updates / changes / addendums / conferences / LOIs.
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