♪♪♪ Hey, everybody!

I'm Chet Buchanan.

We want to invite you to gather around right now for a very special storytime where we will share the work of 18 talented young writers and illustrators from right here in Southern Nevada.

For over 20 years, the Vegas PBS KIDS Writers Contest Presented by Janice Allen has given children in our community the opportunity to express their creativity and build literacy skills by writing and illustrating their very own stories.

So over the next half hour, you're going to hear a diverse range of writing that a judging panel has selected as the winners of our 2020 competition, from fairy tales about unicorns to nonfiction about a foster family to poetry about what it means to have a home.

So settle in and join us in celebrating these phenomenal local students.

We are going to have a good time.

♪♪♪ So we're going to kick off the show by beginning at the beginning, kindergarten.

Our first place winner is Justyn, a homeschooler.

Get ready to go on a bike ride with a sheep named Perky in his story, "The Sheep Has His Helmet."

-Hi.

I'm Justyn, and I'm five.

♪♪♪ When my best friend and I went to the mailbox, I was thinking, I could do a story about this.

"The Sheep Has His Helmet" by Justyn--me!

♪♪♪ The end!

-An amazing job!

Can you believe Justyn created that story when he was just four years old?

The second place winner for kindergarten is Adelyn from Pinecrest Inspirada.

Adelyn's story, "The Lonely Bunny," is about a little bunny named Soosoo and his search to find a friend at the park.

This little guy looks everywhere for a buddy-- by the monkey bars, under the slide, and even around the trees.

Finally his determination pays off, and he meets a bunny and a kitty at the picnic tables.

They invite Soosoo to share their carrots, their juice, their sandwiches and their cake, and he happily enjoys the feast with his new friends.

Great job, Adelyn, on your second place win.

♪♪♪ And wrapping up kindergarten is Mia from Desert Torah Academy.

She won third place for her story, "Sparkle Glitter," about a unicorn who freezes while exploring an ice castle.

Luckily, Sally the Pony notices Sparkle Glitter's reflection and comes to her rescue.

Using a long, hook-shaped branch, she pulls Sparkle Glitter out of the castle and places the unicorn in warm water.

The pair become best friends and never leave each other's side.

Congratulations, Mia, on writing a heartwarming story on friendship that earned you third place.

Now let's hear from Lilian, our first grade first place winner from St. Francis de Sales as she takes us on a hiking trip in her story, "The Adventures of Mary and Cat."

-Hi.

I'm Lilian, and I'm seven years old.

♪♪♪ Well, mostly it's because Mrs. Thomas told us that we had to make our own books.

I thought of something that was made up about my stuffed animal.

I thought about a zoo, but then I said, maybe hiking.

♪♪♪ "The Adventures of Mary and Cat" by Lilian.

On a bright sunny morning, Mary and Cat woke up.

They asked their parents to go on a hiking adventure, and so they did.

When they went on the hike at Zion, they saw big rocks and they were red, orange, brown and gray, and some were small rocks.

There was a winding river with clear water.

Then there was a gust of wind and blew the map away, but Mary and Cat didn't give up.

Then they had an idea.

Mary grabbed the binoculars out of the backpack.

Then Mary saw the map at the hiking spot, so they hiked up a little more because there were three paths.

They chose the second path and led them to the map.

They read the map.

Mary and Cat decided together the quickest and safest way to go home.

When Cat and Mary got home safely, they had pizza.

The end.

I hope you liked my story.

-What a clever story, Lilian.

I agree, there's no better way to celebrate a hiking adventure than with a slice of pizza!

The second place winner for first grade is Brody from St. Francis de Sales for his nonfiction story titled "Love, Lincoln."

In it, Brody shares his experience as a foster brother to a little boy named Lincoln.

Lincoln and Brody became best friends during the year that they were together, and when Lincoln's mom was better and able to take him home, Brody was happy for him, but sad to say goodbye.

In the end, we learn that Lincoln was grateful to have Brody as a brother too.

Thanks for writing such a beautiful, personal story, Brody.

♪♪♪ And rounding out first grade is our third place winner, Alison from Henderson International School, who wrote an informational text about space told in her own words.

The reader learns all about asteroids, including the fact that an asteroid belt is-- well, just a lot of asteroids.

She also devotes a whole section to the topic of space junk.

Her writing was complete with a table of contents and even a glossary.

Sounds like we may have a future astronomer in the making.

Well done, Alison, nice job.

Next up is Gabriel, our second grade first place winner from Las Vegas Day School.

He's going to share his story.

In it, the characters learn that counting a ladybug's spots is a lot more challenging than they expected.

-My name is Gabriel, and I'm eight years old.

♪♪♪ My story is about a ladybug.

It took me about two weeks to write it.

In this story, Ladybug needs to know how many spots it has so its friend Cricket can paint a picture of it.

"How Many Spots do you have, Ladybug?"

by Gabriel.

One day in a park, Cricket was busy painting a pink ladybug who sat in front of him.

Cricket drew a circle and then two black dots.

♪♪♪ After a moment he paused and then asked Ladybug, "My dear friend, how many spots "do you have?"

Ladybug thought for a moment and replied, "I do not know the answer.

"The last time I tried, "my neck wasn't nearly long enough."

"That's okay, I'll count them," replied Cricket.

Cricket started to count.

He counted 1-2-3-4-5-- um, 7-- I think it would be 8 and then 4.

He thought for a moment and said, "I don't know if eight or four comes first, "but I can ask Grasshopper."

Cricket asked Grasshopper, "How many spots does Ladybug have?"

Grasshopper started to count the black dots on Ladybug's back.

Grasshopper was so busy counting, he didn't realize he was jumping higher and higher.

He jumped so high, he lost track of his counting.

Ladybug asked Mrs. Ant, "Can you count my spots?"

Mrs. Ant said, "Yes, I can help you "count your spots, but I will have "to climb on your back."

"Okay," replied Ladybug.

So Mrs. Ant climbed on Ladybug's back and counted 1-2-3-4-5-- Ladybug started to wiggle and then had the jiggles because she was so ticklish, and then Mrs. Ant fell off.

Ladybug started to cry.

Mrs. Ant said, "We don't care how many "spots you have, we still love you."

When Ladybug stopped crying, she told Cricket to put as many spots as you wanted.

Cricket's painting was so good that it got hung up in the Nevada National History Museum in the bugs exhibit.

The end.

I hope you enjoyed my story.

♪♪♪ Fantastic work, Gabriel!

The dialogue and illustrations in your story really brought your characters to life.

The second grade second place winner is Milo from Las Vegas Day School.

His futuristic story, "Inventions of a Kid," is set in the year 2059.

It's about a teenager named Jack who always wants to ride a skateboard but always falls because it's too wiggly, so using the design process, he invents a solution to his problem, a hoverboard.

He shares his creation in a YouTube video that lands him three billion views and a job as an inventor.

Awesome work, Milo.

I hope you continue your work as an inventor of creative stories.

♪♪♪ Chloe from St. Francis de Sales is our third place winner for second grade.

She explores a serious question in her story that most people have wondered at some point in their lives, "What Do Teachers Do in the Teachers' Lounge?"

At first glance she sees the teachers reading and talking on their phones.

But upon further investigation, she discovers a magical place that transports the class to Florida, and while there her teacher rides a whale and the class plays bingo all night.

That's a creative story, Chloe, and I'll bet teachers wish it were a work of nonfiction right about now.

Moving on to third grade, let's hear from our first place winner, Malia, from Bartlett Elementary School.

Her story, "Pine Cones," shows us the importance of thinking out of the box.

Malia?

-Hi.

My name is Malia, and I am nine years old.

♪♪♪ Well, my mom told me that most good stories, like the ones on Pixar, take everyday objects and turn them into magical things, so I just thought pine cones.

People collect pine cones sometimes, and those are super-everyday objects.

So what if I did something with that?

I just worked on that.

I'm Malia, and today I'll be reading you "Pine Cones."

Jack was a boy who loved pine cones and had an abnormally large collection of them.

One day Jack's mom told him that it was time for him to start kindergarten, and he was worried that he wouldn't make friends.

He knew that normal people don't have pine cones, and he didn't want to be labeled as a weirdo.

The night before the first day of school, Jack went to his room.

His mom tucked him in, and he was extremely nervous what the next day might bring.

Jack heard a loud crash.

He looked and noticed that his pine cones had moved near an open window in his room.

The pine cones jumped out the window and waddled away from his house like penguins and into the woods.

He was curious to see where they were going and followed them.

The pine cones didn't notice that he was following them.

They arrived at a meeting with thousands of other pine cones.

They were all trembling and scared.

The leader explained that powerful storms arrive every 500 years and that during the first storm, a brave pine cone opened up his seeds and tried to blow away the storm; however, he was badly hurt.

He suggested that they should stay close to protect themselves from the storm, as they always had.

One little cone suggested that if they all open up together, their combined seed dispersal would stop the storm for good.

"That is not normal for us," shouted another cone.

The leader said that it was too risky.

The little cone was embarrassed.

Jack felt bad.

He realized that being normal wasn't always the best solution.

Jack stood up for the little cone and explained that the plan would work if they wouldn't be afraid to act differently.

They listened to him.

They dispersed their seeds together, and they defeated the storm for good.

Jack opened his eyes.

It was a dream, but it was a dream that gave him the courage to face the first day of school without the fear of being different.

The end.

-Malia, those expressions you gave the pine cones were priceless.

The second place winner for third grade is Calista from St. Francis de Sales for her rhyming tale, "Hurtle the Turtle."

Hurtle is a baby turtle who just hatched from an egg, and after he squirms his way to the ocean, he learns he can swim and sets out on a mission to find a sea turtle family.

Along the way he witnesses amazing sea creatures that share his ocean habitat including sharks and eels, and happily, Hurtle meets a group of big sea turtles who take him under their fins.

Incredible work, Calista.

We were all rooting for Hurtle the whole entire time.

♪♪♪ The third place winner for third grade is Nikhita from Las Vegas Day School.

Now, in Nikhita's fairy tale, "The Letters that Zoe Wrote," the king demands the Pied Piper remove all mice by playing his flute.

Zoe, the mouse, decides to write a series of letters to try to save her family.

By piecing together the responses, she solves a mystery that reunites the Pied Piper with his family.

Thanks to Zoe, the Pied Piper realizes mice aren't that bad after all, and Nikhita shares an important message that with a little understanding, we can all get along.

Our next author is fourth grader Bella from St. Francis de Sales.

She won first place for her unique story, "The Magical Garden," which is told almost completely through figurative language.

Listen.

-My name is Bella, and I'm 10 years old.

♪♪♪ When I was doing my homework and we were doing idioms, I was just looking for idioms so it could help me for my homework, and it just came across me when I was searching for some idioms.

"The Magical Garden" by Bella.

♪♪♪ Since he forgot to buy a present, he was in a pickle.

Alesha the Apple was as pretty as a peach and as sweet as honey.

He went nuts over her, but was earning peanuts.

The shame and embarrassment of not bearing a gift to the party would be a bitter pill to swallow, so he quickly wore some clothes to hastily buy a gift; that is, the greatest thing since sliced bread for a reasonable price.

The first shop he stopped at was a flower shop.

The flowers sold like hotcakes, but Timothy thought he would be buying a lemon if he bought roses that would perish in a few weeks to a month.

He wished for something that would remain for an interminable amount of time so it would be memorable.

The flowers weren't for peanuts either.

The next stop was the jewelry shop that made Timothy quite intrigued.

The jewelry was beguiling and could last almost forever, but the expense for a ring or necklace was daylight peanut robbery.

They went for all the tea in China, so Timothy thought it wasn't worth his salt.

♪♪♪ The end.

-Bella, that's awesome, "daring to be different."

I love that, with your "one-in-a-million story."

The second place finisher for fourth grade is Danielle from St. Francis de Sales.

Now, Danielle embedded the text of her poem, "I Have a Home," within her colorful illustrations.

On each page Danielle highlights different environments and describes why each location is a special place to call home.

So whether you're on a mountaintop where you rise above the world or in the desert where coyotes howl and prowl, Danielle shows us the beauty of noticing your surroundings.

An imaginative poem; great work, Danielle.

♪♪♪ The third place winner in fourth grade is Colin from the Meadows School.

In his story, "For the Love of Baroque," we meet the main character as a curious little boy who loves listening to his mother play Bach on her piano.

Now, as he grows older, he learns the violin and becomes fascinated by music of the Baroque period.

Bach is his favorite, and he learns to play hundreds of the composer's pieces.

As an adult he performs at Carnegie Hall and moves the audience to tears with his grand finale of Bach's Chaconne.

Colin, I have one word for you.

First of all, nice usage of the word Baroque, and the word for you, bravo!

Our final reader is fifth grader Nicholas from the Meadows School.

If you're a fan of action, adventure and aliens, you are going to love his first place story, "Village 51."

-Hi.

My name is Nicholas, and I'm 12 years old.

♪♪♪ What inspired me to write my story is the whole fact that there's a secretive military base in Las Vegas, and pueblo villages, the architecture of pueblo villages, I've always really enjoyed how they look a lot.

So the name of my story is "Village 51" by Nicholas.

♪♪♪ The alien seemed confused at first, and then it spoke; amazingly, it could speak many languages!

This freaked me out.

How was this thing speaking my language?

"I mean you no harm, I only seek refuge," the alien replied in a low, snarly voice.

♪♪♪ And that's the end of my story.

-What a thrilling story, Nicholas!

Nicholas is no stranger to this contest.

He actually won third place last year, so we congratulate him on his repeat win.

The second place winner in fifth grade is Anali from Priest Elementary School for her story, "Susie's Shoes."

After oversleeping, Susie rushes to her first day of middle school.

She notices everyone is looking at her, but she doesn't know why.

When a classmate shouts "nice shoes," Susie looks down and discovers she's still wearing her bunny slippers.

The teasing continues until a helpful friend suggests she reply to any comments with the word, "So?"

Soon Susie has a new reputation as the brave girl.

Great job, Anali, for an exceptional story on overcoming adversity.

Our final winner is Leo from Piggott Elementary who won third place for fifth grade.

His story, "In Hiding," follows Gerald, a brightly colored ghost crab.

While navigating across the beach, seagulls capture Gerald's best friend Sheldon.

To save him, Gerald uses the "Call of the Crab Army."

He snaps each claw five times and scrapes the sand which calls upon every crab to join him in battle.

This scares the seagulls and they release Sheldon, but in the end, it was all just a dream.

Excellent work imagining the life of a crab, Leo.

♪♪♪ And just like that, we've reached the end of our program.

I hope you enjoyed yourself as much as I did.

You might have just witnessed a future best-selling author or world-renowned artist, and if so, you can tell people that you saw themm here first.

You can revisit these wonderful stories online at vegaspbs.org/ writerscontest.

While you're there, check out details for next year's contest.

If you're in kindergarten through fifth grade, start thinking about a story that you could enter for a chance to win.

And grownups, keep inspiring those young ones in your life to enter too.

Thanks for being here!

♪♪♪