The winners also received a certificate for their efforts for their book “I Live on a Farm” which was written for three and half year olds and will be included in book bags for the next 12 months.
The book competition was an initiative of the Greater Shepparton Community Literacy workgroup, which is part of the Best Start program. This is the second year the workgroup has run the competition which was open to all Grade 5 and 6 students attending a school in Greater Shepparton.
The workgroup wanted to include a local story as part of the book bag program and to celebrate local young talent. Nearly 1,000 children receive this bag each year from their Maternal and Child Health nurse.
Greater Shepparton City Council Manager, Children and Youth Services, Sally Rose said “reading is such an important and enjoyable activity and the program hopes to encourage a love of books and reading amongst children and their family.”
Students were asked to write and illustrate an original story and could partner with another student if they wanted to. Primary schools could select up to three entries from their students to put forward for judging.
“We received 16 fantastic entries from six different primary schools,” said Ms Rose. “The quality of the entries received was very high and the creative and colourful illustrations really added to the stories.”
“An independent, three person judging panel had the very difficult task of selecting a winner and said it was even harder this year than last year. In the end all three judges agreed that ‘I Live on a Farm’ by Danielle Tolliday, Ella Rohde and Lachlan Mitchell was the winning story for 2015,” she said.
The students’ school also receives a $100 voucher to purchase books and all runners up receive a certificate.
“A copy of all 16 stories will be placed in the Shepparton, Mooroopna and Tatura libraries so the community can go in and have a look at the wonderful young talent we have here in Greater Shepparton,” said Ms Rose. “A copy of the winning story will also be sent to every primary school in Greater Shepparton.”
