The winners of the 2024 PBS Kids Writers Contest at West Virginia Public Broadcasting (WVPB) have been announced. Eighteen stories written and illustrated by children in grades K-5 were chosen out of more than 175 entries from across the state.
Charleston, WV – (April 4, 2024) The winners of the 2024 PBS Kids Writers Contest at West Virginia Public Broadcasting (WVPB) have been announced. Eighteen stories written and illustrated by children in grades K-5 were chosen out of more than 175 entries from across the state.
“This was another successful year of creativity for our annual PBS Kids Writers Contest. The children of West Virginia are excellent writers capable of captivating stories. Thank you to the West Virginia Drug Intervention Institute (WVDII) for sponsoring the event again this year,” said Maggie Holley, director of Education at WVPB.
“The Institute is pleased to sponsor this important event. We know that keeping kids safe and preventing them from using or misusing illicit and prescription drugs requires activities that keep youth engaged with positive and meaningful activities. Writing, much like sports, is one of of those protective factors,” said Dr. Susan Bissett, president of WVDII.
“As a winner of a writing contest when I was 10 years old, I also have a special place in my heart for this event,” said Bissett.
Winners will be contacted by WVPB with information about our awards ceremony in May held at the Culture Center in Charleston.
All participants will receive a prize pack mailed to them by WVPB and PBS Kids.
The PBS Kids Writers Contest at WVPB is an annual competition that encourages West Virginia children in grades K-5 to explore the power of creativity by writing and illustrating their own stories.
The WVPB Education Team and Clifford the Big Red Dog invite you to attend Pups & Pucks Night, Saturday, Feb. 3 at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, West Virginia.
Meet Clifford the Big Red Dog Saturday, February 3 at 7:10 p.m. at the WesBanco Arena in Wheeling
The WVPB Education Team and Clifford the Big Red Dog invite you to attend Pups & Pucks Night, Saturday, Feb. 3 at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, West Virginia. The puck drops at 7:10 p.m. as the Wheeling Nailers take on the Orlando Solar Bears.
Attendees are invited to bring their dog to the game, designating Sections 312-316 as Puppy Seating. Kids of all ages can meet Clifford the Big Red Dog courtesy of WVPB. The WVPB staff will also have a table of giveaway items and educational materials.
Additionally, you can enjoy the On-Ice Puppy Parade during intermission and get your player autographs.
For tickets and more information, visit wheelingnailers.com and search Pups and Pucks Night.
The PBS Kids Writers Contest at West Virginia Public Broadcasting is an annual competition that encourages West Virginia children in grades K-5 to explore the power of creativity by writing and illustrating their own stories.
Between books and a television series, generations have followed the lives of the 8-year-old aardvark, Arthur, and his friends. Marc Brown created the children’s books and the long-running PBS series. He will be speaking this weekend at the West Virginia Book Festival in Charleston.
Between books and a television series, generations have followed the lives of the 8-year-old aardvark, Arthur, and his friends. Marc Brown created the children’s books and the long-running PBS series. He will be speaking this weekend at the West Virginia Book Festival in Charleston.
News Director Eric Douglas spoke with Brown to learn more about his career — and Arthur.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
Douglas: Tell me who Marc Brown is.
Christina Markris Brown
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Courtesy
Children’s author Marc Brown
Brown: Marc Brown is most often thought of as the creator of Arthur. And I have to admit that this little bedtime story I told my son years ago turned into a book, Arthur’s Nose, and then turned into more books about Arthur. And I never imagined a television series or kids in different countries around the world watching Arthur.
Douglas: But that’s literally where it started, as a bedtime story for your son?
Brown: Yes, it was.
Douglas: How did you come up with an aardvark?
Brown: I guess thinking alphabetically. And then, alliteration. He asked for a name of the character and Arthur popped into my head. And so we were off to the races. And he wanted a little drawing. And so I did this little doodle of an aardvark who had a long nose. At the time, I had a problem. I had just lost my teaching job in Boston, the school closed. And so the story was about Arthur having a problem. And I find that often, in some of these stories, I’m working out my own personal issues and problems. It’s the most inexpensive form of therapy.
Douglas: Your most recent book is Believe in Yourself: What We Learned from Arthur. What did we learn from Arthur?
Brown: Well, I think we learned a lot about what an average 8-year-old aardvark is capable of showing children by example. He’s navigating the mud puddles of life. And he doesn’t always get things right. But what 8-year-old does, right? And I think kids see themselves in Arthur and his friends. And my wonderful friend, Fred Rogers, taught me so much about how to use television in helpful ways for children. And he was a great example. So, you know, between my idea and things that I learned from Fred, I have to credit Fred for a lot of the things that are good about Arthur.
Douglas: I know child literacy is a big issue for you. Let’s talk about that for a second.
Brown: It’s important for every child to love reading, because no matter what they want to do in life, reading is the foundation for everything. And kids will ask me, “What can I do if I want to be an author?” The most important and helpful thing that anyone can do is read and understand what you read. Because it’s like playing basketball or playing the piano, you have to practice.
Douglas: You don’t often find writers who are also illustrators of children’s books. Normally, those are two separate human beings. I’m sure, in the later years, you were using illustrators and that sort of thing. But you started out as the illustrator and writer for Arthur.
Brown: I think of myself as an illustrator, who had to write to be able to produce books. It’s the hardest part, for me, of making the book is writing that story, building that foundation on which I can elaborate and have fun with the pictures. And I have to credit growing up with two wonderful storytellers, my great-grandmother and my grandmother who told us stories whenever we wanted them, and they were always wonderful. I think that’s what gave me the confidence to think I could make a story.
Douglas: Just for the record, why bring it to an end?
Brown: Why did we stop? Well, it was a considered decision that we made several years before the 25th year. We had done all of these stories, and we felt like we should pull the plug at a moment when everything was really wonderful. PBS will continue to air the shows for a long time. And Arthur never stops. We’re doing podcasts right now. We’re doing public service spots for kids about various issues that we think Arthur and his friends can be helpful with. And there could be a feature film in the works. Just saying there could be maybe.
Douglas: So, Arthur is not going away anytime soon.
Brown: I am lucky that Arthur has been around to see more than one generation. I’m now talking to parents who are reading Arthur books to their kids. And how often does that happen? A mom came up to me at a book signing not too long ago, and she said, “My kids are in college now, but I still watch Arthur. Is there something wrong with me?” No.
Douglas: So what’s next for you, Marc?
Brown: I am working on the most exciting project right now. I always wanted to develop an animated series for younger kids, younger than Arthur’s audience was. It’s called Hop. It’s about a little frog, and one leg is a little shorter than the other, and his friends who have different things that they’re dealing with, but we really don’t focus on what those are or how they don’t impact what those kids can accomplish. It’s about friendship, working together. What can you accomplish with the power of friendship, staying with a problem, even though you may not solve it. And just having a great time.
And I’m working with two of my favorite people, Peter Hirsch, who was the head writer on Arthur for many years and who was a producer on Arthur for many years. I did this little doodle of a frog about five years ago, and I took it to a meeting we were having, and it just took over the meeting. It just unleashed all of these ideas. And that’s how Hop was born.
Douglas: Is there anything else we haven’t talked about?
Brown: Gosh, I can’t think of anything. I’m looking forward to being in West Virginia this weekend. I put together a talk that I think will be a lot of fun. It’s based on what kids most often asked me, and kids have the best questions. I’ll give you an example. A second grader in Dallas, Texas. I was at a school and asked for questions. And he raises his hand like he really has this urgent question. And I said “Yes, you, what’s your question?” He said, “Mr. Brown, if you’re a famous author, how come you’re not dead?”
Brown will be speaking at 11 a.m. on Saturday as part of the West Virginia Book Festival.
Parents, guardians and teachers of budding storytellers, avid young readers or talented artists can now submit their child’s or student’s original story, complete with illustrations, to the 2021 PBS KIDS Writers Contest. The contest is presented with support from The Clay Center in Charleston and WQED in Pittsburgh.
A two-part event at The Clay Center on Sat., Jan. 30, will kick off the contest. RSVPs are required.WVPB will offer a free information station in The Clay Center lobby from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (with an hour break for sanitation) Students and parents may pick up their detailed entry packets for the PBS Kids Writers Contest, ask questions about the contest, enjoy fun activities, and get some great PBS Kids giveaways. Students who cannot make it to the event can download contest rules, requirements, checklists and the entry form from wvpublic.org. The contest ends on March 31, 2021. All entries must be postmarked on or by that date to be eligible.
When they enter the PBS KIDS Writers Contest, aspiring authors will compete with kids in their grade level from across West Virginia to win prizes. The contest is open to all students in the state in grades K-5, including those in public and private schools as well as those who are home schooled. There will be first-, second- and third-place prizes awarded at each grade level. Our top winners may even have their stories animated by WVPB’s Television Production Department. (Fun fact: one of these productions was nominated for a Regional EMMY! Watch it here! )
The Clay Center will host a special story-starting session for attendees that includes a discussion about storytelling, how to generate ideas for a story using props, and how to explore the questions “Who, What, When, Where, Why and How.” This activity is included in the cost of admission to the Clay Center, $9 for adults and $7.50 for children. (There is no cost to enter the lobby and participate in WVPB information and activity booth.) If they wish, participants will have the option to storyboard their stories and share them. They will also hear a reading of West Virginia storyteller and PEN Award-winning author Bil Lepp’s book, The Princess and the Pickup Truck, a National Association of Parenting Product Award winner. For this session attendees can choose between the 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. session with story time at 11 a.m., and 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. with a story time at 2:30 p.m.
Because of pandemic safety protocols, attendance is limited, and reservations are required, even to enter the lobby. The break between sessions will allow for sanitation of the space. Masks and social distancing also will be required. Reservations may be made by clicking the green banner at theclaycenter.orgor by calling 304-561-3570.
Education Director Kelly Griffith said inspiring young writers is one of the best parts of her job at WVPB. “We would love to see a lot of entries from each grade level from across the entire Mountain State. We have great prizes in store for our winning authors in conjunction with our partner PBS KIDS station in Pittsburgh, WQED.
“Some teachers use this contest as a part of their lesson plans and we love to get those entries,” Griffith said. “We hope our friends at local libraries will encourage participation, too. During this challenging time of teaching during a pandemic, our PBS Kids Writers Contest provides a unique opportunity for children to write and illustrate with purpose.”
Joanne Rogers, an an accomplished concert pianist who celebrated and protected the legacy of her husband, the beloved children’s TV host Mister Rogers, has died in Pittsburgh. She was 92.
Rogers died Thursday, according to the Fred Rogers Center. No cause of death was given. The center called her “a joyful and tender-hearted spirit, whose heart and wisdom have guided our work in service of Fred’s enduring legacy.”
Joanne and Fred Rogers were married for more than 50 years, spanning the launch and end of the low-key, low-tech “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” which presented Fred Rogers as one adult in a busy world who always had time to listen to children. His pull as America’s favorite neighbor never seemed to wane before his death in 2003.
Evan Agostini/Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
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Invision
Joanne Rogers attends a special screening of “A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood” on Nov. 17, 2019, in New York. Rogers, the widow of Fred Rogers, the gentle TV host who entertained and educated generations of preschoolers on “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” has died. She was 92.
“I can’t think of a time when we’ve needed him so much,” Joanne Rogers told The Associated Press in 2018. “I think his work is just as timely now as it was when it came out, frankly.”
An ordained Presbyterian minister, Fred Rogers produced the pioneering show at Pittsburgh public television station WQED beginning in 1966, going national two years later. He composed his own songs for the show.
It offered a soft haven for kids, in sharp contrast to the louder, more animated competition. The final episode of what his widow called “a comfortable lap” aired in August 2001.
PBS stations around the country still air “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” and some can be found on the PBS Kids video app. There are DVD collections on Amazon and episodes stream on Amazon Prime.
The city of Pittsburgh, where the show was produced, tweeted that Joanne Rogers was one of Pittsburgh’s “greatest neighbors.” It said the couple “forever changed our city.” Other tributes came from such varied fans as tennis star Billie Jean King to designer Kenneth Cole.
Fred Rogers’ effect on popular culture was profound: Eddie Murphy parodied him on “Saturday Night Live” in the 1980s and one of Rogers’ trademark zip-up sweaters hangs in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. He’s had a category dedicated to him on “Jeopardy.”
2018, the 50th anniversary of when Rogers first appeared on TV screens, prompted a PBS special, a new postage stamp, the feature-length documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” and, a year later, the Tom Hanks-led biopic “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.”
Born Sara Joanne Byrd in 1928, Joanne Rogers met her future husband at Rollins College in Florida. After Fred Rogers’ death, she helped develop the Fred Rogers Center Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media at St. Vincent College in his hometown of Latrobe, Pennsylvania.
“Joanne and Fred were Pennsylvania treasures committed to improving our communities and the lives of our children. We will never forget their legacy of kindness,” Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said in a statement.
She is survived by two sons, James Byrd Rogers and John Rogers.
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Associated Press reporter Michael Rubinkam contributed to this report from Pennsylvania.
