2025 PBS KIDS Writers Contest Winners

Congratulations to our 2025 PBS KIDS Writers Contest winners! Explore their stories below.

2025 WVPB Reader’s Choice Awards

West Virginia Public Broadcasting is proud to announce the winners of the 2025 Reader’s Choice Awards for this year’s PBS KIDS Writers Contest. Congratulations! Every year, WVPB picks a select number of stories out of all the submissions to win the Reader’s Choice Awards. Those stories are either animated or adapted into live action shorts.

WVPB 2025 Reader’s Choice: “Pickle Pete 2: A Curious Quest” by Lilly Stubbs
WVPB 2025 Reader’s Choice: “Total Solar Eclipse” by Francesca Briar Shangler
WVPB 2025 Reader’s Choice: “Cabby’s Great Adventure” by Hazel Hagler

Fifth Grade


1st Place: Pickle Pete 2: A Curious Quest by Lilly Stubbs of Monongalia County
2nd Place: Marble Run by Theresa ‘Reese’ McGowan of Ohio County
3rd Place: Nora and Ultima vs. The Ice Witch by Emma Gladwell of Cabell County

Fourth Grade


1st Place: The Adventure at The Eastern Blue River by Ryman Dennison of Hardy County
2nd Place: Duckbilled by Jonah Neil of Wayne County
3rd Place: We Have a Problem: How NASA (Accidentally) Launched the First Cat into Space by Elise Silber of Kanawha County

Third Grade


1st Place: Ella and the Typewriter by Avonlea Cooper of Wood County
2nd Place: The Absence of Life by Isaiah David Umbel of Taylor County

**CONTENT GUIDANCE: This story explores themes of mortality/existence that may be distressing for young readers.
3rd Place: Total Solar Eclipse by Francesca Briar Shangler of Cabell County

Second Grade


1st Place: A Hungry Little Donkey Travels the World by Helina Goodwin of Marion County
2nd Place: Ms. Pickle Toes by Rowan Bailey of Greenbrier County
3rd Place: Toto and His Friends by Zean-Ying Eugene Thong of Kanawha County

First Grade


1st Place: Cabby’s Great Adventure by Hazel Hagler of Kanawha County
2nd Place: The Best Boy by Bowen Groves of Harrison County
3rd Place: The Family Vacation by Maggie Stackhouse of Monongalia County

Kindergarten


1st Place: Haymes the Knight by Caelum Groves of Harrison County
2nd Place: Lazy Fruits by Cole McAvoy of Brooke County
3rd Place: Beau Finds a Family” by Luca Cassiadoro of Hancock County