UNC-TV is proud to present the 14th Annual Reading Rainbow Young Writers and Illustrators Contest. This competition encourages children in kindergarten through third grades to create their own original picture books. "This contest invites children to open their minds and explore their world in an exciting and creative way," says LeVar Burton, host of Reading Rainbow.

Contest Guidelines

If you are a U.S. student in kindergarten, 1st, 2nd & 3rd grade,
you can enter the Reading Rainbow Young Writers & Illustrators Contest!

The contest begins on January 25th, 2008
The deadline for contest entries is March 7th, 2008

Only one entry per person will be accepted. Only single author stories qualify (no co-authored stories). Stories can be fact or fiction, prose or poetry.

• Kindergarten & First Grade stories must have minimum of 50 and a maximum of 200 words;
• Second & Third grade stories must have minimum of 100 maximum of 350 words;
• The word count includes "a," "an," & "the," but not the words on non-story pages such as the title page.

And, because our goal is to encourage and reward effort, every child is recognized for their participation with a Certificate of Achievement signed by LeVar Burton.