2007 Childrens Poetry and Book Illustration Contest Offered by The Macaroon Moon for National Poetry Month



Just in time for National Poetry Month in April 2007, the publisher of The Macaroon Moon: A Book of Poems and Rhymes for Children is offering its second annual poetry and cut paper book illustration contest. The contest is open to American and Canadian children in kindergarten, first, second and third grades, ages 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 years old. Contest rules require the entrant to submit a poem and a cut paper illustration for that poem.

Again in 2007, ten prizes will be awarded by the book'ss publisher, Southfarm Press of Middletown, Connecticut. Winning entries will be selected by Southfarm Press based on the literary quality of the poems and creativity of the cut paper art submitted to illustrate the poems:

First Prize: $100
Second Prize: $75
Third Prize: $50
Fourth through Tenth Prizes: $25

In addition, copies of the children'ss poetry book The Macaroon Moon (ISBN: 0-913337-51-X) will be provided to every child in each winner'ss homeroom classroom.

To make it easy for children to enter, the publisher has created The Macaroon Moon Poetry/Art Box. The Macaroon Moon Poetry/Art Box introduces children ages 4 to 9 to poetry by Wanda Haan, an award winning, former managing editor of Weekly Reader's8482; and to the world of book illustration.

Each 12 ¼ x 9 x 2 high box contains The Macaroon Moon 32 page, full color, 7 ¼ x 10 ¼ hard cover book by Haan. In addition, the box includes 25 sheets of colored paper, a pair of children'ss scissors, a glue stick and an instructional booklet on how to enter the contest, write a poem and make a cut paper illustration for the poem, just as illustrator Donald Christensen did for the poems in The Macaroon Moon.

The Macaroon Moon Poetry/Art Box may be purchased online at www.wandahaan.com for $17.95 plus shipping. All poetry and book illustration contest entries must be postmarked no later than April 2, 2007 at the beginning of National Poetry Month and received by the publisher no later than April 9, 2007. Winners will be announced on April 23, 2007. Complete contest rules and the company'ss address may be found on the home page for www.wandahaan.com. Online entries are not allowed and all entries become the property of Southfarm Press, Publisher.

It is not necessary to buy anything to enter the contest, but in analyzing the entries for the 2006 contest, the publisher found that having a copy of The Macaroon Moon seemed to aid children in competing in the contest, especially for the book illustration part of their entries.

Winning entries from the 2006 contest are being shown on www.wandahaan.com. Ten children won prizes in April 2006. While you would expect that more girls than boys would be in the winners's circle, it turned out that six boys and four girls won, though girls won the first and second place prizes.

The publisher found that the boys chose subjects that were very creative, even unusual, more so than the subjects chosen by girls. About 1,000 entries were sent in by parents, teachers and children from 18 states.

Six of the winners were nine years old, while only four were seven or eight. A seven-year-old boy had won for his poem Joshua, Squashua and an eight year old boy for his Soccer Ball poem and art.

William Emrich, general manager of Southfarm Press, says there are many reasons for this contest. One reason according to Emrich is to make young children aware that poems are written with as much care and thought as story books. Walter de la Mare (1873-1956) in Come Hither makes the point that like a carpenter who makes a table, a man who has written a poem has written it like that on purpose.

Another reason according to Emrich is that young children have the ability to create poetry and should be encouraged to do so. In The Art of Thinking (1928), writer and lecturer Ernest Dimnet stated that All children under nine or ten years of age are poets and philosophers.

In other words according to Emrich, poetry by children draws on two natural tendencies of childhood: imagination and play. And poetry can be a good tool to use to teach reading.

Emrich also wants children to be aware of the thought that goes into illustrating a book. He thought it important for children to realize that the art for a book could be simple and be created from simple things like colored paper, pencils, glue and scissors.

We'sve found that parents and teachers both appreciate that last point. No messy paints are needed to create art for a book. That makes clean up for this contest a cinch, says Emrich.

Journalist and humorist Franklin Pierce Adams (1881-1960) wrote:

I shot a poem into the air,
It was reprinted everywhere's8230;

With the Adams's poem in mind, Emrich says that he hopes the poetry and cut paper illustrations that the children create for this contest will be widely read and shown. He encourages parents, teachers and children to look at the 2006 winning entries at www.wandahaan.com.

Young children are capable of literary criticism, if only at a very simple level. It is very important to recognize the valuable skill-building nature of such reflection and discussion, adds Emrich.





2007 Childrens Poetry and Book Illustration Contest Offered by The Macaroon Moon for National Poetry Month