Siblings write, draw their way to PBS competition

Paul, who will be a fourth grade student at Paul Norton Elementary School in Bettendorf, illustrated all of those creations in his book, “If I were an engineer,” which won third place among third graders nationally in the PBS KIDS writers contest.

“I think of ideas that I usually like or look at stuff that happens in my life,” said Paul, whose creations have won first place in the local WQPT KIDS writers contest for the past three years.

While he enjoys writing, drawing and building LEGO sets, his parents, Monte and Nadia, said they have nothing to do with his talents, except encouragement.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever touched one of his books to tell you the truth, and it’s probably better that I don’t,” Monte said. “We give him the kitchen table and we give him the art supplies and it’s all up to him.”

The local WQPT contest drew 450 contestants and judges selected three students from each grade level between kindergarten and third grade.

Contest winners at each grade level from 62 PBS stations across the country advanced to the national contest.

Paul’s sister, Gianna, 8, won second place among second graders in the Quad-City area for her story about a snail named Stephen “who doesn’t know his special talent is helping others and making them feel better,” Gianna said.

“It’s all hard because it takes a lot of hard work and practice, but it’s fun,” she added.

Paul and Gianna’s mother — a visiting accounting professor at Augustana College in Rock Island — said her children learn a lot about themselves through the six-week process of creating a book from scratch.

“I’m not artistic, either, so we might proofread or make little suggestions here and there, but the biggest thing we can do is provide the opportunity and venue,” she said. “If they’re working in the kitchen, it’s standing room only if you want to eat.”

Kindergarten and first-grade students must produce a minimum of 50 words and a maximum of 200 words to compete in the contest. At the second and third-grade level, children must produce a minimum of 100 words and a maximum of 350 words.

In 2009, Jayda Brunken of Eldridge won first place in the national first-grade competition.

Lora Adams, director of marketing and local content for WQPT, said the project requires children to put on their thinking caps.

“They’re just smart little whips,” said Adams, adding that she was “tickled” by the cleverness of Paul’s story. "It's important to put down the electronics and do something that requires their brain to work."

On one page, Paul wrote: “If I were an engineer, I would build a robot that could clean up your room, Instead of letting it turn into the temple of doom.”

“I tried to make everything rhyme,” said Paul, after reading his book aloud Wednesday to his family at their Bettendorf home.

Paul’s parents smiled when he arrived at the robot page.

“That’s our favorite one for obvious reasons,” Nadia said. “He’s wired for engineering.”

Paul's story can be seen online at qctimes.com/pbskids-writer.