Monday May 21 – The contest is going strong! 11 links so far, plus 4 or 5 entries in the comment section below! Read! Enjoy! Enter 🙂
Woo-hoo! It’s finally here! The Birthday Contest! Although, due to the busy-ness of April we had to push the contest back to a month that is no longer my birthday, surely someone is celebrating! 🙂 Let the games begin!
For anyone who hasn’t seen the rules, here they are:
The contest is to write a children’s story about a very creative and/or unique birthday celebration in 300 words or less. Poetry or prose, your choice.
Entries must be posted on your blog (or in the comment section of this post if you don’t have a blog) between right now this very minute and 11:59 PM EDT Tuesday May 22. Please add your entry-specific link to the list below (or, as mentioned, if you don’t have a blog and want to enter, just copy and paste your entry in the comment section below.)
If there are fewer than 20 entries there will be one prize. If there are more than 20 entries there will be 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prizes! Finalists will be chosen by me and my assistant judge and will be posted for you to vote on Monday May 28. (I’m trying not to skip Would You Read It or Perfect Picture Books, or overload you with extra posts, hence the wait til Monday the 28th, which I realize is Memorial Day so the voting will stay up throughout Tuesday May 29!)
If there are fewer than 20 entries, and therefore one winner, the winner may have his or her choice of the following 4 options. If there are more than 20 entries, and therefore a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, 1st place will get 1st choice, 2nd place will get 2nd choice, and 3rd place will get 3rd choice of the following 4 options:
#1- a PB ms critique by me
#3 – a duo of craft books – your choice of 2 from the following: Writing Picture Books, The Giblin Guide To Writing Children’s Books, Save The Cat, or The Writer’s Guide To Crafting Stories For Children.
#4 – a $15 gift certificate to Merritt Bookstore.
So now, to get the party started, I will share a sample entry. As I mentioned yesterday, my original idea did not pan out and I was VERY pressed for time this week, so don’t expect literary brilliance. And what I mean by that is please don’t throw rotten tomatoes at me!
Hoppy Birthday!
(206 words)
(206 words)
Joey said, “My birthday’s coming! I can hardly wait!
Here’s an invitation. I sure hope you’ll save the date!
We’ll have silly hats, and blowers that make noise like a kazoo!
Balloons – at least a hundred! – orange, yellow, red and blue!
We’ll play games like Duck Duck Moose and Pin The Tail On Cousin Fred.
We’ll have contests to see who can stand the longest on their head!
If you happen to like water we’ve got lots of room to swim!
But if you’d rather climb and hang then try the jungle (gym).
I’m just hopping with excitement for my party – how ’bout you?
After all it isn’t every day that you turn 2!
Mom will make a birthday cake like you have never seen!
Seven luscious layers filled with icing in between!
All my friends will sing the Happy Birthday song to me.
I’ll make a wish and blow out all my candles – one, two, three!
We’ll serve up cake and ice cream by the gallon and the ton.
We’re going to need a LOT to have enough for everyone!
So won’t you please come join your little friend the kangaroo
For my Hoppy Birthday Party at the San Diego Zoo?
So now that you’re filled with confidence about how good your entry is compared to that! 🙂 please add your entry-specific post link to the list below, or copy and paste your entry into the comments. I can’t wait to read them!
Susanna Leonard Hill 
oh no… my smile show.. my smile… silly typos… grrgrgrr
Glad you got a kick out of it 🙂
Nice twist on Christmas birthday, Kelly! Very creative story! Thanks so much for joining in the fun 🙂
No worries – I knew what you meant and I'm sure everyone else will too 🙂
Kelly mcdonlad (unregistered) wrote, in response to Kelly McDonald (unregistered):
oh no… my smile show.. my smile… silly typos… grrgrgrr
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Thanks Susanna. I thought of chopping it but I wrote with kids who had celiac in mind and just wanted to tell their experience via James.
Loving this contest. Some great pieces & it was fun to write for 🙂
I know! Everyone is so talented an creative!
Yep we do, and I like the idea so much. All those late December birthdays!
Never heard of a pinata tree – would love to see an illo Brenda!
I'd like to see this one in print too!
Great idea, Kelly! I have a friend with a Christmas birthday & her family has always done a special celebration for her. It's still tough to share your birthday with a major holiday!
This would make a great illustration, Brenda!
A very hoppy birthday! Love it Susanna–and I'm not throwing tomatoes, but yummy donuts–in a very careful way so as not to ruin them (or muss your hair). 🙂
So kind! And you know, I'm not normally that good at catching things, but I think I can catch donuts 🙂 Lucky, because you know I am a fashionista of the highest degree and I spend 7 hours on my hair every morning 🙂
Love this! So unique. Makes me want to run out and research sea turtles. Thanks for the video post!
You are awesome! I'm amazed that that's you're “I-didn't-have-time” example. I would love to win a critique by you, but I'm going to have to hope you offer that as a prize another time as my brain is stuck in pack mode.
Happy Late Birthday!
How about Birthday In A Box? That would be different! YOu can pack and write simultaneously 🙂 But don't worry. We're going to have another contest in the summer – July or August – you can always enter that one 🙂
Ooh – Nov 25th party, great idea! I always imagined I'd celebrate a half birthday in June if I were born December 25th. Nice story!
Me too! Fun idea!
Fantastic Carrie! I love the way Kara is inspired by the turtles as she makes her own brave new beginning. They're awfully cute!
OK. So I posted mine. It's a drafty, draft. I wouldn't allow to read any of the entries until I finished. So, I'm off to read.
Can't wait to read it! I'm sure it's great. And as a bonus, now your May 12×12 draft is written 🙂 … although I think you did NaPiBoWriWee so I goes you were already ahead on that 🙂
No blog here either and I just found out about this contest. I've just returned from a wonderful wedding …. my daughters. There are lots of great stories here. Good luck everyone!
Title: Happy Birthday Seahorse
By: Wendy J. Whittingham
Word Count 278
Skippie the Seahorse blinked his eyes, flapped his fins, and stretched his curly tail.
Today was special. He was one year old!
Buster Blowfish glided over.
“Happy Birthday, Skippie!” Buster said blowing foam bubbles. “What would you like for your birthday?”
“I want a ride in a hot air balloon.”
“Impossible,” Buster said. “You live in the ocean.”
Olivia Octopus drifted over over.
“Happy Birthday, Skippie!” Olivia said waving all eight arms. “What would you like for your birthday?”
“I want a ride in a hot air balloon.”
“Ridiculous,” Olivia said. “You live in the ocean.”
Eddie Eel slithered over.
“Happy Birthday, Skippie!” Eddie said doing a loop-de-loop. “What would you like for your birthday?”
“I want a ride in a hot air balloon.”
“No way,” Eddie said. “You live in the ocean.”
Skippie’s heart sank as he scooted away and hid in a clump of seaweed. His friends had a point, but he would find a way.
He spied a trumpet shell on the ocean floor.
“Hey!” Skippie called. “Buster, Olivia, Eddie, come – I need help!”
They circled Skippie as he explained, then said, “We’ll do it!”
Olivia held the trumpet shell with all eight arms.
Buster and Eddie found long strands of seaweed and tied them around the shell.
“Hop in,” said Eddie.
“Hold tight,” bubbled Buster.
Olivia grabbed the seaweed strands and zoomed upward. “Away we go!”
“Wheeeee!” Skippie laughed.
Up, up, up through the blue water.
Below, Buster and Eddie become smaller and smaller.
Olivia zoomed faster, jet propelled.
“I’m flying!” Skippie waved to the crowd gathering below. “This is the best present ever!”
“Enjoy your ride,” everyone called. “Happy birthday, Skippie!”
This is wonderful, Wendy! I'm so glad Skippie got what he wanted for his one-year-old birthday! I can just imagine the pictures! Thanks so much for joining in the fun!
Thanks, so glad I could join in …. talk about cutting it close.
Cheers, Wendy
Thanks for hosting this fun contest! I just submitted my entry!
Nah! You're fine! You still had a whole nother day 🙂
Tooartsy (unregistered) wrote, in response to Susanna Leonard Hill:
Thanks, so glad I could join in …. talk about cutting it close. Cheers, Wendy
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Yay! Can't wait to read it!
thank you. Im actually the 21st of dec, hubby is the 22nd of dec, and my brother is the 2nd of dec. I had quite a few shared birthday parties before school finished 😉
hi Susanna, What a cool contest! You helped me find my May story for the 12×12 challenge, so thank you 🙂
I tried entering my blog entry yesterday, but somehow it didn't show up in your list of links, so I'm giving it a second attempt here. It's pretty scary posting a story here which hasn't been rinsed-and-revised a few times with my crit group, but oh well, here's me making the leap of faith 🙂
The Birthday Giving (297 words, Sabrina)
After Jimmy’s dad had lost his job, he was so poor, he couldn’t give his son anything else but a pebble for his birthday.
“Wow, a supersonic airplane.” Jimmy threw the pebble up and catched it again. “It races up faster than the eye can see and it even find its way back to my hand. Supercool. Thanks, dad!” He hugged his dad and ran out.
Outside, Mr Numeri, the neighbor, was just lining his pathway. “997, 998, 999 –“ Mr Numeri stopped. “Oh no, I’m one stone short.”
Jimmy stuck out his pebble to Mr Numeri, “Here, you can use my birthday pebble.”
Mr Numeri smiled. “That’s very nice of you, son. I’ve got some spare apples. Fancy a few?”
A big grin broke over Jimmy’s face and he ran off with a basket of apples.
Some clattering rang out of Mrs Pastrami’s kitchen. Curiously, Jimmy glanced in.
“I can’t believe you forgot to buy apples for my apple pie!” Mrs Pastrami yelled and threw another egg at Mr Pastrami. Jimmy felt sorry for Mr Pastrami.
“Excuse me, would you like to use these apples I got?”
Mrs Pastrami looked out and saw Jimmy. “That’s mighty nice of you. Why don’t you instead have one of the chocolate cakes I baked earlier today?”
Jimmy hurried to the park. There he saw Mr Puccini, owner of the local grocery, pacing up and down. “Have some chocolate cake, Mr Puccini. My dad says there’s nothing chocolate won’t take care of.”
“Hmmm, I don’t think your chocolate can replace my shopkeeper.” Mr Puccini grumbled, but he took a big bite of the cake anyway. Then the sweetness of the cake gave Mr Puccini an idea. “But your dad maybe can…” and suddenly Jimmy knew he’d gotten the best present ever.
Hi Sabrina – I'm so glad you entered! I'm sorry about the trouble with the link – it seems the occasional person has trouble with it, I don't know why. If you want to send me your blog link I can try to enter it for you. That usually works. And then you will get visitors to your blog! And this is a wonderful story, BTW! 🙂
Thanks Carrie. It would be very colorful and joyous. 🙂
A pinata tree is a tree with the birthday pinata (filled with goodies) hanging from it. The n in pinata needs the wave symbol over it, because it's a Spanish word.
I like that. Pinatas seem to be a Central America tradition. Even the poorest families will make or buy a pinata to celebrate. Awesome Vivian. 🙂
Really nice, Kelly. I love the idea that her birthday is a secret and everyone sees it as such. That's such a cute idea, and I think original for a story… so, it sounds promising as a pb or chapter book. Oh, I love just the thought of it!
Very sweet, Carriie. You have stimulated the reader's curiosity about sea turtles. I can see a back section with facts about the sea turtles,too. (making the teacher inside of me happy). : D
Very cool story. Is James a Middle Grade boy? It's hillarious, and I feel for the kid, and I learn something about celiac in the process. Seems like a perfect MG story to me. 🙂
Hooray! These are fun…I'm way too late to the party to submit, but reading these (and the links!) has been so fun!!
🙂 Carter
Quite the story. Wonderful
Cute story for those with December birthdays! Very fun!
How fun and colorful this would be if illustrated! Good job!
Very creative! You did such a good job of telling a beautiful story in so few words.
Thanks so much for stopping by and reading! I know the authors appreciate it since they all worked hard!
Really cute! I loved how Skippie kept repeating his wish and found a way!
Sweet story, Wendy. I enjoyed it.
Thanks Penny! Skippie is one smart seahorse! 🙂
Carrie, thanks …. glad you enjoyed it. There are so many wonderful stories here I am glad I don't have to choose.
I posted a bit late as I was out of town but I have been browsing through them the past day or so. What talented and imaginative entries!
Thanks Penny. 🙂
I like the chain reaction of the story and how the ending circles back to the beginning. 🙂
I love your description of Skippie and Buster. It immediately made me want to find out if Skippie would get his birthday wish.