‘Best friends’: 10,000 Kids Write Stories For ECI
“My best friend” is a subject that nearly every child has something to say about. Or write about, as Direct Group’s Dutch subsidiary ECI now knows. ECI had organized a story contest for kids between the ages of 9 and 12, prompting teachers in 800 schools across the country to speak with their students about “best friends” – a popular topic in this age group– and have them write about it. Their dedication was one of the reasons that the contest was an overwhelming success: The Dutch book club received some 10,000 entries, which together paint a comprehensive picture of what friendship means to 9- to 12-year-olds in the
Stories, poems, rap lyrics and even comics were among the 10,000 works of art created by the children in school and by 500 children in their free time. ECI reports that submissions included beautiful, sad, funny, dramatic and other moving stories, and that many of the works were lovingly decorated, illustrated with photographs, and even bound into entire books with several chapters.
The panel of judges included famous Dutch children’s book authors, along with the editor-in-chief of the “Kids Week” school newsletter, and the Chairwoman of the Dutch “Idols” jury. The judges selected the 50 best works and invited their young authors to a “Best Friend Party.” Each of their schools received books worth 100 euros. And from this pool of 50 finalists, the three best stories and three best raps were chosen and their authors invited to workshops. The six little artists presented their work at the “Best Friend Party,” while the judges faced the difficult task of picking the two final winners – who eventually left the party, with their respective best friends of course, to set off on their grand prize: a one-hour helicopter flight.
