Kids News 2024 Short Story winners

Our young author in this year’s Kids News short story competition has tackled the big issues after being inspired by gaming, AI and robots.

Finn Christou-Lloyd from Preston Primary School in Melbourne won the Kinder-Year 2 category in the Kids News Short Story Competition. His classmate Adeline Seddon was high commended for her efforts while Gillian Goswell Ries and Rosie Madden were short-listed. Picture: Tony Gough

From tales of adventure and exploration to overcoming challenges and dealing with technology overload, this year’s Kids News short story competition entrants truly captured the spirit of the times.

Renowned children’s author and competition judge Jackie French helped choose this year’s winners from 400 entries in the Kindergarten to Year 9 national competition, run by Kids News and publisher HarperCollins.

“This year we’re seeing a great deal of originality. In previous years we’ve had some brilliant ideas but it was very rare to find a story with a coherent structure with the very, very young kids,” said Ms French.

Author Jackie French was impressed with the short story entries. Picture: Martin Ollman

“Yes, a brilliant imagination is something you’re born with and can be fostered, but to build a coherent story requires teaching by parents and teachers and reading books. They are learning the skill of writing a professional story that readers will enjoy … building a story towards an unexpected conclusion.”

Kids News editor Diana Jenkins was also impressed with the children’s creativity in building a solid story, often around complex issues.

“I couldn’t get over the number of times there was a surprise at the end, a satisfying resolution. The amount of effort that went into structuring some of these stories I just thought was outstanding.”

For the second consecutive year, Lucas Wong, 10, a Year 6 student from Chatswood Public School took out the Year 5-6 category, this time for his story, Human Body Parts Replacement Guide.

Lucas Wong has won the Kids News Short Story competition (Years 5-6 category) for the second consecutive year. Picture: Richard Dobson

Lucas, who prefers to read nonfiction books, particularly about robots and AI, said the storyline came to him while he was gaming.

“ I like playing video games like Mario (Super Mario Bros) and you get these power-ups, and I thought it would be so useful if I had this power in real life, I could destroy my dad in running. So I thought, ‘how could I make this more unique’, and I came up with exchanging body parts to power-up.”

Winner K-2 category: Finn Christou-Lloyd. Picture: Tony Gough

Preston Primary School in Victoria were successful as a cohort, with Finn Christou-Lloyd taking out the top prize in the Kindergarten-to-Year 2 division, while classmate Adeline Seddon was highly commended while Gillian Goswell Ries and Rosie Madden were short-listed.

Aditya Paul, 12, from Sydney Grammar School won the Year 7-9 category with his dystopian submission, The Picnic, and offers some sage advice for students who didn’t make the winning list.

“Although it can be disheartening sometimes, I would probably say that a writing competition

is the best thing I could possibly lose at. Every story I write broadens my portfolio, and I

often receive feedback as well. I’m always motivated by the thrill of submitting, and knowing that my work is always going to be better than last time.”

Aditya Paul “pictured in his natural habitat” has won the 7-9 category with his story, The Picnic. Picture: Supplied

Aditya is unsure about what the future holds at this young stage, but great things await.

“If there are any vacancies for an engineer-linguist-author-programmer-doctor, please let me know. However, I do relish the idea of writing for a living, and it is very near the top of my list … I am not ruling out anything yet.”

The winners receive 10 copies of their short story published into a printed book with a personally designed cover, an iPad and a HarperCollins book pack valued at $100. The runners-up also win a HarperCollins book pack valued at $100, while those who were highly commended win a $50 HarperCollins book pack.

SEE KIDSNEWS.COM.AU TO READ THE WINNING STORIES

Kinder-Year 2

Winner

Finn Christou-Lloyd, Preston Primary School, Something Fishy

Runner up

Fredrik Shanahan, St Kilda Park Primary School, My Cat Purrseus

Highly Commended

Clara Doyle, Flinders Christian Community College Carrum Downs, Pip and the Backwards Day

Ari Johnson, St Kilda Park Primary School, The Two Not Magical Magicians and the one very Magical Magician

Adeline Seddon, Preston Primary School, The Ant Tree

Short-listed

Lachlan Richards, Oakhill Drive Public School, Mr Evilbut and the Doos

Kiewa Sehgal, Good Shepherd Lutheran Primary School, The Polar Bear and Fairy

Georgia Thorn, Brisbane School of Distance Education, Gigi the Giraffe

Gillian Goswell, Preston Primary School, Ries Willa’s Wonderful Adventure

Rosie Madden, Preston Primary School, Skull Adventure

Year 3-4

Winner

Hazelle Marwaha, Flinders Christian Community College, Carrum Downs, The Wishing Well

Runner up

Lila Mertono, Rosanna Golf Links Primary School, Wings

Highly Commended

Oliver Sukamto, Robertson State School, Goodbye Olive

Ruiyan Weng, Rose Park Primary School, The Cottage of Glorious Desserts

Terrence Li, Sunnybank Hills State School, The Polar Expedition

Short-listed

Stephanie Ding, Murray Farm Public School, Lynette’s Flight

Mia Castro, Chilwell Primary School, Billie and Daisy

Alexandra Riquelme, Plenty Parklands Primary School, Huxley and I

Scarlett Francois, Bargara State School, Charlie the Crocodile’s First Day at School

Year 5-6

Winner

Lucas Wong, Chatswood Public School, Human Body Parts Replacement Guide

Runner Up

Ariana Fais, Shelford Girls’ Grammar, Shauna’s Story

Highly Commended

Ludwin Tarvand, Templestowe Heights Primary School, Smart Phone War

Thomas Andrews, Alexandria Park Community School, The Island

Amelie Albury, Camden South Public School, A Stitched Past

Short-listed

Evie Roberts-Critchley, St Roch’s Primary School, A Little Too Curious

James Yan, Ascot Vale Primary School, Getting Lost

Year 7-9

Winner

Aditya Paul, Sydney Grammar School, The Picnic

Runner up

Arwa Binte Mohammad, Brisbane School of Distance Education, The Croissants at the End of the Universe

Highly Commended

Mia Lai, Barker College, A Light in the Dark

Milandra Barnard, Wesley College, The Wood’s Secret

Katie Delaney, Brisbane School of Distance Education, Overcoming Anxiety