When It Comes to Creativity, These Kids Wrote the Book

To the thunderous applause of their schoolmates, 27 students at Newcastle Avenue Elementary School learned Tuesday that a book they wrote last year as fourth-graders has won top honors in a nationwide contest.

“Who Let the Cat Out of the Bag,” a book about idioms, won grand prize in the nonfiction category of the Scholastic Book Fair’s 16th annual Kids Are Authors contest, which had more than 2,000 entries from the United States, Mexico and Japan. More than 20,000 copies of the book will be printed and available for sale--at about $4 apiece--at Scholastic Book Fairs throughout the country, beginning in the fall.

The illustrated book focuses on idioms such as “cut it out” and “it’s raining cats and dogs,” defining each.

Aside from a handful of officials at the Reseda school, no one--not even the parents of the winning students--knew the purpose of the afternoon assembly where the announcement was made.

“I’m so excited. My parents are going to be so proud,” said 10-year-old Stephanie Fuentes, a native Spanish speaker who learned English when she was 5. All of the kids who worked on the book learned English as their second language.

The idea for the book came from their fourth-grade teacher, Lizette Madruga, who began her teaching career last school year.

“When I was in fourth grade, I wrote a paper called ‘My Profession as a Writer.’ I wanted to be Dr. Seuss,” said Madruga, 24, now a middle school teacher in South San Francisco.

Many people praised the children for their efforts.

“Today, you are not just the best students. Today, you are not just the best students in California. Today, you are the best and the most creative students in the United States,” said Bob Collins, a superintendent for the southwest San Fernando Valley area of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

On Tuesday, the student authors received dictionaries; in the fall, they will each receive a copy of the book and a medal. The school will get $2,000 in Scholastic Book Fairs merchandise.