As part of its "National Library Week" celebration in April, The Newark Public Library invited children to create a book and enter it in the library's annual contest. Participants could write about a true or an imagined experience. The only requirement was that the book must be the child's creation. The books were judged according the child's grade level--preK to grade 3, and grades 4 through 8--by graphic artist Carol Jenkins.

Each of the first-, second- and third-place winners of both grade levels along with the high-school honoree received complimentary tickets to the Newark Museum's Dreyfuss Planetarium and a Barnes and Noble gift certificate. The seven who were awarded an honorable mention received a library pencil and paperback book. All participants received a colorful "Kids' Place" theme bookmark, which features the website's mascot Corky.

Winning entries in the pre-K to grade 3 category were:
1st Place - Dinner by Charlie A. Tavares (First Avenue branch library)
2nd Place - Anansi and the Jealous Tiger by Judith (Zina) Ezike (Vailsburg)
3rd Place - Candy Town by Emily J. Braham (Vailsburg)
Honorable Mentions were The Escape by Beatrize Motino (First Avenue), The Boy and His Magic Tree by Luis A. Rosa (First Avenue), Spring Is Fun Because... by Malanie Santos (Van Buren), The Gray Ghost by Andre Perez.

The winners in grades 4 through 8 were:
1st Place - The Fat Mermaid by Janice Delaney (Van Buren)
2nd Place - The Day That No Rain Came by Tavainya Smith (Clinton)
3rd Place - Princess Giggles by Latasha Delaney (Van Buren).
Honorable mentions were earned for Vanessa's Expressions by Vanessa Rodriguez (First Avenue), Ketchup and Fries by Victor Mira (Van Buren), and Spring and Summer by Demetrius Saunders (Springfield).

A "Special Recognition" went to ninth-grader Janine Delaney (Van Buren) for The Vending Machine.

"More than two hundred children participated this year," noted Michele Cappetta, the library's youth services coordinator. "Not only was the program fun, it was easy to enter."

Carol Jenkins (who also judged last year's program) noted that "this year's entries were some of the best, especially in the lower grades."