Reading Is Fundamental Names Winners for World of Narnia Art Contest for Kids
November 21, 2005By TARA GRECO
Reading Is Fundamental
WASHINGTON - After sorting through more than 650 entries, Reading Is Fundamental (RIF®) today announced the winners of RIF's World of Narnia Art Contest which invited children ages 5 to 15 to create their own artistic vision of the magical land of Narnia, the setting for the seven-book "Chronicles of Narnia" series by C.S. Lewis.
Eleven-year-old Noah DelaGardell from Muncie, Ind. and nine-year-old Jarynn Lowe from St. Cloud, Fla. were named grand prize winners, and will each receive a private pre-screening for up to 200 guests of the Disney and Walden Media film "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." Ten runners up each won a $50 book-buying certificate and a prize package featuring books from HarperCollins, as well as movie merchandise from Disney and Walden Media. The RIF Reading Planet (www.rif.org/readingplanet), an interactive website for children, teamed up with Walt Disney Pictures, Walden Media, and HarperCollins Children's Books in September to offer an art contest inspired by the classic children's book series and upcoming feature film, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." Entrants were invited to use paint, markers, collage, photography, computer animated graphics, or even crayons to present their ideas.
DelaGardell captured three key scenes from the story in watercolor, while Lowe created a character montage using markers. RIF has published these pieces and the other winning artwork in an online gallery on the Reading Planet. For complete contest information and to view the winning artwork, visit the contest website at www.rif.org/narnia.
The "Chronicles of Narnia" books, written more than 50 years ago, follow the fantastical voyage of four children to the magical world of Narnia. The feature film adaptation of the first book in the series, "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," combines live action and computer animation to bring the fictional world to life and opens in theaters nationwide Dec. 9.
The RIF Reading Planet is the child's section of the larger RIF website (www.rif.org). Aimed at children ages 5 to 15 and updated weekly, the advertising-free site offers an interactive community that encourages and supports reading and writing. Through the site, kids of all ages can join the free RIF Reading Planet Club; design their own homepage; and find writing contests, reading games, activities and booklists.
Note: Contact tgreco@rif.org for a hi-res image of the winning artwork. Credit: (c)Reading Is Fundamental, Inc.
Reading Is Fundamental, Inc. (RIF), founded in 1966, motivates children to read by working with them, their parents, and community members to make reading a fun and beneficial part of everyday life. RIF's highest priority is reaching underserved children from birth to age 8. Through a national, grassroots network of community volunteers at 21,000 program sites, RIF provides 5 million children with 17 million new, free books and literacy resources each year. For more information and to access reading resources, visit RIF's website at www.rif.org.
