Scholastic's Children of the Lamp 'Three Wishes for the World' Contest Reveals That U.S. and U.K. Children Share a Desir

11/16/04 - PRNewswire

Scholastic's Children of the Lamp 'Three Wishes for the World' Contest Reveals That U.S. and U.K. Children Share a Desire for World Peace, Cultural Understanding and Education for All PRNewswire NEW YORK and LONDON November 16

NEW YORK and LONDON, November 16 /PRNewswire/ --

- Essay Contest Grand Prize Winners to Take Trans-Atlantic Trips Americans to Visit London; British to Visit New York

Scholastic Inc. announced today the winners of its extensive trans-atlantic "Three Wishes for the World" essay contest where children in the United States and United Kingdom have the chance to win all-expense paid trips to New York and London. The essay contest was inspired by Scholastic's New York Times best-selling Children of the Lamp trilogy by acclaimed British author P.B. Kerr.

In the hundreds of entries received from children throughout the United States and United Kingdom, world peace, cultural understanding, and education were the three most popular themes. Entries were judged by a panel of Scholastic editors in the United States and The Times newspaper editors in the United Kingdom. The winning essays were selected for their creativity, innovative ideas, and writing ability.

In the United States, Hillary Goodfellow, a 13-year-old from Diamondhead, Mississippi was selected as the grand-prize winner. In her winning essay, Hillary wished for cultural understanding of others, for everyone to be able to read, and for everyone to have a friend. The grand prizewinner will be treated to an all-expense paid trip for two to London, US$3,000 donation to the charity of the winner's choice, US$300 worth of books for her school and lunch with author P.B. Kerr.

Three U.S. runner-up winners will each receive signed copies of Children of the Lamp, a Children of the Lamp backpack, US$150 worth of Scholastic books, and US$150 worth of Scholastic books for his or her school. Their wishes included world peace, a strong leader who could unify the world, a world where people don't live in fear, an end to discrimination and poverty, education for all, and a safe school environment.

Excerpts from US winners:

"My final wish for the world would be for everyone to have cultural understanding of others ... If we take the time to learn about someone else's culture we will see that they aren't that different from us." -- Hillary Goodfellow, 13, Diamondhead, MS (grand prize winner)

"I wish we could have a strong leader that could unify the planet. We need someone who can stand up for what is right and what is wrong." -- John Newberry, 13, Austin, TX (1st runner up)

"One of the wishes I would make would be no discrimination of races ... I'm Mexican-American and can't tell you how many times someone has made fun of me or has judged me because of my race or because of the color of my skin." -- Esmeralda Jaime, 13, Berwyn, IL (2nd runner up)

"My second wish is that everyone be given an education. School is an important part of a child's life ... I know that with all the things that I have learned, I'm ready for just about anything thrown my way." -- Yuki Mizuma, 12, Fort Lee, NJ (3rd runner up)

In the United Kingdom, the grand prize winner was an eight-year-old from Reading in Berkshire who wished that he could fly, that he could talk with animals and that all imaginary things (in particular dragons) would become real. He will win a trip to New York, 3000 pounds Sterling to the charity of his choice, 500 pounds of Scholastic books and lunch with P.B. Kerr. Two runner-up winners, from Birmingham and Devon, will each receive a trip to London, 200 pounds worth of Scholastic books and lunch with P.B. Kerr.

In addition to such powerful themes as a desire to end hatred and prejudice, and a wish for world peace, U.S. and U.K. entries also revealed wishes for stronger leadership from elected officials, and cures for serious diseases including cancer and AIDS.

Scholastic acquired the publishing rights for the Children of the Lamp trilogy in a seven-figure deal in 2003. Released this fall in the U.S. and U.K., the first book The Akhenaten Adventure is currently on the New York Times best-seller list. Movie rights have been bought by DreamWorks' top producer team, Lorrie MacDonald and Walter Parkes, whose credits include Catch Me If You Can, Men in Black and Road to Perdition. Scholastic is the publisher of the best-selling Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling in the US and His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman in the UK.

The first book in the Children of the Lamp series, The Akhenaten Adventure, is a fast-paced fantasy featuring John and Philippa Gaunt, twelve-year-old twins of an affluent New York couple. Only when their wisdom teeth appear do they develop an extraordinary gift for making other people's wishes magically come true. In a wonderfully imaginative and hilarious adventure story, John and Philippa travel to London to meet their wildly eccentric genie-uncle, Nimrod. Before you can say "Akhenaten," the twins are pitting their fledgling Djinn skills against Iblis, the most wicked Djinn of all, which takes them to London, Egypt, and finally to the North Pole.

Although this is P.B. Kerr's first children's novel, he is well known as the thriller-writer Philip Kerr, author of the Berlin Noir trilogy, A Philosophical Investigation, Gridiron, The Shot and several other acclaimed thrillers. The New York Times Book Review hailed Philip Kerr as a "[a] sly and serious writer" and Salman Rushdie praised him as "a brilliantly innovative thriller writer."

Scholastic Corporation, the world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books, creates quality educational and entertaining materials and products for use in school and at home, including children's books, textbooks, magazines, technology-based products, teacher materials, television programming, videos and toys. The Company distributes its products and services through a variety of channels, including proprietary school-based book clubs, school-based book fairs, school-based and direct-to-home continuity programs; retail stores, schools, libraries, and television networks; and the Company's Internet Site, http://www.scholastic.com.

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