Friday, March 27, 2009

'FIND A HERO' CONTEST HAS A WINNER

A few weeks back we ran an article about the FIND A HERO contest by Stone Arch Press, which was inspired by DC’s SUPER HEROES book series.

Hakeem Bennet from The Nathanael Greene School (P.S. 6K) in Brooklyn, NY is the first place winner. As offered, Bennet will star next to Superman in the upcoming book, THE KID WHO SAVED SUPERMAN available June 15, 2009. The coolness doesn’t end there. Bennet’s teacher, Mr. Brown, and Principal Schneider will find themselves in the plot as well.

According to Stone Arch, there were more than 230 entries from the U.S. and Canada. What did the kids write about? Teachers, P.E. teachers, librarians, principals, custodians, classmates, friends and service animals were the most popular subjects.

Young Bennet chose his teacher, Mr. Brown who is visually impaired. As Bennet put it, he didn’t chose his teacher because of his disability but because he takes public transportation. “To ride the train to East NY in Brooklyn is chaotic and not the safest even for people who do not have a disability,” said Bennet. “He could serve as a superhero for all.”

“We were amazed at how well young kids could articulate the ‘super powers’ of the real heroes in their lives,” said Joan Berge, President of Capstone Publishers, Fiction. “While it was extremely difficult to choose just one first place winner, Hakeem’s touching story about his teacher Mr. Brown stood out from the rest. We’re so excited to feature him as the hero in our book and can’t wait for him to see the finished product. He’s a very excited kid to be starring alongside SUPERMAN in a book!”

The DC SUPER HEROES series debuted in January with 12 titles. The books pair new stories by Stone Arch Books authors with original art by DC Comics illustrators. The full-color chapter books feature contemporary adventure and crime fighting tales with appropriate language and content for students in elementary grades. The series will include a total of 48 titles published over a two-year span.

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