Winners Of The Visual Decoder For Stories Contest

This competition showcased children’s creativity and ability to reflect thoughtfully about what they learn from stories. The judges were very impressed with the entries received and all the children who participated in this competition should feel proud of their visual decoder work. The winning works were chosen based on the strength of the child’s point of view, as well as the clarity of pictures and words in expressing the moral of the story. We hope everyone will continue to read extensively and use the power of visual thinking to consolidate their learning.

By Kayla Sim, age 8 (Grand Prize Winner)

Drawing based on Flora and Nora Hunt for Treasure, by Kim Hillyard (Author, Illustrator)

Judges’ Comments:
The winning work shows a strong alignment between the lesson learnt and pictures drawn. The judges love the creativity in the metaphorical heart shape with an ‘F’ representing friendship and arms that seem to hug the heart. The use of the ‘>’ symbol, and the larger picture of friendship in comparison with the smaller picture of treasure shows depth of thinking in communicating the lesson, ‘Friendship is bigger than treasure’.

Here are Kayla’s other visual decoder pictures:

Other Winners (in no particular order)

By Chloe Lim, age 6

Drawing based on Marmalade: The Orange Panda, by David Walliams (Author), Adam Stower (Illustrator)

Judges’ Comments:
The lesson learnt shows a high level of maturity. It is paired with a picture that shows the hero of the story—the Orange Panda. The panda has a bright smile and appears to be bouncing off the text, nicely reflecting the joyful acceptance of its difference and matching the positive tone of the moral, ‘You never need to change: You are perfect just as you are!’

Here are Chloe’s other visual decoder pictures:

By Joreen Lee, age 6

Drawing based on The Rabbit Listened, by Cori Doerrfeld (Author, Illustrator)

Judges’ Comments:
Albeit simple, this entry demonstrated the child’s ability to summarise ideas and use simple pictures. 3 icons are used, each representing something important learnt from the story.

Here are Joreen’s other visual decoder pictures:

By Reia Jean Tracy, age 8

Drawing based on Flora and Nora Hunt for Treasure, by Kim Hillyard (Author, Illustrator)

Judges’ Comments:
This entry scored as it uses a dividing line between the pictures of the heart and the shiny coins to bring out the contrast in the ideas of friendship and gold. The way the lesson learnt is communicated is direct and easy to understand.

Here are Reia’s other visual decoder pictures:

By Evelyn Chua Jia Xi, age 7

Drawing based on The Day the Crayons Came Home, by Drew Daywalt (Author), Oliver Jeffers (Illustrator)

Judges’ Comments:
This entry charmed the judges with its simplicity and succinctness. The lesson is inferred from the complaints of the crayons —Keep your belongings after using them—and shows the child’s application to daily life. The lesson is represented by a stick figure returning an object to a large rectangular space/box, a very efficient picture with the simplest lines.

Here are Evelyn’s other visual decoder pictures:

PictureThink would like to express our heartfelt appreciation to Times Reads, Kinokuniya, friends and supporters who helped to make the Visual Decoder For Stories sessions and contest successful.