LEWISTON – Maine Public Broadcasting and the PBS series, “Reading Rainbow,” are sponsoring the 11th annual Young Writers and Illustrators Contest. The national competition is open to students in grades kindergarten to three who are inspired to write and illustrate their own stories.

The competition promotes literacy, writing, creative thinking and artistic expression. Each child who submits an entry will receive a certificate of achievement signed by Reading Rainbow host LeVar Burton.

New for 2005 is the Reading Rainbow contest guide with educational materials developed by the staff at Maine Public Broadcasting. The materials meet the Maine Learning Results and feature a series of sequential lessons on how to write and illustrate a story.

“The Reading Rainbow Contest Guide was developed to encourage teachers, parents and other adults to utilize the contest as an opportunity to engage children,” said France Shea, contest coordinator for Maine Public Broadcasting. “Through these lessons, children will understand the writing process and learn that successful writers go through a series of steps to create a finished work. Illustrating their books allows youngsters to further express and creatively enhance their ideas. These are skills that they will use throughout their lives.”

Lesson plans, official contest rules and entry forms will be available on the Maine Public Broadcasting Web site, www.mpbc.org, on Jan. 1. Entries must be received by March 31, at Maine Public Broadcasting, 1450 Lisbon St., Lewiston, ME 04240.