Congratulations and thank you to all the winners and participants of the First Annual Laval Families Young Authors Contest Stories.
We certainly enjoyed reading your stories and we are very proud of you. Be prepared for next year!

A huge “thank you” to Bureau En Gros for their support.

THE ADVENTURES OF A LITTLE STAR
By Abigael Plante – Leal
Grade one


Abigael Plante – Leal

Once upon a time there was a little star that was lonely.
So she decided to look for some friends. She went to see
the sun and asked him if they could be friends. But the
sun was too busy sending light and heat to the Earth.
Little star went to earth and saw a star on top of a Christmas
tree. She asked if they could be friends but the
star was too busy being a decoration in a tree. Little star
looked everywhere and everywhere. She found a star
at the bottom of the sea. But little star could not go in
the sea because she was a fire star. Little star was really
sad and started to cry. In the sky she saw three shooting
stars. The shooting stars invited little star to travel with
them and they became best friends forever.

TIMOTHY LEARNS TO FLY
By Andrew Kalan Wylie
Grade Two


Andrew Kalan Wylie

In a faraway land, called Rainbow Valley, where animals could talk
and play just like little boys and girls, there was a young bird named
Timothy.
One day Timothy sat on a little hill and watched his older brothers fly
high in the sky as they headed home.
He wished he could fly too. He tried jumping off big rocks. He
flapped his wings as hard as he could. But every time he landed on
the ground.
He just could not seem to do it. Timothy loved to learn. One day he
decided to go to the library and borrow books about flying. He read
every book he could find. He tried everything he learned. But he still
landed flat on the ground. Timothy was frustrated and discouraged.
He wanted to fly but just did not know how. One day Miss Moo, the
librarian, asked Timothy why he looked so sad. Timothy told Miss
Moo why he had borrowed so many books about flying. He told her
he had tried everything he read about and still could not fly. He told
Miss Moo that he was sad because he thought he would never learn
to fly. “Why not go on an adventure?” Miss Moo jokingly suggested.
“Now, why didn’t I think of that?” asked Timothy. “I was only joking.”
Miss Moo said. But Timothy did not hear her as he walked away. As
soon as he got home, he looked for his mommy, but she had left
to visit his older brother. She would not be back for another week.
So, Timothy started packing. When she would be back he wanted to
show her that he had learned to fly. That evening Timothy went to say
goodbye to Miss Moo. Wise Owl was visiting Miss Moo so he learned
of Timothy’s plan. Miss Moo wanted to stop Timothy from leaving but
Wise Owl told her to let Timothy go. He knew that Timothy needed to
go on this adventure to find the courage to fly. They waved goodbye

as Timothy left. Timothy started his long adventure. He searched
for courage under rocks, over hills, in caves and behind the tallest
mountain in Rainbow Valley. He even walked across tall bridges
to look for it. Along the way he met Leo the Lion. Timothy asked
Leo where he could find the courage to fly but Leo did not know
where. Timothy continued to look but could not find it. After days
of searching Timothy grew sadder and sadder. So he decided to
go back home. He wanted to fly just like his older brothers. He
had tried but he just could not do it. When Timothy reached his
home he learned that his mother was still visiting his brother.
So he went to visit Miss Moo. Wise Owl was again visiting Miss
Moo. Miss Moo and Wise Owl listened to Timothy talk about
his adventure. Miss Moo was sad for Timothy. Wise Owl asked
Timothy to go with him. He brought Timothy to a nearby cliff.
“Close your eyes and when you are ready to fly, let yourself go,
Just go for it!” said Wise Owl. Timothy closed his eyes just like
Wise Owl told him to. He thought of all the books he had read.
He thought of his recent adventure. And then right before letting
himself go and stepping over the cliff, he thought of himself
soaring across the sky. When he opened his eyes he realized he
was flying.
He was so happy. “Look at me, look at me! I’m flying!” Timothy
screamed as he flew in circles. Wise Owl looked at Timothy with
a proud smile. I knew you could do it all along he thought to
himself. You just needed to believe in yourself.

THE MIGHTY DRAGON
By Sarah Caluori
Grade five


Sarah Caluori


If you get scared a lot, read this story and you’ll think that you have
it good. Kevin and Sandra were best friends since pre-school. Kevin
dared Sandra a dare that even the mightiest Knight of all mighty
Knights would never dare to do! If Sandra had dared Kevin to do it
Kevin, even if he was brave, would run away crying like a two year
old baby girl. Though Sandra wanted to do the same, she was daring
and wanted to be better and braver than Kevin. She was going to do
it! She was going to fight the dragon that lived in Roadkill Drive! She
decided to do it after they ate breakfast, lunch, supper and dessert so
that if she was eaten at least she had got to eat. After she finished
eating her dessert, she asked her mother to drive her to Roadkill
Drive. Her mother said “OF course, as long as you stay safe and
don’t do anything dangerous.” And off they went. Her mother drove
her to Roadkill Drive. To get there, they went across the quicksand
pit, over the hill of bones and through the cave of blood. When they
got out of the cave, they were tired so they sat on a scaly hill. The
mother, seeing Sandra was alright, drove back to her house leaving
Sandra behind. Sandra, as nervous as ever, felt the hill moving! She
looked down and saw a head with glowing red fire eyes. The eyes
screamed,”ROADKILL’! “Aaaaaaah”, she screamed. And that was
the last thing she got to see and say (scream) before she was …….
EATEN BY THE DRAGON! She kicked the inside of the dragon but he
didn’t budge. Kevin heard the scream and figured it was Sandra. He
knew if he went he might be eaten by the dragon but it was worth it.
He got his mom to drive him to Roadkill Drive. To get there they went
across the quicksand pit, over the hill of bones and through the cave
of blood. When they got out of the cave of blood they were tired but

the scaly hill was gone. Instead there was a huge surprise the size
of two houses put together. (two houses stacked and two houses
put next to each other) Kevin stared blankly in disbelief while his
mouth dropped so far down that if he stuck out his tongue he
could taste the ground! He was so scared and he really wanted
to run back home but he had to save Sandra from the dragon’s
clutches. The dragon’s stomach rumbled and growled so loud that
even astronauts on Neptune could hear it. The dragon was getting
hungrier and hungrier by the second. Unfortunately the dragon
was a fire breathing dragon. He blew fire in Kevin’s direction.
Kevin didn’t have much time to find protection. He looked around
and found a torch in the cave of blood. He picked it up, caught
all the fire on it and threw it on the dragon. The dragon got a
minor injury on his hand. He whipped his tail at Kevin. Kevin
jumped on the dragon and climbed up to his hand. The dragon
picked Kevin up and …..ATE HIM! Kevin fell in and hung on the
dragon’s uuula. Kevin took out the torch and put the fire which
was also hanging on the uuula, on it. Kevin went farther down the
dragon’s stomach and found Sandra. Sandra was a bit whoozy but
she was still alive and fine. They held hands and put the torch up.
The dragon sneezed them out but the torch stayed in the dragon!
The dragon got scared, promised to be a vegetarian, to be nice
and to never hurt anyone again unless they are predators. Kevin
took out a water bottle he had packed earlier and gave it to the
dragon. The dragon drank it and the fire was put out. And ever
since then Kevin was known as “THE MIGHTY DRAGON SLAYER.”
He was the happiest ten year old in the universe. And Sandra
became his trusty sidekick. If you ever get dared to fight a dragon
that lives in Roadkill Drive just remember what happened in this
story and ……STAY AWAY! Meet Kevin and Sandra in their next
adventure….”The Dragon’s Fire!”

THE LOUD ONES
By Demetra Asmaklis
Grade Six


 Demetra Asmaklis


Everybody in the world screams. We all know that. There are some
people that scream because they’re angry.
Some that scream because they’re scared.
Some that scream for their enjoyment. If there was a screaming
chart that existed, I would put my older sister, Barbara, on
“screams for his/her enjoyment” section .
See, my mom and dad came home late from work, so Barbara has
to babysit us until my parents come home. Since my little brother
Zachary is just a little kid, he needs tons of help with his homework
She doesn’t want mom and dad to come home from work and
complain to their daughter that Zachary didn’t do his homework.
Barbara is your regular stuck-up teenager. She thinks Zachary is an
immature little boy who’s loud and picks his nose way too often.
She always tells him to keep quiet. But it’s kind of weird when you
think of it because the loudest person in the world is constantly
yelling at her brother “quiet”. And guess what she thinks about
me? She thinks that my hair is too messy and that my jokes are
corny. I don’t mind if she doesn’t like my hair, but my JOKES! My
jokes are the funniest anyone has ever heard. Even people who
have no sense of humor AT LEAST crack a smile! No one, and I
mean NO ONE, is allowed to criticize my jokes. And when I become
a comedian one day, I’ll laugh in her face because everybody will
want to hear my jokes. So anyway, one day I was lying down on
my bed listening to music, minding my own business when all of
a sudden I heard Barbara’s screaming and that almost gave me
a heart attack. I’m used to Barbara screaming almost every second
but this time it was louder than usual. I recovered quickly. The
screaming kept on going. I turned the volume higher on my pod.
I could still hear her voice, so I turned the volume to the max. A
while later she came stomping into my room and started yelling,

“turn it DOWN”! “Zach and I can’t concentrate! “ “And turn it to
another song”. “ I hate what you listen to.” I replied “Sorry, I can’t
hear heeaar yoouu!” But I still turned down the volume. When
she returned to the kitchen I said loudly, “Hey, Barbara! I don’t like
what you listen to either!” My sister listens to pop. I, on the other
hand, listen to rock. It may not look like it, but I do. Well, I listen to
pop-rock kind of music. But I think you get the point. And guess
what happens when you like pop-rock music and your sister likes
pop? “Zachary”, my sister continued. “It’s Bed” b-e-d, not b –e-b
or d-e-d or any of that mumbo jumbo! It’s bed! Get it right”. Zachary
started crying. The sound of him crying made me feel bad for
him. You know what? That’s it. I’ve had it with Barbara screaming
every day. I’ve had it with Zachary crying every time my sister
yells at him. I’m going to make this stop. I got up, marched down
to the kitchen and said to Barbara in a serious voice, “Barb, we
have to talk.” “Not now, Jane! Can’t you see I am in the middle
of something? I shook m head. “Now”! I sort of said angrily. I
took her by the arm and dragged her into my room. “Hey,why’d
you do that ? she asked? “Why do you keep screaming?” “Well,
it’s a habit, okay?” she replied. “Well you gotta break that habit!”
“Look at what you’ve done right now; you yelled at an innocent
first-grader who mixed up – b ‘s and d’s! You might as well teach
the poor kid which is which.” Barbara remained there speechless,
or should I say excuse less. “Fine, whatever.” she mumbled. You
also owe Zach an apology. “Now I’m just acting like mom”, Barbara
sighed She walked back to the kitchen, apologized to Zachary
and as a reward for doing that he gave her a big, squishy
hug. So this was how I tamed the lioness. Pretty cool, huh? It was
about time a knuckle- head like her listened to me.