Last month News10 My Neighborhood gave a shout out to our communities and ask you to send us a picture of a child reading to a pet. The pictures were then put into our photo gallery article and the names were submitted into our random drawing, where the winner was to receive a prize.

PHOTOS: Kids Reading to Pets

This contest was part of News10's Reading Connects campaign, which is our effort at improving the literacy rate in our area.

Research has shown that children's reading skills improve when they read to their pets, hence the inspiration for this contest.

The winner of our "Kids Reading to Pets" sweepstakes contest random drawing was Jill, who submitted a picture of her son, Devin, reading to his dog, Jake.

Devin was around a year old when the

The California Writers Exchange contest introduces emerging writers from California to the New York literary community and provides them a network for professional advancement. Every third year, writers in California are invited to submit manuscripts. Judges review the entries and select a winning poet and fiction writer. Winners are flown to New York City for an all-expenses-paid, weeklong trip to meet with literary agents, editors, publishers, and writers, and to give a public reading.

We are currently accepting submissions for the 2013 California Writers Exchange contest. Download the application here.