THE 2025 YOUNG MATHEMATICAL STORY AUTHORS (YMSA)
COMPETITION
THE KERSTI WORSLEY AWARD
(THE 4-7 YEARS OLD CATEGORY)
|
|
With 147 entries from 27 schools (incluidng a homeschooling site) across 12 countries to judge, the Kersti Worsley Award (the 4-7 years old category) has proven to be both competitive and remarkably successful in its inaugural year.
The competition is also very inclusive with 73 female students and 74 male students participated.
Many congratulations to the authors of the winning, shortlisted and longlisted entries! The winner receives £100 and their school another £100. The Award is generously funded by Oxford University Press.
You can read these talented authors' mathematical stories, their inspiration for the stories, and the judges' comments below.
Feel free to share their works on social media using the #YMSAMaths hashtag.
We would like to thank all the authors for taking part in this year's YMSA competition and to their schools (and parents) for encouraging them to participate in the competition. Below is the list of this year's participating schools for this age category.
Allen School Kota (India)
Aspen Elementary (USA)
Bangkok Patana School (Thailand)
Belmont Mill Hill School (UK)
British International School Al Khobar (Saudi Arabia)
British School of Milan (Italy)
Harrow International School Hong Kong (China)
Hornsby House School (UK)
I Can School (Vietnam)
International School Zurich North (Switzerland)
Leiria International School (Portugal)
McClure Middle School (USA)
Melbourne Grammar School (Australia)
Mendon Center Elementary School (USA)
Milton Keynes Prep School (UK)
Our Lady Immaculate Primary School (UK)
Penwortham Primary School (UK)
Pinewood School (UK)
Royal Rise Primary School (UK)
Saracens High School (UK)
Silver Oaks International School (India)
Spring Hill Community Primary (UK)
Tanglin Trust School (Singapore)
Tannery Drift First School (UK)
The Study Prep (UK)
Yeading Infant and Nursery (UK)
Homeschooling (India)
To read the winning, shortlisted and longlisted entries of
our 2025 Stuart J. Murphy Award (the 8-11 years old category), click here.
To read the winning, shortlisted and longlisted entries of
our 2025 Cindy Neuschwander Award (the 12-16 years old category), click here.
If you want to learn about our upcoming 2026 competition, click here.
To read the winning, shortlisted and longlisted entries from our past competitions, click on a year of interest:
2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019.
WINNER
'Lion's Jungle Party' by Amelia Ng (6 years old)
at Harrow International School Hong Kong (China)
'Lion's Jungle Party' by Amelia Ng (6 years old)
at Harrow International School Hong Kong (China)
|
What the judges say: "Lion is excited about hosting a big birthday party, but he faces a problem when more guests turn up than anticipated. Will he have enough food? Lion must divide the banana, leaves and watermelon carefully to ensure there is enough for his friends to eat. The illustrations support the concept of division by showing the banana split into thirds, the leaves split in half, and the watermelon split into quarters. Luckily there is chocolate bar for Lion to enjoy himself and a big birthday cake for everyone to share. This delicious story bakes in the themes of friendship, kindness, and sharing. A ROARing good read and a well-deserved winner. Very well done, Amelia!" |
|
What the author says: "I already knew a little about fractions, but wanted to understand them more and I wanted to share this in a story. After creating my maths story picture book, I feel more confident with fractions. Writing my Maths story really helped with that. I really enjoyed creating my maths story picture book, and sharing my maths learning with other students. My message for Maths teachers is that children should create their own maths story picture books because children can learn Maths more through stories and it’s a really fun way to learn maths!" |
SHORTLISTED
'The Great Fruit Adventure with Ellana' by Ella Baladinesh (4 years old)
at Yeading Infant and Nursery (UK)
'The Great Fruit Adventure with Ellana' by Ella Baladinesh (4 years old)
at Yeading Infant and Nursery (UK)
|
What the judges say: "A mouth-watering story about a little girl helping her mother make a delicious fruit salad for some important guests. There’s some lovely use of specific vocabulary in this story, including a market that’s ‘buzzing’ with people and ‘colourful’ and ‘exotic’ fruit, all of which helps to create a vibrant sense of place. The problem of how to carry the heavy fruit (including jackfruit, mangoes, and guavas) home is cleverly solved by dividing the load. Bright, colouful illustrations accompany the story and show how the fruit is equally divided in two baskets. Congratulations, Ella!" |
|
What the author says: "I wanted to help children learn maths in a fun way. This is a real story about me when I lived in Sri Lanka. Writing my own math story helped me wth my maths skills because I watched maths videos about dividing for it and I also drew pictures about it. For teachers, we like to draw and tell stories with maths. It makes learning maths so fun!" |
|
What the judges say: "This very 'sweet' story is set in a chocolate castle. The imaginative characters – Feastofy and Skilly – have lots of fun exploring the castle and discovering, among other things, chocolate chairs and chandeliers. Along the way they decide to measure the chocolate, but the problem is that it’s all different shapes and sizes. Using their maths skills, Feastofy and Skilly find out that the highest chocolate in the castle is the chocolate tower. The illustrations show how the characters do this by using chocolate bars as units of measure. This scrumptious adventure draws on themes of working together to solve problems. Congratulations, Quang!" |
|
What the author says: "The Chocolate Castle is a story about two friends who use math to find the tallest chocolate in a magical castle. I got the idea because I love chocolate and thought it would be fun to use math in a sweet adventure! I liked making this maths story because I used counting and measuring in a new way. I didn’t use a ruler, I used chocolate bars! It helped me learn how to compare height using maths. I hope more maths teachers let students write math stories because it makes maths learning exciting!" |
SHORTLISTED
'Division by Sharing and the Three Triplet Kittens' by Hailey Yip (6 years old)
at Harrow International School Hong Kong (China)
'Division by Sharing and the Three Triplet Kittens' by Hailey Yip (6 years old)
at Harrow International School Hong Kong (China)
|
What the judges say: "This heart-warming story explores themes of sharing and fairness as Mommy needs to divide her snacks equally between three hungry – and very cute – kittens. The illustrations are particularly effective in helping show the working out of the maths problem faced by the protagonist, by splitting all the snacks into groups. A PURRfect story. Well done, Hailey!" |
|
What the author says: "I was inspired to write my maths story by my very own cats at home and linking that to numbers. I enjoyed drawing the pictures the most as it was fun to add some of my life from home and bring it to life. I enjoyed linking my Maths learning and it helped me learn division using pictures and words. My message for Maths teachers is that children should create their own maths story picture books because I think maths stories are a great way to have fun with maths!" |
SHORTLISTED
'The Tally Challenge' by Samar Kashyap (7 years old)
at International School Zurich North (Switzerland)
'The Tally Challenge' by Samar Kashyap (7 years old)
at International School Zurich North (Switzerland)
|
What the judges say: "The Sports Wizard School is organizing a sports camp, and Mr Gregory gives Tom the challenge of scoring the different events. Tom is keen to take up the challenge but it’s a big responsibilty. How will he keep track of the scores for the basketball, cricket, and football? Tom comes up with the clever idea of keeping score using a series of tally charts, which are clearly drawn at different points in the story. As well as keeping score, Tom even manages to relax and enjoy the games. This inventive story shows a different approach to traditional stories about sports events and highlights how it’s not just the competitors who can join in. Very well done, Samar!" |
|
What the author says: "I was inspired to write my maths story because I like all the sports in it it and I tried to make tallies understandable in a fun way. Making my own maths story picture book helped me learn about tallying because I had to collect data and show it clearly in my story. I would like all maths teachers to let kids make stories out of math to make math easier and more fun!" |
|
What the judges say: "Disaster strikes on the day of the playdate when two bears and three rabbits are sick and can’t make the playdate. The remaining friends manage to make four groups with five playmates in each, but then then four frogs turn up and want to play. The friends have to work out how they can have an equal number of groups with an equal number of playmates in each. The illustrations support this concept by clearly showing the characters split into equal groups. A lovely story about friendship and fairness. Congratulations, Romeo!" |
|
What the author says: "I enjoy having playdates and thought it would be fun to write a maths story about lots of animals at a playdate. I like mixing my skills of English, Maths and Art together to create my own maths story picture book – it was really fun! Drawing the pictures to match my maths learning and my story really helped show my understanding, and I feel even more confident now. I hope maths teacher let children create their own maths story picture books because I think maths stories are great and we should write more!" |
LONGLISTED ENTRIES
The judges would also like to offer congratulations to authors of the following entries which were longlisted for the 2025 Kersti Worsley Award!
The judges would also like to offer congratulations to authors of the following entries which were longlisted for the 2025 Kersti Worsley Award!
|
'Multiplication in My Garden' by Jolie Pang (5 years old) at Harrow International School Hong Kong (China)
'The Lonely Penguin' by Gabriel Kassam (5 years old) at Hornsby House School (UK)
|
'Bunnies in the Number Pattern Castle' by Josephine Shi (5 years old) at Harrow International School Hong Kong (China)
|
|
'Hedgehog's Shape House' by Wesley Qiu (6 years old) at Harrow International School Hong Kong (China)
|
'Lily and the Lost Ladybugs' by Ameira Ezrouki (6 years old) at Yeading Infant and Nursery (UK)
|
|
|
