THE 2020 YOUNG MATHEMATICAL STORY AUTHORS (YMSA)
COMPETITION
THE STUART J. MURPHY AWARD
(THE 8-11 YEARS OLD CATEGORY)
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With 215 entries from 31 schools and homeschooling sites across 9 countries to judge, the Stuart J. Murphy Award (the 8-11 years old category) is very competitive this year.
The competition is also very inclusive with 120 female students, 94 male students and a self-identified non-binary student 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 HarperCollins.
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 (and homeschooling sites) for this age category.
Anderson Elementary (Iowa, USA)
Bangkok Patana School (Thailand)
Beaulieu Convent School (Jersey)
Brentford School for Girls (UK)
Bushy Hill Junior School (UK)
Calverton Elementary (Maryland, USA)
Cedarwood Primary School (UK)
Chalfont St. Peter Church of England Academy (UK)
Cottonwood Creek School (Maryland, USA)
Courthouse Junior School (UK)
Delhi World Public School Bangalore (India)
Deutsche Schule Bombay International School (India)
Dulwich College Beijing (China)
Duston Eldean Primary School (UK)
Formby High School (UK)
Grazeley Primary School (UK)
Holme Grange School (UK)
Jumeirah English Speaking School (United Arab Emirates)
Katesgrove Primary School (UK)
Khan Lab School (California, USA)
Lake Arbor Elementary School (Maryland, USA)
Lanesborough Prep School (UK)
Satit Bilingual School (Thailand)
Settrington Primary School (UK)
Shriram Millennium School (India)
Silver Oaks International School (India)
St. Benedict’s Catholic High School (UK)
St. Jerome Elementary School (Canada)
St. John's CE Primary School, Keele (UK)
St. John's CE Primary School, Reading (UK)
St. Margaret's School (UK)
Weaver Elementary School (California, USA)
Homeschooling (Canada)
Homeschooling (Pakistan)
If you want to learn more about the winning, shortlisted and longlisted entries of our 2020 Cindy Neuschwander Award (the 12-15 years old category), click here.
If you want to learn more about our 2021 competition, click here.
If you want to learn more about our 2019 competition, click here.
WINNER
'Perimeter and Area Shape Solutions' by William Lambert (9 years old)
at Jumeirah English Speaking School (United Arab Emirates)
'Perimeter and Area Shape Solutions' by William Lambert (9 years old)
at Jumeirah English Speaking School (United Arab Emirates)
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What the judges say: "Four friends, one of them is in a wheelchair, are on their way to school together. The other three are there to help push him but there has been an earthquake. Four large holes have appeared in the sidewalk. The friends work together to determine the perimeter and area of each shape and then transform other shapes with the same areas to fill the wholes. The author carefully explains perimeter and area and all the calculations required to make these transformations as the friends work together to find a solution. The handicapped child is woven seamlessly into the story line of this clever tale about perimeter, area and friendship. The overall presentation of the entry is excellent. Many congratulations, William! A well-deserved winner of the 2020 Stuart J. Murphy Award!" |
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What the author says: "I started my story by thinking “What are the things I like most about Maths and stories?” My answers were perimeter and area for Maths (thank you Miss Quinn) and problems being solved in stories. I am also very interested in earthquakes so combining all three was fun. I'd really like to encourage other students to try and create a maths story picture book because not only was it fun but it made me think about how to use my Maths work in a real life situation. I hope my story was inspiring for other students and that it taught others about how to use their area and perimeter lessons in real life! Remember, whenever there’s a hole in the ground, use your area and perimeter knowledge or call Perimeter and Area Shape Solutions!" |
SHORTLISTED
'Four Friends and the Teeny Soldiers' by Charithra Lakshmi Chokka (11 years old)
at Silver Oaks International School (India)
'Four Friends and the Teeny Soldiers' by Charithra Lakshmi Chokka (11 years old)
at Silver Oaks International School (India)
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What the judges say: "This delightful story is nicely presented with very clear visual representations of the mathematical concept, two-dimensional shapes and their areas. As we enter the 2-D Geometrical Kingdom, the shapes are arguing about which of them would be the best leader of the group. To solve the problem, the King uses his Teeny Soldiers, which are actually unit squares. By determining the number of unit squares in each shape on graph paper, the shapes find that, though they have different attributes, they all have the same area. The story is well constructed and moves smoothly to this happy ending. Very good work, Charithra!" |
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What the author says: "The inspiration behind writing this story is the activity we did in our math class on area and perimeter using grid paper. While creating this mathematical story picture book, I enjoyed it a lot because it gave me a chance to express my understanding on the topic through pictures and creative story narration. This is the first time I wrote a story on a mathematical concept. Initially I did not understand how to go about it, but later when I started writing, I felt very involved and was thinking a lot how to make it more interesting. I would also like to encourage other students in taking part in this competition as they will get to know their chosen maths concept well and will have fun writing the story. They will also use their creativity and their imagination skills while illustrating the pictures." |
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What the judges say: “Who has stolen the Infinity Statue?” asks Detective Zero as this engaging story begins. He and his assistant Clue try to find the culprit by the elimination of characters, all of which are prime numbers. In the process, prime numbers are carefully explained and nicely integrated into the story line. The solution includes a clever use of the infinity symbol as a pair of sunglasses. Original and creative, the story has a fitting title that reflects its mathematical topic, and there’s an excellent visual review at the end. What a fine job, George!” |
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What the author says: "The inspiration for my mathematical story came from the lessons we had on prime numbers with our teacher, Mr Creal. In one of the lessons, we had to find a treasure trail by working out the prime numbers. This inspired me to place my story on a tropical island. I also like mystery stories so I decided to make the main character a detective who needs to understand the concept of working out prime numbers so he can solve the crime. I would recommend other students to participate in the YMSA 2021 competition. Getting creative with a mathematical concept and using your imagination to turn it into a maths story picture book to help others understand the concept is really rewarding and such a good experience. I really enjoyed using creative writing and illustrations to explain the mathematical concept and I hope my story will help readers remember how to work out if a number is prime or not." |
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What the judges say: "As this enjoyable story opens, Mr. Circle is sitting on a rock all alone watching the other two-dimensional shapes playing together. He tries to join the quadrilaterals and the triangles but feels he is too different from them as he has only one side and no angles while the others have multiple sides and angles. He finally meets an oval, which, like him, has just one side, and they become best friends. The two shape categories each include an impressive variety of shapes within them, and each shape is carefully drawn to demonstrate its attributes. Very well done, Lara!" |
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What the author says: "I really enjoy writing stories, but at first I wasn’t sure about how to write a story based on maths. However, when my teacher, Mrs. Cronin, read us some of the maths stories from last year's YMSA competition, I liked how they combined story writing and maths, which I thought was very creative and clever. So, I wanted to have a go. I enjoyed the process of brainstorming, writing and illustrating my maths story picture book. I would definitely encourage other students to participate and enter the YMSA competition next year as it helped me look at maths in a more creative way." |
SHORTLISTED
'Ayaan's Wallpaper' by Mohammad Faizan Aazmi (11 years old)
at Silver Oaks International School (India)
'Ayaan's Wallpaper' by Mohammad Faizan Aazmi (11 years old)
at Silver Oaks International School (India)
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What the judges say: "This story is very creative and progresses nicely from problem to crisis to solution. A boy named Ayaan would like new wallpaper for a wall in his bedroom before his birthday party. Each sheet of wallpaper is a square foot and, in order to determine how many sheets he needs to buy, Ayaan must find the area of the wall. The context and the mathematical concept are well integrated and nicely illustrated. The author cleverly employs a Friend’s Box to pose problems and ask questions along the way without disrupting the flow of the story. Well done, Faizan!" |
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What the author says: "I love math and I love reading stories, so when my teacher Ms. Priya told us about the YMSA competition I was very excited about drafting a story on my favourite subject. Therefore, my inspiration was my love for math and stories. My goal was to create a story on a math topic, which would help students understand the concept of area in an easy and fun way. I really enjoyed drafting the story and making illustrations for this story. I would like to encourage other students to create their own maths story picture books on different maths topics so that they can enhance their own understanding and help others learn these concepts by reading the stories." |
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What the judges say: "This author/illustrator takes us through an exciting tale about a boy named Deven who would like to buy a very special birthday gift for his father. This is an ambitious story that uses an impressive variety of mathematical strategies to explain the addition and subtraction of money. These are all carefully explained in well-conceived visual displays and nicely integrated into the story. Even the idea of spending money to make more money is explored as Deven buys lemons to make and sell lemonade. The ending is lovely as his father proclaims that Deven’s present is “the best gift ever!” Very nice, Ellie!" |
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What the author says: "My maths story picture book is inspired by my mom, who showed me to love math, and my love of basketball. I enjoyed writing this book to show how math is all around us in so much of what we do. I would encourage other students to create mathematical story picture books because it can help them with all subjects: writing, drawing, and math!" |
LONGLISTED ENTRIES
The judges would also like to offer congratulations to authors of the following entries which were longlisted for the 2020 Stuart J. Murphy Award!
‘Decimating Decimal Phobia’ by Avyan Shah (9 years old) at Silver Oaks International School (India)
‘Santa's Mobile Number’ by Shiven Garg (9 years old) at Shriram Millennium School (India)
‘Henry the Hexagon’ by Sophie Walker (11 years old) at Formby High School (UK)
‘Miss Versions Challenge’ by Lydia Hickey (11 years old) - homeschooling (Canada)
‘The Monsters' Picnic’ by Garam Lee (9 years old) at Bangkok Patana School (Thailand)
‘The Cow who Pooped a Moon’ by Oliver Carter (9 years old) at Grazeley Primary School (UK)
‘The Lemonade Stall’ by Charan Karthik Gude (10 years old) at Silver Oaks International School (India)
‘The Bow Store’ by Karley Chase (10 years old) at Lake Arbor Elementary (Maryland, USA)
‘Grace's Tricky Holiday’ by Millie Parry (9 years old) at Chalfont St. Peter CofE Academy (UK)
‘The Beauty Competition’ by Ajai Kumar (9 years old) at Silver Oaks International School (India)
‘Number Bonds’ by Isla Rafferty (11 years old) at Beaulieu Convent School (Jersey)
‘Tiggy and the Aquathlon’ by Ellie Fairbairn (9 years old) at Bushy Hill Junior School (UK)
‘Lexie's Sharing Problem!!!’ by Hannah Joscelyn (9 years old) at Cedarwood Primary School (UK)
‘Fiend Corona’ by Kvedavyas (8 years old) at Silver Oaks International School (India)
‘Siblings Sharing’ by Holly Hope (8 years old) at Cedarwood Primary School (UK)
‘Apples for 10 Pies’ by Dallas Evans Jones (9 years old) at Calverton Elementary (Maryland, USA)
‘Counting Crocodiles’ by Grace Pradeep at Holme Grange School (UK)
‘Circle the Hero’ by Sreshta Sagiraju (9 years old) at Silver Oaks International School (India)
‘Emaa's Café’ by Shiza Atique Baloch (9 years old) - homeschooling (Pakistan)
‘How Did I Become Friends with Stats’ by Ushi Dhami (8 years old) at Silver Oaks International School (India)
The judges would also like to offer congratulations to authors of the following entries which were longlisted for the 2020 Stuart J. Murphy Award!
‘Decimating Decimal Phobia’ by Avyan Shah (9 years old) at Silver Oaks International School (India)
‘Santa's Mobile Number’ by Shiven Garg (9 years old) at Shriram Millennium School (India)
‘Henry the Hexagon’ by Sophie Walker (11 years old) at Formby High School (UK)
‘Miss Versions Challenge’ by Lydia Hickey (11 years old) - homeschooling (Canada)
‘The Monsters' Picnic’ by Garam Lee (9 years old) at Bangkok Patana School (Thailand)
‘The Cow who Pooped a Moon’ by Oliver Carter (9 years old) at Grazeley Primary School (UK)
‘The Lemonade Stall’ by Charan Karthik Gude (10 years old) at Silver Oaks International School (India)
‘The Bow Store’ by Karley Chase (10 years old) at Lake Arbor Elementary (Maryland, USA)
‘Grace's Tricky Holiday’ by Millie Parry (9 years old) at Chalfont St. Peter CofE Academy (UK)
‘The Beauty Competition’ by Ajai Kumar (9 years old) at Silver Oaks International School (India)
‘Number Bonds’ by Isla Rafferty (11 years old) at Beaulieu Convent School (Jersey)
‘Tiggy and the Aquathlon’ by Ellie Fairbairn (9 years old) at Bushy Hill Junior School (UK)
‘Lexie's Sharing Problem!!!’ by Hannah Joscelyn (9 years old) at Cedarwood Primary School (UK)
‘Fiend Corona’ by Kvedavyas (8 years old) at Silver Oaks International School (India)
‘Siblings Sharing’ by Holly Hope (8 years old) at Cedarwood Primary School (UK)
‘Apples for 10 Pies’ by Dallas Evans Jones (9 years old) at Calverton Elementary (Maryland, USA)
‘Counting Crocodiles’ by Grace Pradeep at Holme Grange School (UK)
‘Circle the Hero’ by Sreshta Sagiraju (9 years old) at Silver Oaks International School (India)
‘Emaa's Café’ by Shiza Atique Baloch (9 years old) - homeschooling (Pakistan)
‘How Did I Become Friends with Stats’ by Ushi Dhami (8 years old) at Silver Oaks International School (India)
