The Foundation of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association organizes the competition, which is held under the patronage of the Federal President. The reading competition has been held every year since 1959 and has around 600,000 participants nationwide. The district, which has been taking part since the 1960s, once again took part in Germany's oldest and largest school competition this year under the direction of the district youth welfare department at the district administration office.
The head of the district administration, District Administrator Dietmar Allgaier, is delighted with the pupils' entries, which were posted via an online gallery during the pandemic. "The ability to read opens up a wide range of opportunities. It is a key qualification for life, it not only educates but also stimulates the imagination and creativity, it enriches the mind and soul and promotes the ability to express oneself. And finally, it also promotes the ability to empathize with other circumstances and people. With your entries, you have shown with great enthusiasm how much fun reading is, despite the difficult circumstances."
In view of the good performances, the jury - consisting of Dr. Christian Sußner, Head of the Department of Environment, Technology and Construction at the District Office, as well as other authors, a previous year's winner, employees from libraries, the State Education Authority and the press - did not have an easy task. Even though they had to make a decision at the end, there were only winners in this competition, said the district administrator. Everyone who took part will receive a certificate of participation, a book prize from the Börsenverein Foundation ("Haifischzähne" by Anna Woltz), a backpack from Kreissparkasse Ludwigsburg and a book voucher from the district. The district winners will also be rewarded with a winning book ("Rory Shy - Der schüchterne Detektiv" by Oliver Schlick) from the Börsenverein and another book voucher from the district. The runners-up also received book vouchers from the district.
While last year's district reading competition could still take place in person at the end of February, the regional competitions had to be held differently last year. To this end, the Börsenverein had switched to a digital decision and created the option of uploading the entries as videos.
During the 2021 regional competition, the organizers benefited from last year's experience. Children who had qualified for the district reading competition in their schools had until February 12 to submit their entries. In mid-February, the jury had access to the online gallery to evaluate the entries as usual. This was based on reading technique, interpretation and selection of text passages.
Understandably, there were fewer participants than usual, partly due to the school closures.
24 children took part in this year's reading competition in the Ludwigsburg district. With 14 girls and 10 boys, the proportion of male readers increased proportionally (previous year: 40 girls, 9 boys).
Here are the placings in detail:
Region West:
1st place: Lilli Teufel (Realschule an der Glemsaue Ditzingen, book: Kate DiCamillo - Winn-Dixie)
2nd place: Olivia Kiene (Robert Bosch Gymnasium Gerlingen, Otfried Preußler - Krabat)
3rd place: Paula Bantle (Gymnasium in der Glemsaue Ditzingen, Astrid Lindgren - The Brothers Lionheart)
Southern Region:
1st place: Antonia Haak (Mörike-Gymnasium Ludwigsburg, Holly Webb - Rose and the Alchemist's Secret)
2nd place: David Stockmann (Friedrich-List-Gymnasium Asperg, Tobias Elsässer - Eden Park and the Ninth Cube)
3rd place: Caroline Milan (Gymnasium Korntal-Münchingen, Andreas Steinhöfel - Rico, Oskar und die Tieferschatten)
North Region:
1st place: Tim Strohm (Christoph-Schrempf-Gymnasium Besigheim, Matthew Quick - Goodbye Bellmont)
2nd place: Mio Pschierer (Gymnasium I im Ellental Bietigheim-Bissingen, Michael Ende - Momo)
3rd place: Tom Stier (Gymnasium II im Ellental, Horst Evers - Mein Leben als Suchmaschine)
The winners of the district competition may compete in the subsequent district competition.
