Illustrated History Challenge

Ready your pencils!

Students aged 7 to 14 are invited to write a fictional tale or short historical summary based on an element of Canadian history or heritage that they consider important. The story must be accompanied by illustrations made by the student or copyright-free images taken from a government or institutional archive. Comics are also accepted for this competition. You have until June 30, 2021 to send us your illustrated story.

Fictional stories and historical summaries should be 500 to 1200 words long. They must include a minimum of three original illustrations related to the story (or three public-domain archival images in the case of students who will choose to write a historical summary). Comics should be 5 pages long and be around 500 words. Entries can be written in either English or French.

Submissions will be evaluated by our selection committee according to the following criteria:

  • The student presents an event in Canada’s past that they consider important in a precise and concise manner; or, it stages a fictional story that unfolds without anachronisms at an important moment in Canadian history;
  • The student demonstrates creativity and originality both in the way of telling their story, whether factual or fictional, and in illustrating it;
  • The historical facts included in the piece are relevant and accurate;
  • The student paid particular attention to grammar, spelling and style before submitting their story. Submissions will be evaluated with consideration to the age of the student;
  • The student respects the instructions regarding the integration of illustrations (creation of original illustrations for works of fiction and use of public-domain archival images in the case of historical summaries. Archival images should be accompanied with proper citations.)

The authors of the two winning texts, one in English and one in French, will receive an RESP worth $1,000.