Writing comes to life for talented young author
A young wizard of a writer from a local Leeds school will see her literary excellence brought to life later this year after success in a national writing competition.
Five-year-old Amna Talha, who attends Rose Court Pre-Prep School, in Headingley, saw her submission in the ‘Oxford Reading Tree’s 30th birthday competition’ selected ahead of over 4,000 others across the UK.
Challenged to write and illustrate a 12-page story for the latest ‘Biff, Chip and Kipper adventure’, the entrants were given creative freedom for what the loveable characters should do.
After learning about the Great Fire of London in school, Y1 children were inspired to create an adventure about Samuel Pepys based on the Magic Key adventures.
Amna’s exciting story, about escaping the fire in a boat on the River Thames, was one of 12 entries to be selected as a winner in the five-to-six-year-old category.
Amna said: “I thought it was really good, even though I didn’t win I was still happy for whoever won but the competition went very well so I liked it a lot.
The writing whizz continued: “I felt very happy when I won. It feels really good in my heart. I tried my best to win the competition.”
The stories were judged by author-illustrator team Roderick Hunt and Alex Brychta who were ‘delighted’ with all of the creative ideas that the children displayed.
Oxford Reading Tree’s 30th birthday competition was launched by Oxford University Press – the largest university press in the world.
As well as Amna’s individual success in the contest, Year Two pupils at Rose Court were also rewarded with prizes for their African adventure tales.
Class 2SA were among the 18 prize-winners worldwide for their joint class story in the seven-to-eight-year-old category.
Like Amna, their story will also be made into real printed books that they can keep and treasure forever.
