Below are a series of small stories that have been sent in by David Jacks a civil servant who is obviously very artistic and creative!

Were looking for people to come together and design some illustrations that can be used to accompany these stories as part of the Get Writing Challenge.

The winning entries will be used in the book and you can see your work published and released through all major retailers such as Amazon or Waterstones later on this year (April 2011).

There is a short timespan on this competition of 4 weeks it must be ready by the 1st March 2011 (if you can send demo designs we may extend this by a week or so to help) and all entrants need to be aware that this is a vanity publishing deal which means you will NOT be paid for your work, and the same terms and conditions as attached to the GWC apply.

If you need the stories below in word doc format then please do not hesitate to contact Tim Knight who will supply them for you.

Mother Earth had a dream

Mr Moon was high in the sky

The Star Children were shining bright

Mother Earth was very sleepy after a busy day

Into her bed she climbed and soon fell asleep

It wasn’t long before Mother Earth began to dream

In her dream a strange thing happened

Her beloved skies were blue once more

The planet had healed and the air was clean

Everywhere around her, nature bloomed

All the forests had grown back and the ice caps were frozen  Mother Earth loved all of her animals.

It made her sad to think that some of them were endangered species

They appeared in Mother Earths dream to pass on a message

It was a special message for all her children

Firstly, Edwin the Eagle was once again king of the sky as he soared over mountain tops with his huge wings steering him between the canyons.

He opened his beak and began to screech the message…

Can you flap your arms like Edwin the Eagle?

Meanwhile, deep in the rainforests Freda the tree frog organised her choir.

The tree frogs began to sing their message in perfect harmony…

Can you hop and ribbit like Freda the tree frog?

Splash went the waves up in the North Pole as Pearl the Polar Bear and her cub Charles jumped into the freezing water then climbed onto a drifting iceberg to write their message with their huge paws in the snow….

Can you paddle your big paws like Pearl the Polar Bear?

On the opposite pole could be heard a marching band.

In single file the penguins marched banging their drums to the beat.

The band leader Paddy the Penguin began to play the message on his trumpet

Can you march in line like Paddy the penguin?

Suddenly a huge roar made Mother Earth jump a little

As Tia the Tiger came crashing through the jungle trees and Casper the Cobra slithered his way to the front to pass on their message as well…

Can you roar like Tia? Or slither like Casper?

Mother Earth had received the same message from all the endangered animals

It was then she woke up from her dream and knew just what had to be done

She would pass the message on to all her children to save all her animals and heal the world….. You can help Mother Earth by recycling waste, saving power and planting new trees.

Together we all can make Mother Earths dream become a reality.

When Teddy was in the wash

Teddy is my favourite toy.

He is so much fun and keeps me safe at night.

We do everything together.

He comes on holiday with me.

He helps me open my Christmas presents.

He even blows my candles out with me on my birthday.

I’d have to say we were best friends.

But then one fateful day.

Teddy fell from the garden wall and all I heard was plop.

He’d fallen in a dirty puddle and was muddy from head to toe.

Mummy said “Teddy must go into the wash”

When Teddy was in the wash I cried myself to sleep.

No other toy could compare to Teddy.

The next morning I woke early, the sun was shining bright.

I could see a rainbow through my window.

“Where’s teddy ? where’s teddy ?” I muttered.

I skipped into the kitchen where Teddy lay to dry.

He’d gone.

But where?

My Teddy.

My little Teddy.

Mummy walked in……..

“Are you looking for Teddy?”

“Yes, Yes” I screamed.

Mummy held Teddy behind her back.

He was back and he was mine.

And he was so so clean.

“No more sitting on walls and no more dirty puddles” I thought.

That day we had so much fun.

We flew my kite in the park.

We fed the ducks in the pond.

We even had ice-cream.

Teddy got some on his nose.

And that night with Teddy snug beside me in bed.

I smiled, closed my eyes and went to sleep.

SAY AGOO!

PAGE1.

Andrews mum arrived home from the hospital one day with a baby boy.

It was Andrew’s brother, Kieran. He had a funny smell that all babies had on them.

PAGE2.

He smelled like the chalk Andrew used at playgroup he thought.

Were babies made from chalk he wondered!

PAGE3.

Even their cat Henrietta had a sniff of the baby basket as she walked by.

Andrew talked to baby Kieran every night before bedtime and read him his favourite books.

PAGE4.

After a few months he noticed that Kieran was growing bigger off his milk and now he looked at Andrew with sparkling blue eyes, giggling gently at his tales.

PAGE5.

I would like it if Kieran’s first word was Andrew he said to his mummy one night when he and his baby brother were playing in the bath.

PAGE6.

The following day something special happened, Kieran spoke his first gurgle, he said ‘Agoo’. Andrew’s mum was delighted and repeated back to him ‘Agoo, Agoo’

PAGE7.

Kieran was giggling and gurgling. He would look around the room and say it again and again. Andrew was sad because he wanted him to say his name as his first word spoken.

PAGE8.

After a few more weeks Andrew noticed that whenever Kieran would say ‘Agoo’ he would look around until he saw his big brother.

PAGE9.

The next day they went shopping with mum for some new clothes as Kieran was growing faster and faster. Kieran looked at Andrew from his pram and pointed ‘agoo’ he shouted.

PAGE10.

‘Now I understand mummy, he is saying Andrew but he cant get it right because he is a baby’ said Andrew to his mum with a huge smile on his face.

PAGE11.

Andrew still read to his little brother every night until he was speaking words himself. Andrew loved having a baby brother. The end

Hi-Bear-Nation

It was winter again in a place called Bear-Nation.

A bear called “Bear” was settling down for the cold nights.

Each year Bear went to sleep until the spring.

He loved to sleep in his tree top house.

He enjoyed curling up next to his warm log fire.

But this winter was to be very different.

He laid out his fluffy rug and popped on his slippers.

Bear stretched and yawned in his new pyjamas.

When suddenly he heard a knock at his door.

“Who could this be” he said to himself.

He opened the door and there was a little squirrel.

“Hi Bear!”  squirrel said “Can I join you for the winter?”

“Come on in squirrel, but, you have to be very very quiet!”

The squirrel trundled in smiling.

Then another knock at the door.

It was a woodpecker.

“Hi Bear!” woodpecker said “Can I join you for the winter?”

“Come on in woodpecker, but, you have to be very very quiet!”

The woodpecker flapped his wings smiling.

Then another knock at the door.

It was a tiny field mouse.

“Hi Bear!” field mouse said “Can I join you for the winter?”

“Come on in field mouse, but, you have to be very very quiet!”

The field mouse scampered in smiling.

The house was becoming quite full now.

Their was Bear, the squirrel, the woodpecker and the field mouse.

Then another knock at the door.

It was a hare.

“Hi Bear!”  hare said “Can I join you for the winter?”

“Come on in hare, but, you have to be very very quiet!”

The hare sprang in full of glee.

Then Bear yawned once more and said

“My oh my!,  I must rest my head, close my eyes it’s time for bed!”

Bear, squirrel, woodpecker, field mouse and the hare cuddled together and went to sleep for the winter.

Cracker the Quacker

Page1.

Katie was happy with her new pond that her father had made.

‘It’s winter now but wait until spring. There will be plenty of life here then Katie’ said her father.

Page 2.

True to her fathers word, along with the spring came all manner of wildlife.

Katie’s pond was full of frogs, newts, dragonflies and something of a surprise to her, a duckling!

She found it strange to have one duckling on his own living in her pond.

Page3.

After school one day, Katie and her father took a walk down to the pond.

‘Have you already met our visitor?’ asked Katie pointing to the duckling.

‘Yes, have you given him a name yet? He seems happy here, he might stay through the summer too’ said her father.

Page4.

Katie got some bread from her kitchen and threw some small bits to the duckling.

‘I haven’t thought what to name him yet. What can I call him? I just don’t know’ she said.

Page5.

The following evening it was raining heavily.

Katie watched through the kitchen window at her new, feathered friend.

He was seemingly enjoying the rain.

Shaking his bill in the water and cleaning his feathers.

Page6.

The next day, Katie saw her father doing some gardening by the pool.

She asked her for some bread and went down to see the duckling.

He seemed to be growing fast but again turned his beak up at the bread.

Page7.

‘Perhaps I should phone the vet?’ asked Katie.

‘Whatever for?’ asked her father confused.

‘Well, if this fussy little duck won’t eat, he must be sick’ she said.

‘He looks fine to me, he’s growing bigger everyday’ he said.

Page 8.

‘Yet he won’t eat my bread’ said Katie sadly.

‘I thought all ducks liked to eat bread’ she added.

‘Yes but ducks find their own food in the pond and grass around the pond.

Why not try him with something else?’ suggested her father.

Page9.

As Katie was eating her lunch the next day she suddenly had an idea.

Her mother had packed her lunch for school and she had put some cheese and

crackers in Katie’s lunchbox.

Page10.

After school she went home and her father was filling the pond with some clean water from his hosepipe as the summer sun had dried up the pond a little.

The duckling had grown so big now that he was nearly an adult.

He was splashing happily about in the fresh water coming from her father’s hosepipe.

Page 11.

Katie pulled some crackers from her coat pocket and crumbled them into little bits.

She then threw them into the pond near the duckling.

The duckling paddled over straight away and ate all the cracker crumbs before drinking some water to wash them down.

Page12.

‘That’s it dad, I now know what he likes to eat and what to call him’ said Katie excitedly.

‘What’s that then dear?’ asked her father.

‘We should call him Cracker for sure’ giggled Emily.

Page13.

‘Ho ho he suits that name alright as he sure does Quack a lot and it rhymes with his favourite food’ agreed her father.

When the winter came Cracker joined the duck’s in the sky flying overhead and flew away to warmer shores for the winter.

‘I hope Cracker comes home when the spring is back’ said Katie to her parents.

‘We’re sure he will’ reassured her mother.

Page14.

It seemed like such a long winter that year and at one point the pond was completely frozen over.

Then, in the spring, Katie woke up to the familiar sound of quacking.

She ran downstairs and put her coat and boots on.

Her father was waiting for her by the pond.

‘Look who is back? It’s Cracker and he has brought some friends along’ said her father.

‘They must have heard about my crackers and cheese’ laughed Katie as she saw all the ducks paddling around happy in her pond.

Olivia meets Little Bird

Once upon a time

There was a little girl called Olivia

Olivia lived in a little house in a little town

The house had a little garden and a little shed

Olivia was a good little girl who was very very pretty

Her mummy and daddy loved her all the world and back again

Olivia loved to play in the little garden

She liked to skip and to make daisy chains with the flowers.

But one day whilst playing she heard a strange noise.

A pitter patter of footsteps coming from behind the shed.

Olivia decided to take a look.

A little bird was gathering breadcrumbs to eat.

Wiggling its bottom from side to side.

Olivia watched the little bird for a while.

The little bird looked so so cute.

Then Olivia started to wiggle her bottom to, just like the little bird.

Faster and faster and faster they both wiggled, they wiggled so fast they both fell over

Olivia and the little bird both giggled on the grass.

Then suddenly…… ‘Whoosh’

A dark shadow swooped down from the skies.

It was a BIG black Starling.

It had come to take the breadcrumbs from little bird.

Olivia and little bird cuddled together frightened.

The Starling laughed and started to peck at the breadcrumbs

Mmmm these are nice breadcrumbs the Starling thought.

Olivia and little bird just didn’t know what to do.

Scrape, Scrape, the back gate opened.

In trundled “Candy” next doors dog.

He’d been over the field for a run and was covered in mud. “Woof Woof”, Candy barked loudly.

The Starling jumped up and dropped the breadcrumbs.

It flapped its wings quickly and then flew away. Candy had saved the day.

Olivia and little bird were no longer frightened.

Candy grabbed his bone and trotted off.

Olivia and little bird were so so happy now.

They both started to gather the breadcrumbs once more.

They wiggled and wiggled, they wiggled so much they fell over.

They had so much fun.

The big black starling never came into the garden again.

And Olivia and little bird lived happily ever after.

Not So Scary Spider

Page 1

One day a little spider called Sidney decided to go for a walk

Page 2

Sidney was sad because he had no friends as all the other insects thought he was scary.

Page 3

He walked and walked, and no-one would play with him.

Page 4

Sidney did not know why they was scared of him, he just wanted to have fun.

Page 5

Suddenly, a little girl called Lisa saw Sidney crawling on the floor.

Page 6

She leaned over to Sidney and whispered to him “You are a beautiful little spider”

Page 7

Sidney smiled.

Page 8

Lisa picked Sidney up from the floor and said “Let’s go and play”

Page 9

Sidney smiled once more.

Page 10

Sidney and Lisa had so much fun together.

Page 11

They became best friends.

Page 12

And Sidney, the not so scary spider was happy.

Salma the Great

My hamster Salma is acting very strange, she just sits and stares at the moon

Perhaps she wishes to go there one day, perhaps she is going there soon

That’s just being silly I thought, she only has tiny legs and feet

But what if she could fly a spaceship, she could command her very own fleet

Maybe she thinks it’s made of cheese and plans to have a picnic one day

With all her hamster friends they can chat and eat a moon cheese buffet

Or perhaps she is using the moon and stars to travel the earth in a longboat

Each hamster rowing very hard to keep the huge battleship afloat

It could be something simple like hamsters are ruled by the moon, just like the sea

I think that’s why she makes so much noise at night, playing and running free

At night she makes her secret plans, when the moon is high in the sky

I can hear her secret scribbles in her notepad but I resist the urge to pry

Sometimes I hear her tapping away on her huge and powerful super computer

The distance from the earth to the moon for that special hamster commuter

Maybe she wants to live on the moon and leave the earth forever

Who knows what goes on in her little mind, that’s what I’ll always endeavour

It’s nice to imagine Salma in a spacesuit within the big black hole

Living her dream with all fellow hamsters, achieving her secret goal

Who knows what the future has in store, destiny or even fate

For now she’s just my friend, my hamster, Salma the Great

PIRLOS FOOTPRINT

Pirlo is a little penguin who lives in a vast place called Antarctica. Pirlo is tired of breathing polluted air. Not to mention the fact that the icecap landscape that was his home is disappearing more each day right in front of his eyes. Although he is small in height he has very big ideas on how the simplest of changes could lead to a healthier environment for future generations of penguins.

One day, Pirlo decided to play with his sledge on the ice hills at the outskirts of the South Pole. It was his favourite place to play; he really enjoyed sliding down the hills on his sledge. It was the tickle in his stomach as he whizzed down the slopes that made Pirlo so excited.  As he arrived at the spot where the ice hills began, he saw nothing but flat snow and ice.

He was very sad to see that his favourite play area had been melted by the sun. The ozone layer high in the sky that used to protect their home was disappearing. The huge holes left behind meant that the sun could easily melt such areas like the ice hills. Pirlo wondered how he could help to stop the ozone layer disappearing so that his home would be safe. Pirlo decided to hold an emergency meeting in the town hall to educate the other penguins on recycling issues and global warming.

The following day the Mayor of Antarctica opened the town hall doors to a huge crowd of penguins concerned about the future of the ice caps and more importantly their homes. Pirlo took to the stand and addressed the crowd ’Welcome to our first annual meeting to discuss how we can help to protect our environment’  ’As I suggest ways in which we can all help do our bit, please feel free to ask any questions’ he added.

‘I want us all to consider our own carbon footprint we are leaving on the environment. If we can reduce our own footprints then we can strive to eliminate them completely’ said Pirlo. Just then Pirlo spotted a young penguin scratching his head confused. ’What’s a carbon footprint?’ asked the young penguin. ’Let me explain’ said Pirlo.

’Each time we spray a deodorant or air freshener, that adds to our footprint we leave on the environment and destroys some of the ozone layer. Or if we drive a car to work or get a lift to school off our parents our cars leave omissions in the atmosphere which also destroy the ozone layer that protects us’ he answered.  ‘You should also turn off lights and use less electricity to help lower your carbon footprint, this saves energy, which helps conserve the ozone layer and keep mother earth much happier.’

‘Small changes we each make can have huge results, stop using sprays and start using alternatives such as roll on deodorant and room aroma that dissolves back into water rather than go straight into the atmosphere. Instead of us all getting in the car to work or a lift off our parents to school, why don’t we all get out our bikes, walk or share one car as we would be doing far less damage that way too.’ said Pirlo.  ’Turn down your central heating slightly and huddle up like us penguins should do’ the crowd burst into laughter.  ‘And recycle as much as possible.’

‘How can we recycle our rubbish Pirlo?’ asked an elderly lady penguin near the back.

‘We can all begin recycling at home simply by splitting our unwanted waste into separate categories. For instance we have each been given different coloured bins for our waste. We have green for all our grass cuttings and garden waste, blue for newspapers and cardboard, brown ones are used for glass and bottles. And for our food wastes such as apple cores and banana skins we have a compost bin that we can eventually tip onto our plants to help grow fresh plants and trees. The plants and trees are vital to our survival as they provide oxygen which we breathe’ Pirlo was now so out of breath from talking he was gasping.

As he held his head in his hands to get his breath back he was greeted by a huge round of applause. The Mayor turned to Pirlo and asked ’I welcome all your ideas to help clear the environment and I would like you to work with me at the town hall to help raise awareness on recycling. Additionally I would like to hold monthly meetings to monitor our success. What do you say Pirlo?’

‘Provided I take a bigger and cleaner breath next time I’d be delighted Mayor’ chuckled Pirlo.

‘Hurrah for Pirlo the little penguin with the big heart and the tiny footprint’ shouted the crowd.

The House of Coffins

A spooky tale told by a mouse

From the outside just a normal house

Open the front door if you dare

Then close your eyes and beware

The kids in the town knew of the house

And the mystery of the tiny mouse

The mouse lived inside, under the floor

None of the children would open the door

Then one day a brave girl took a chance

She opened the door and gave out a glance

A huge coffin was in the doorway

It pulled her in; she was in to stay

She opened her eyes and looked all around

What was this house that she had found?

Coffins in every corner and no more doors

Their was even coffins all over the floors

But what now?  What should she do?

Then a voice shouted out “Boo”

She jumped into the coffin on the side wall

Which then threw her into the hall

Still more coffins all over the place

A ghostly figure that looked like a face

“Who are you and what are you doing in here?”

The shadow shouted and it sounded near

“I just want to go home” She said

Squeezing her teddy and shaking her head

“Choose the coffin on the left if you must”

“But will it get you home? Who do you trust?”

She jumped into the coffin straight ahead

It was cosy and comfy it felt like a bed

The coffin had led her into the bedroom

Coffins all over and full of gloom

No lights in the coffin and very dark

Then a noise a growl or a bark

A big dog appeared in sight

Running towards her, ready to bite

Quickly she jumped into a coffin below

Where would she land, she just didn’t know

In a dark room with screams and moans

Then popped in a skeleton with wobbly bones

“Hi there I’m the owner of this house”

“I’m Freddy the mouse”

“But you’re a skeleton” the girl said

“Don’t be silly, my name is Fred”

Just as she was about to yell

The skeleton bones hit the floor and fell

A tiny mouse then came into sight

“I’m Fred the owner, sorry for the fright”

“The coffins are here to keep all the kids out”

“They never return and that’s no doubt”

“Here’s a badge for you to keep”

“You’ve been great fun now take a leap”

“The coffin to the right will send you into the night”

“The coffin to the left and your home will be in sight”

“Thanks for the badge I’ll it wear on my top”

She jumped into the coffin with a skip and a hop And true to his word the girl was at home

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