Janis P.
Would you believe it… our very own little mini reviewer Elliot, also known as Danger Boy, has been awarded Runner Up in the VTech Short Story Competition! Below is the announcement from VTech…
Six year old Annemount schoolboy, Elliot Curry, has been awarded as one of six runners up in VTech’s nationwide Short Story Competition, with his creative story ‘At My Friend’s House’. To celebrate the launch of VTech’s new InnoTab® MAX, VTech ran the competition for 4-8 year olds to give young writers the chance to have their short story published as an e-book. The competition was judged by Horrible Histories author, Terry Deary.
Elliot, a pupil of Annemount Pre-Prep School in Hampstead Garden Suburb, composed an imaginative story of a battle of fruits. Transforming himself and his friends into ‘Banana Knights’ they headed to the ‘Banana Castle’ and the fruit warriors defeated their enemies, the ‘Apple Baddies’ in an exciting encounter.
“simple story, yet epic tale”
Terry Deary was impressed by Elliot’s ‘simple story, yet epic tale’. Deary states:
‘Not a word is wasted. There is a lot that is not explained yet it doesn’t seem to matter. The narrative pulls us along at breakneck speed; I can imagine a six-year-old writing it and other children enjoying reading it’.
To congratulate Elliot on his creation, he has been awarded the latest InnoTab® MAX; the newest addition to the InnoTab® family. It’s the first high-tech tablet to feature an Android operating system, giving the performance of an adult device, specifically designed for kids.
An ecstatic Elliot says ‘I feel happy because I won something…… I did enjoy writing the story’. Inspiration to write about knights came from Deary’s own Horrible Histories. Elliot’s mum was also very pleased. Janis said, ‘Elliot is absolutely delighted to have been announced as a runner up”. She also said that ‘this has been a massive confidence boost’ and that ‘both he and his older sister were grinning from ear to ear when they found out!’
The national winner of the competition was seven year old Lexi Jary, with her story entitled ‘Time Travel Trouble’. Lexi’s story has been developed into an InnoTab e-book courtesy of Vtech, and can be downloaded free of charge from the InnoTab MAX Learning Lodge. Terry Deary commented, “There is a clever plot device which helps the narrator to get out of the dramatic situations she finds herself in, and there is dialogue which is fairly natural and is a window into her character. Then there is that x-factor about it – some quality I can’t analyse or define. I just know it makes me think, ‘I wish I’d written that!’ Skilful.”
