Bath-based writer Alex is in Year 10. He is a Junior Judge for the Bath Children’s Novel Award and a former Junior Journalist for the Bath Children’s Literature Festival. This autumn, I’ve been completing the volunteering section of my Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award by helping Paper Nations conduct research into their Dare to Write? Prompts. Each week I was … Read More
The Most Magical Time of the Year… A Writing Dare by Chris Vick
Children’s author Chris Vick has a real treat for you… a brand new Christmas writing dare! Read on to discover the holiday magic. Flying reindeer, naughty elves, Scrooge’s ghosts . . . There’s no doubt about it, Christmas is a time of magic: dark nights, crackling fires, whispering winds and frosty fields. When time freezes, the rules of logic … Read More
Dare to Write: Spooky Cottage
It’s Halloween! The night where the border between our world and the magical world is at its thinnest. Fantastic and spooky things can happen on this night. Our writing dare is inspired by the mysterious… “You are going trick-or-treating. You discover an old cottage hidden in your local park. Creeping up the black stone pathway, you reach the front door. … Read More
Dare to Write with Martin Brown
Last week we shared an interview with writer and illustrator Martin Brown –one of the UK’s most prolific contributors to the children’s book industry and best known for his work on the series. More recently, he has written and illustrated his own non-fiction book for children, and is currently developing a follow up. We were incredibly lucky to have him … Read More
National Writing Day
21 June 2017 marks the first National Writing Day – a new campaign that gives people across the country the chance to find their own voices through a day of festivities focused on writing. We want schools, libraries, writing groups and communities across the country to experience the pleasure and power that comes from writing creatively. National Writing Day … Read More
Author Interview: Martin Brown, Writer, Cartoonist and Illustrator
Writer and illustrator Martin Brown is one of the UK’s most prolific contributors to the children’s book industry. His drawings for the series are like works of art: known around the world for their eye-popping use of colour, humour and sense of detail. In addition to , he has also illustrated many other stories. These include the Coping With… … Read More
Hair-raising Halloween Writing Prompts
Halloween is almost here, so here are some of our favourite resources to make your stories this month even more spooktacular. Put on your creepiest masks and costumes, draw the curtains against any lurking ghosts and ghouls, and pen us a petrifying tale or two using the ideas below… Spooky Story Starters Get a brilliant beginning from the Story Starts … Read More
Dare to Write: What I Saw in the Woods
Whatever your plans for the half-term holiday, chances are you’ll be seeing some of the evidence that Autumn is well underway. And there’s nowhere these seasonal changes are more obvious than when walking in the woods, so that’s our setting for this week’s writing challenge. Think about what you’ll tell your friends about your half-term when you go back, then … Read More