My 3 year old has won a poetry competition - AIBU to think this is just another way to rip parents off?

[YellowDinosaur]

Today my 3 year old son came home from nursery with a letter and a medal which he was proudly wearing 'because I have been good'.

Inside the letter was a certificate and a letter basically saying he has written a poem that has been specially selected to be published in a collection of poems written by children in our area. The children were, apparently, given the format and 'filled it in with their imagination'.

On reading it it is a 10 line poem that couldn't possibly have been written by a 3 year old. There are possibly 11 words that could have been selected by him to personalise it, of which 6 I can identify as being things be would have said (this is out of about 70 words in the poem in total).

They are asking permission to publish it in a book that we are welcome to buy for £15.99 or can get 3 for the price of 2.

AIBU to think this is just a money making scam and if I was to ask other parents at nursery all of their children will have been selected too and they will all be 'allowed' to buy a book with their childs poem in too?

As dh said if it had been a poem that sounded as though he might have actually written, or even if it was this poem but illustrated by him we would have been well up for it and very proud. As it is we just feel irritated that this is yet another excuse to get money out of parents by a group of chancers.

I am perfectly prepared to be told I am wrong if others have had experience of this by the way!

[gkys]

i fell for this when DS1 was at nursery too! brought the books three of them, all I can say in my defense is PFB

[WeirdAcronymNotKnown]

LOL at SGB's poobumwilly idea!

[CristinaTheAstonishing]

Never heard of this scam. I don't think schools should allow them access.