Denise Johnstone-Burt, Publisher at Walker books and Head of the judging panel at the first stage has sent over the following feedback:
"We were delighted with the record number of entries for the Animal Stories competition and even more so when we sat down to read the stories. We felt that nearly everyone had stuck very closely to the competition brief and as a result the standard and originality of entries was incredibly high, surpassing the already high standard set by last year’s entries. It is not easy to write a piece of fiction and most of the stories submitted were well structured and a good extent with a proper beginning, middle and end. It was obvious that many of you had thought carefully about the language and importance of the pacing especially as the stories are to be read aloud. It was good to see that nearly all the stories submitted were age appropriate as well.
Every single entry was read and discussed by several people. It was long process, especially as we often read the stories aloud to each other. Some stories that appeared quite ordinary on paper, came alive when read aloud. Others did not survive the process. Each of us had favourites, chosen for different reasons and as a result a place on the shortlist was hotly contested. Choosing the final twenty was a real challenge.
It was interesting to see the range of animals that provided the subject for the stories. Some of you stretched the notion of ‘animal’ to the limit, which made us smile, but generally, lots of you were clearly inspired by your family pets. Many entries featured dogs, cats, hamsters and goldfish, although there were fewer rabbits and guinea pigs than we had been expecting! Very often we had pets saving the day. Some of you had also used real events as the basis for your stories. Of this type, our favourites were the ones that managed to take the everyday pet and domestic setting and transform it into something a little bit different – from hamsters escaping to dogs trying to be cats, or children learning exactly what it means to keep a pet. We had a lot of farmyard entries with ducks, dogs, sheep, cows, horses and chickens all playing their part. Several of you used the farmyard setting as a way of gently teaching children that it’s ok to be different and stand out from the crowd. Interestingly we also had some lovely stories about birds. Swallows were unexpectedly popular and several little swallows learned a tough lesson after refusing to migrate south for the winter. We had some other more exotic birds, like parrots and peacocks, and we even had two flamingos who wanted to enter talent competitions! There was a wide range of types of stories from real life to magical ones and we also had some lovely fables and fairy-tales where we appreciated the settings as diverse as the Arctic, India and Africa. Dragons were definitely the most popular imaginary animals, although many of you had dug deep into your imaginations to create your own creatures and we often enjoyed the ingenuity of these creations. Above all, whether we were considering a funny story or a sad one, an imaginary or real life one what we looked for was good writing, strong and individual characters, a sense of place and a well-structured narrative. We were not disappointed.
For all those who have asked for feedback, we wish we could comment on all the stories individually, but unfortunately, this just isn’t possible. Here are some general points though that might be useful for any aspiring writers. Our favourite stories were the ones that kept it simple, with one brilliant idea. Really think about what will make your story different. Can you come up with a new and interesting perspective? An interesting plot doesn’t have be over-complicated with lots of different characters and events. In fact if the story focuses on one or two characters and really develops the characterisation of them, it will often be more successful. Think about your language. Are you sentences simple enough to read aloud or do you trip up on them? Just because you are writing a children’s story, the names of your characters don’t have to be alliterative. Be imaginative with your names! Also think about how the story will be illustrated. Are you saying things that will be made unnecessary by an illustration? Finally, while it is wonderful for stories to contain a message for children to learn from, the best stories do this so subtly you almost don’t realise that the message is there. You want to capture a child’s imagination and take them somewhere completely new, not make them feel that they are in the classroom.
Thank you again to everyone who entered. You should all feel a great sense of achievement. Please do all keep your passion for storytelling alive as it’s one of the most important gifts you can pass on to a child".