This year’s theme ‘The Adventure’ for the ISA Young Storytellers Competition 2023 inspired 113 entries, we are delighted to share 20 of these in this book.
Each story was written by a group of pupils from EYFS and Key Stage 1 at ISA Members’ schools. They have worked together to invent creative tales which take us everywhere from under the sea to outer space. Congratulations to everyone who took part.
We would like to express our thanks to children’s author Ewa Jozefkowicz for judging the competition, to the illustrator Olympe Carpentier for adding beautiful images to these stories, and to all the teachers who supported students in creating them.
The Adventure
One sunny day, Little Frog climbed out of the pond. It was the first time she had ever left the pond, and all her brothers and sisters were leaving too.
For the first time ever, she heard birds singing, so Little Frog sat and listened. Suddenly, a black bird flew down and picked Little Frog up. They flew high into the sky and black bird dropped Little Frog into her nest.
Little Frog looked around and saw four yellow chicks. Their mummy returned and fed the chicks worms. She fed Little Frog as well!
Little Frog grew bigger and bigger until one day, she hopped out of the nest and made her way back home to her brothers and sisters.
They were all happy to see each other again and lived happily ever after!
Edenhurst Preparatory School, Reception
Dinosaur Door
One day I was watching my favourite film ‘Jurassic Park’ on the telly when one of the dinosaurs suddenly turned and glared at me. All of a sudden, it reached its arm out and dragged me in. I screamed. It pulled me into a landscape where I was surrounded by dinosaurs who were all roaring like crazy!
One of the taller dinosaurs began stomping towards me so I ran and hid behind a large rock. I then noticed a box in the nearby grass. Inside the box was a letter telling me to look for a large door with a small red arrow on it. Then a lovely cookie smell wafted towards me and it was so sweet and yummy that I had to follow it.
The smell led to an enormous oak tree and on the tree was a photograph of my family. I began to feel worried - what if the dinosaurs had gone into my house and eaten them! I took the picture off the tree and a brown door with a small red arrow on suddenly appeared in front of me.
It was like magic! I twisted the handle and walked through to find myself back in my living room, looking at the TV. The dinosaur had gone. Mum then came in with a plate of warm cookies, so I gave her a tight hug. Thank goodness she was safe.
Hydesville Tower School, Class RD
Are you eggcited for an adventure?
One rainy day, Numberblock 21 and the Easter Bunny were bored at home but then they found a dusty, old, time machine. They huffed and puffed the dust away when suddenly, the time machine whirled around making a beeping sound and whoosh…they were in the Ice Age!
They felt cold and frightened as they looked all around. As they crept around by the big, dark cave, they noticed trunks, tusks, big eyes, and furry coats. The big, furry animals approached them with smiles on their faces and said “Hello, we are Woolly Mammoths, would you like to play with us?”
Numberblock 21 and the Easter Bunny felt happy and excited, so they decided to do an Easter egg hunt for their new friends. After they hid the chocolate eggs, they noticed white birds with funny beaks eating them all!
The woolly mammoths felt sad because the dodos had eaten all of the Easter eggs, so Numberblock 21 looked in her bag and found an extra bag of chocolate eggs! The happy woolly mammoths shared their Easter eggs with their friends. Numberblock 21 and the Easter Bunny pushed the time machine off the cliff and hopped into the whirl to travel back home.
King’s School Plymouth, Reception Class
The Adventure
One day a Princess and a superhero were playing in the park. A giant blue balloon came down into the park. The Princess and the superhero got on top of the balloon because they wanted to see the view. They got on the balloon and floated to space and went all the way up to the moon.
They ate the cheese on the moon for lunch. After that they went back on the balloon to go back into space and suddenly a giant space parrot comes and pops the balloon.
The superhero can fly and catches the Princess. He hides her in a crater in the moon. Then the superhero fights the evil parrot and wins. He goes get the princess and tells her it is now safe to come out.
And then they lived happily ever after. The end.
Lyndhurst School, Reception
The Adventure
Our adventure beings on a bench with a sea snail called Gary and he can skate on the water. One day Gary goes out and skates on the sea all morning.
He begins to get hungry and decides to stop at the nearest island. As he is looking around for something to eat, he hears a noise beyond the palm trees. Just beyond those trees is Joe the crab who is digging around in the sand looking for treasure, including jewels that didn’t even belong to him. Gary decided that he needed to help Joe to be a kinder crab.
That night Gary crept into Joe’s secret cave where he hid all his treasure and handed them back to their owners. When Joe came back to his cave he was sad. Gary said to Joe “The feelings you have now is what people have been feeling every day”.
Joe said how sorry he was and handed back all the things, including Gary’s shell. Joe turned to Gary afterwards and said “I feel so happy handing all these things back.”
Oakhyrst Grange School, Lower Kindergarten and Kindergarten
The Dragon Who Lost His Fire
Once upon a time there lived a grumpy dragon; he was so angry because he thought he had run out of fire! He tried and tried but no fire would come out.
Around the corner, there lived a pretty princess. One day she went for a walk and heard a terrible noise coming from a cave. She investigated and found the grumpy dragon.
“What’s the matter?” asked the princess. “I’m furious because I can’t make fire.” replied the dragon. “I think it is because you are too cross!” Said the princess and she taught him all the mindfulness techniques she knew.
She taught him to take deep breaths and think of a happy place that makes you feel calm like a beach or a meadow. The dragon gave it a go and before he knew it, he was breathing fire again, so much so that he accidently set the castle on fire! A fire engine came and put out the fire and they all lived happily ever after.
St John’s Preparatory School, Pre-Prep
The Adventure
Charlie was dropped into the pond with a plop. Perhaps he’s one of us? Thought the other fish. But he had no fins so he floated on top of the water. You see Charlie was no ordinary fish.
Then something terrible happened. Somebody chewed Charlie! A Heron was hungry and had come down to the pond for a feast. Peck, Peck, Peck! This fish is hard. The Heron dropped Charlie back on the floor. Poor old Charlie was dented, bent and broken. Charlie was sad and closed his eyes. But then Charlie heard FOOTSTEPS. Help was at hand!
A kind boy was walking by and picked Charlie up. Charlie wondered what would become of him.
Something trickled inside him, rattling as they went down. What could it be? All of a sudden he was moving up and down quickly, quicker, all the time rattling.
“I made a shaker from the bottle!” exclaimed the boy. Charlie smiled.
St Margaret’s Preparatory School, Reception
The Adventure
If you look up you will see a rocket ship floating high up in space. Inside that rocket ship is a class of Reception children off on an expedition.
Their adventure began when their headteacher sent them on a mission to find new life. They battled through asteroids to land on the planet Jupiter. As soon as they landed they began to explore the scary, stormy and dark planet. Little did they know that there were aliens hiding behind every crater.
Just as they were about to give up they heard something in the distance…it was aliens! The children returned to their rocket ship and prepared for a battle but when they saw the aliens approaching, they didn’t seem frightening, in fact they seemed rather friendly. The aliens were as green as fresh grass and had 18 eyes each.
Reception began to slowly open their rocket ship door and walk closer and closer. They felt a mixture of excitement and nervousness, but soon they were busy laughing and playing musical statues with their new friends. Together they boarded the rocket ship and launched themselves into a new alien adventure, next stop…Mercury!
The Children’s House, Reception
Sparkles
Once upon a time, James found an amazing, gigantic, shiny fantasy vehicle in the woods. “Hello, my name is Sparkles. Would you like to come and ride with me?”
First James felt a bit frightened because he didn’t know what was inside. Then he felt excited to see what was inside Sparkles. Next, he crept inside and he was shocked to see an alien! It was green, with three scary eyes and had twenty five legs. “Would you like to fly with me to the other side of the world to the alien party?” James nodded excitedly!
When they got there, they found all the alien friends. James ran out to join the alien party as he was so excited! He had a disco drink and some of the chocolate fountain. James won a prize, a green alien medal, for winning the alien musical statues!
Suddenly James looked at his watch. “I need to go home, I’m late!” He flew back home in Sparkles and quickly jumped into bed before his Mum realised that he was missing!
Weston Green School, Reception Opal Class
Jungle Jack Saves the Animals
Once upon a time there was a man called Jungle Jack, who loved animals.
One day, he went on an adventure to the jungle. He wanted to help different animals and saw colourful birds, cheeky monkeys and amazing insects.
He started to see some of the animals were disappearing. Where were they going?
That’s when he discovered the animals were being put in cages by a baddie called Penny the Poacher! She wanted the animals for herself. Jungle Jack knew he had to help the animals. But how?
He went back to his tree house and found he could talk to the animals!!
Together, they all came up with a plan. The birds would cause a loud distraction so the cheeky monkeys could steal the keys for the cages. It worked and Jungle Jack managed to save all the animals! Hooray!! Penny the Poacher wasn’t allowed to steal anymore animals.
Jungle Jack and all the animals had a big party and had a very special cake to celebrate.
Wilmslow Preparatory School, Reception
The Monster, the Girl and the Baby Boy
A little girl called Sophie saw a bright, twinkling star in the sky.
Curiously, she followed the star with her baby brother Tom in her arms until she came to a dark, creepy forest. Suddenly a green,3-eyed and 3-headed monster pounced on her and took her to a spooky cave.
They passed the guards who were 3-headed mummies and went into the darkness. Sophie got thrown into the dungeon and Tom got taken to a baby prison!
An evil demon walked through the cave but Sophie managed to escape by digging an escape tunnel. On the way, she saved Tom!
Gracefully, an angel appeared in the sky and showed the children home. They were both very, very tired. Sophie put Tom in his soft, comfy bed and said she would NEVER go to the forest again!
Brackenfield School, Year 2
Mr Campbell Saves the Day!
“Mr Campbell! Come quickly!” begged Mrs Westwood, as she whirled into the classroom looking shocked and scared. What was wrong? Mrs Westwood explained that a brown alpaca had escaped. Year 2 were surprised!
Mr Campbell remained calm. He strode from the classroom towards the school farm which was straight down the corridor, into the car park and then around the corner. Whilst Mr Campbell was coming, the two Mr Teesdales were running so frantically and panting but they were running in circles! In the middle was the brown alpaca, spitting rudely.
Mr Campbell gently approached the naughty alpaca and whispered our three school rules, “Be respectful, responsible and reflective.” The alpaca trotted back to his pen and Mr Campbell congratulated himself with a cup of hot chocolate and marshmallows.
Copthill School, Class 2U
Surprise, Surprise, Too Small!
The dreaded words no one wants to hear came from the black bearded staff member “sorry kids you’re too small”. “Surprise, surprise!” said Tom. “Sorry guys” replied the staff member.
They step aside next to the Jungle Rapid sign and Ahair whispered “get the magic remote”. Tom pulled out the small black remote from his bright jungle shorts pocket and secretly pressed the volume button upwards whilst pointing it at Ahair’s legs.
All of sudden Ahair’s legs grew longer and her bright blue ocean flip flops got bigger. Ahair smiled looking down at her twin brother taking the remote from him and doing the same to Tom. Tom’s legs were now also longer, they both giggled and went back to Jungle Rapids.
The staff member stated “you two again, sorry kids I already told you…” “We remember what you said”, Tom said interrupting. “We think you need to measure us again” Ahair added whilst cheekily grinning. “Alright” he said.
Tom stood next to the height sign. “But it won’t change my… wow I did get it wrong!” he exclaimed. “It’s ok” answered the twins walking onto the ride. Whilst looking confused, he said “my apologies again” “No worries!” said Tom “What shall we go on next?” asked Ahair.
Derby Grammar School, Year 2
Dash the Dragon’s Snowy Magical Adventure
One snowy day Dash was flying through the big, thick, creepy forest looking for an adventure, the wind was icy and cold. He flew over the enormous, sparkly, frozen lake, then suddenly dived down breathing fire to melt a hole in the ice because he saw something twinkling and shining deep down.
The water was not icy and cold, it was bubbly, warm and cosy and Dash could breathe because it was a magic lake. The slippery fish were like rainbows and swam through the purple and gold feathery, soft, squashy seaweed.
Dash swam and danced with a purple, green and pink pufferfish and a tiny giggling blue Shrimpanzee. Then Dash spotted a huge glowing golden treasure chest full of glittery diamonds, blue sapphires, round red rubies and shiny golden statues.
Dash swooped down and picked up the treasure chest but as soon as he picked it up the magic disappeared, the seaweed died and the fish lost their colours and got weak. Dash was so shocked and unhappy that he dropped the treasure chest, then everything got strong and started growing colours again. The Shrimpanzee was so happy that he gave Dash a huge hug and a golden statue as a reward.
Dash said goodbye and left the magical lake, then the golden statue changed into a chocolate one – Dash’s favourite treat, yummy!
Ditcham Park School, Prep-Pep
The Adventure
One dull day, Emmy sat idle on the cold shivering steps. The smell of sizzling street sausages wafted through the air and noisy traffic surrounded her. Her head hung low, and her shoulders slumped. Suddenly, a waxy colourful crayon calmly rolled towards her like a soft ball.
“What are you waiting for?” demanded the crayon! Emmy’s jaw dropped open and she stood as still as a statue! Slowly, Emmy drew a large archway on the rough white walls of her bedroom. As it transformed into a mystical wooden door, Emmy took a deep breath and in she went!
Cautiously, Emmy reached out to a giant iridescent bubble floating before her, ‘POP’. Emmy was surrounded by a wonderland of memories from the past! Grandma sitting on a wooden chair, knitting a lovely soft scarf for Emmy to wear. Playing ball on the soft sand, laughing, running, with dad holding her hand. Emmy’s eyes glistened. She leapt onto a magical carpet, her heart pounding as fast as a cheetah. She flew and she flew and flew up in the shimmering sun drenched sky, through the marvellous mountains sprinkled with snow.
Tick tock, tick tock! Emmy stared at a giant golden clock sat comfortably at the top of a tall tower. “Mum will be wondering where I am.” She looked around for the doorway and began to panic! As she thought of her mum she smiled and reached into the pocket of her corduroy dungarees. She clutched hold of the crayon and held it out in front of her. “SNAP” Emmy was home.
Holland House School, Year 2
The Fearless Snake-Hunting Scientist
Once there was a brilliant scientist called Elodie, who was very brave and fascinated by snakes. She lived in Australia with the crocodiles, scorpions, and the snakes that she studied all day long.
One day, some poor children nearby needed some antivenom because they had been bitten and were very, very sick. Elodie decided to travel the world and look for the most venomous snake to make the best antivenom.
She went to Kenya, to find the toxic Taipan. It was a very dangerous journey. There was sucking quicksand, stinging scorpions and huge, hairy tarantulas, but Elodie was never scared…not at first. But as she walked further and further into the deadly desert, even the brave scientist started to feel a bit worried.
Suddenly, she heard a creepy rattling noise, and saw some movement in the sand – a snake, coiled and ready to strike –it had launched at her in the blink of an eye. But Elodie did not give up – she looked the snake right in the eyes, and reached out to grab the wriggling creature in one hand.
Elodie flew back to Australia as quickly as she could. She brought the snake to her science lab to study its venom and make a cure for the children – her bravery had saved their lives.
Howe Green House School, Year 1
Underwater Discovery
Splash! The two divers jumped into the freezing, shimmering, blue sea. Soon they were deep underwater in the silent depths of the ocean. They saw grey, sparkly dolphins, swordfish with noses as sharp as spears and little, baby turtles playing in the coral. Suddenly, they came across an ancient, craggy shipwreck, covered with seaweed, barnacles, and limpets.
Carefully, they swam inside the gloomy ship and there in front of them was a golden treasure chest, hidden amongst some dancing starfish. Slowly, they opened the lid and quick as a flash, a long purple tentacle grabbed them by the foot and dragged them into the chest and slammed it shut!
They heard a loud chopping sound through the lid and there appeared a silvery swordfish to rescue them! The divers quickly grabbed some gold, silver, emeralds, and diamonds before they slammed the lid on the golden chest. When they turned around, they saw a pathway of colourful fish and baby turtles guiding them back towards the boat.
Ipswich High School, Year 2
The Magical Rainforest
Long ago there were two brave, fearless explorers. Their names were Searcher and Treasure. They had travelled around the world looking for the famous, shiny, golden banana. An old, wise, clever lady, called Lady Lauren, once said that if you make a wish on the banana, you will receive magical powers.
One day, Searcher and Treasure entered a beautiful, soggy, hot rainforest. Immediately they discovered a temple, where inside a giant, hairy, cheeky monkey was guarding THE BANANA!
Searcher and Treasure grabbed the shiny, golden banana but suddenly it started to shake! THE BANANA started to peel itself, and inside there was a small diamond egg. The explorers were speechless, what was happening? The egg started to crack, and the temple started to collapse…
King’s School Plymouth, Year 2
Teacher Rescue
Once upon a time, there was a lovely, wonderful teacher called Miss Grant. She taught her amazing class 1LG but they were no ordinary class, each child had their own super powers.
Some days Miss Grant went home with multi-coloured hair or she was stuck to the ceiling because of the misadventures of her children. One day a dark puddle appeared on the classroom floor, an enormous, disgusting tentacle wrapped around Miss Grant's ankle and dragged her through the floor. In a second, she had vanished! "Whoa!" shouted 1LG in disbelief.
Luckily, their magic door began to shine and the children knew exactly what they needed to do. They grabbed their magical backpacks and headed through. Suddenly, they appeared deep in the ocean. In the distance, they could see their teacher locked in the sea monster’s dungeon. Luckily, Izzy had the power to call upon the sea creatures to free their teacher and battle the monstrous, tentacled sea dragon.
Whilst the creature was distracted, the children unlocked the dungeon and took Miss Grant to safety. Back through the shiny door, the children appeared in their classroom as the bell rang for home time. Just another day at magical St Mary's.
St Mary’s School, Hampstead, Class 1LG
The Day We Trapped a Dragon
One sunny, unusual day, the class of 1D set off on an adventure to trap a dragon…!
Earlier that week, 1D, whilst out at Forest School, had spotted clues that a dragon might be hiding there. The children thought that the dragon might have treasure, they hoped it wasn’t enchanted.
First, they tiptoed quietly down into Forest School. Next, they dug a ginormous, deep and wide hole and covered it with a brown sheet. Then, they scattered crunchy brown leaves and dead branches over it. Finally, they left some juicy beef to tempt the dragon.
After that, the children crept sneakily behind a tree to wait. It wasn’t long before the excited children got a peak of a mysterious creature. Was it the dragon they were looking for…?
King’s School Plymouth, Year 1
