Deeping Literary Festival winners

After a while they got BOAR-ed of living in the same house with the same pigs day after day, night after night, with Brick Pig hogging the bed and eating all the food, so they decided to have an adventure and go on a camping holiday. The only problem was they had never been on a camping holiday before so they didn’t have anything to camp in. So Straw Pig ordered a tent and inflatable bed, Wood Pig hired a small basic campervan and Brick Pig bought an all singing all dancing Elder 840 caravan.

They decided to stay at the Muddy Meadows campsite at Farmyard Fun Theme Park. Unfortunately, there was a huge, terrifying storm as they arrived, so they had to set up quickly. Straw Pig picked a pitch at the bottom of the hill, Wood Pig choose a pitch halfway up the hill and Brick Pig set up on an extra-large pitch at the top of the hill.

In the middle of the night, Straw Pig woke up suddenly as he was soaked through. He looked outside and the rain was still lashing down. The raindrops were the size of huge meatballs bouncing off the ground and rolling downhill towards his tent. The tent was filling up fast with water. So he decided to make a run for it, but the water was too deep to walk in and he couldn’t swim, so he used his bed as a boat and paddled his way towards Wood Pig’s campervan shouting “HELP, HELP, LET ME IN, I’M NOT A WATERHOG!!”, “Quick come in then, I don’t want my campervan to be flooded too” replied Wood Pig. Straw Pig climbed in quickly and huddled under a blanket to get warm. The booming storm continued, thunder rumbled and lightning flashed, lighting up the sky. The pigs heard crackling above, then suddenly lighting struck the engine. It made a huge bang, sizzled and almost set the campervan on fire. The smoke coming from the

engine was creeping inside. “Let’s get out of here or we’ll be smoked!” shouted Straw Pig. So they dashed outside and ran as fast as they could to Brick Pig’s caravan shouting “HELP, HELP, LET US IN!” As they climbed in they said “Thanks”, you have saved our bacon, we could’ve been roast pork!”

Brick Pig made them all steaming mugs of hot chocolate before they all fell fast asleep in Brick Pigs Danel Mulgrew huge bed, as cosy pigs in blankets. The next day the storm had cleared and they finished their holiday, all staying together in the caravan enjoying the site’s facilities and they camped happily ever after, well for a week at least! Patron of Deepings Literary Festival and judge Elly Griffiths commented

From the start of this story you know that you are in the hands of a confident storyteller with a very individual voice. I loved the humour and the wordplay, especially the pigs being ‘as cosy as pigs in blankets’

I loved the compassion in this, especially the description of the girl meeting the puppy.

A stylish retelling of an old tale and a writer who is not afraid to be dark in places.

Retold by Olivia Joyce 7 years

“Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are, up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky …”

The pretty star loved to listen to the children singing so beautifully and soft. It longed to tell them all about himself and although he loved his home and had plenty of friends, he had one wish. He wished to go down to the round, singing earth and tell the little children all about himself. He would tell them what it was like up in space and who his best friends were. The children would never have to wonder about twinkling stars again.

Down on earth, Rosa and Daniel were getting ready for bed and singing their favourite nursery rhyme.

“Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are…….” They sang softly.

As Rosa stared out of the window, she saw a shooting star which smiled at her. She ran out of her house and tried to catch the diamond. She chased it through the woods and into the farmer’s field. Then, with a blink of an eye, she CAUGHT IT! Tada. Her hands glowed as she peeped at the shimmering star. The points of the star were as sharp as a knife but in the middle, puppy eyes gazed at her softly. Then, a small mouth opened wide to talk to Rosa. “I found children,” shouted the star, with a huge smile. “Would you like to know all about me?”

Rosa nodded eagerly and she carefully put the star onto the soft, green grass. As the wind blew her hair, the star started to talk. He told Rosa all about life in space, his friends, the alien living on a nearby planet and how the stars hear the children singing their soft, sweet songs. They chatted all night and when it was time to go, Rosa picked up the star, whispered goodbye into its ear and threw it up into the air. The star waved goodbye and drifted back up into space.

As she tiptoed back to her house and crept into bed, Rosa felt very excited. She kept on thinking to herself, I wonder if I’ll see the star again and when my next adventure will be. Then she quietly giggled a new version of the song, “Twinkle, twinkle, little star now I know just what you are …..”.

Judge and author of The Last Bear Hannah Gold commented

I thought Twinkle, Twinkle had the most originality and had a really sweet tone. Incy Wincy was lots of fun. And I liked Pharaoh of Egypt in terms of language. All three were lovely!