Everyone can remember being read stories at bedtime when they were little. And if you are a parent now you probably do the same for your children.
But the huge bed company Silentnight has taken this one step further and asked their youngest fans to write their own stories for them. The idea is that the competition will result in one of the stories being published in the future as an actual book.
The competition has reached the news pages online recently, and it has already received some entries. The company has given some guidance for those who want to enter – and if you are thinking you might enter yourself, be aware that only those youngsters between the ages of seven and twelve may do so.
The story must feature Hippo and Duck, the two characters which appear on the Silentnight logo. The hippo is dressed in blue and white striped pyjamas and the duck is just yellow feathered.
You might think about letting your own young children know about the competition, because the prizes are very nice indeed if they are lucky enough to win. The top prize is of course publication of the story they write. But they will also get treated to a trip to Alton Towers with their family, and plenty of other prizes from the publishing company that will publish the winning book. The company is Bloomsbury, one of the best known publishers in the UK and they published all seven books in the phenomenal Harry Potter story.
And of course if your child wins they can also expect to receive a great Silentnight bed too. The bed is known as a Chillout bed, which sounds perfect for a winning prize! The runners up also get treated to a bed and some other prizes, so it is well worth entering.
All the information about the competition is on the Silentnight website, at www.silentnight.co.uk. This competition has been run before, and you can take a look at last year’s winner on their website. With such a great range of prizes on offer Silentnight are probably expecting their competition to get a great response. It has certainly been successful in the past and this is the third year they have got it underway.
So what type of story might win in the end? There are no clues as to what the story could be about, and provided their two main stars are included it could be about virtually anything.
It is a great way for young children to start trying their hand at story writing as well – a skill that could help them as they get older. So if you have any children between the ages required for the competition, be sure to mention it to them and see if they have any ideas they might like to enter.
Complete rules and regulations for entering are all on the Silentnight website, and should be read carefully before submitting any entries. Good luck to all budding young writers!