FIRST PLACE: MIMI, SPIDER AND THE MOON RESCUE BY SUE RAWLINGS
• Judges’ comments: ‘This magical, mythical tale is a beautifully told ‘big’ story for very young readers.’
Spread 1
Mimi lived on an island in the middle of the ocean.
Her best friend was Spider. The other children didn’t like Spider. (children pulling faces and screaming).
But Mimi and Spider understood each other.
They loved to play together.
As he tickled his way up her arm she wriggled and giggled. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WRITING FOR AND WHAT KIND OF STORIES DO YOU LIKE TO WRITE?
I’ve been writing all my life – I loved to write stories as a child. When I grew up and started teaching, I wrote plays and poetry for children, including teaching materials, a road safety booklet for a county council and later, wildlife articles for a county magazine. But my main interest has been in writing stories. I write in different genres for children, from contemporary to narrative non-fiction. I love to write fantasy but with a link to real life and including some humour, to help children understand the world. WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO GIVE THE COMPETITION A GO?
This is a recently completed story. I’ve had good feedback from my SCBWI writing group and it is a special story. WHAT WAS YOUR INSPIRATION FOR THE STORY?
A conversation with my granddaughter who interestingly asked what would happen if a whale ate the moon. I thought about how I could develop this into a story. My husband and I love to visit tropical islands, so this became the setting.
I have always been fascinated by the spider as a character in legends and stories in places such as Nauru, so decided to give my Spider special powers. It was also a great device to persuade Whale to release the moon by tickling. HOW DID YOU WRITE IT?
Most of my stories start with a character, but on this occasion, it was the problem that started my train of thought. Having said that I also found that I was drawn to the character of Mimi who may not be very good at communicating with people but had formed a special relationship with Spider.
I wrote the story initially explaining this but found it distracted from the plot, so rewrote it as it appears. I had got as far as the rescue but a satisfying ending that kept the reader’s interest took longer to resolve – until I came up with the idea of a storm. It then fell into place.
TOP TIP FOR WRITERS ENTERING IN 2024?
All stories are a combination of ideas gleaned from different sources so don’t worry about that but put the ideas together in a unique way. Austin Kleon’s Steal Like an Artist explains this very well. Once you have your story, be brave and enter/ submit your work – easy to say to others, but I find that part quite difficult!
Instagram: @suerawlingswrites
The Writing Magazine Children’s Book Prize is running again this year, with a picture book and chapter book category! The submission window is 1st September – 31st October 2024. Keep your eyes on www. storygodmother.co.uk for more news about the competition.