THE winners of Denbighshire Schools’ Short Story Competition have been announced to celebrate World Book Day.

In February, Denbighshire Education and Children’s Services teamed up with Denbighshire Library Services to celebrate Michael Morpurgo Month.

They invited children in schools across the county aged 5-14 to read and take inspiration from Morpurgo’s books, which include War Horse and The Butterfly Lion, and put pen to paper and enter a story writing challenge.

Prize winners were: 1st: Elsie Croft (Ysgol Frongoch), 2nd: Gwen Hayes (Ysgol Frongoch), Highly Commended: Ella Hayes (Ysgol Frongoch), Oliver Hayes (Ysgol Frongoch) and Elin Wilcox-Jones (Ysgol Bro Cinmeirch).

Competition judge, Bethan Hughes, Denbighshire County Council’s Principal Librarian, said: “The entries for the challenge show children in Denbighshire are readers and have very vivid imaginations. They know how to shape an exciting story with memorable characters, humour and suspense. I would like to thank everyone who took part. I enjoyed reading all the entries and I hope that all our young writers continue to write and create great stories, inspired by the books they read and the stories they hear.”

Councillor Huw Hilditch-Roberts, the Council’s Lead Member for Education, Children's Services and Public Engagement, said: “Yet again we have seen a high level of entries from young people in Denbighshire and they are all to be congratulated on their effort. Engaging children in reading and story writing is a key part of their development and competitions like this help encourage young people to achieve their potential.”

The winning stories will be published via the Denbighshire Curriculum Enrichment website www.denbighshireenrichment.com and Denbighshire Library Service’s Borrowbox, for everyone to read and enjoy.