Help change the world with a story or poem!

Pop Up Projects is looking for ten brilliant young writers to help change the world!  Ten young writers aged 8 to 12 years will win the chance to have their story or poem included the Children for Change ebook anthology, a collection of stories, facts and illustrations aimed at inspiring young readers to 'take action' to help protect our environment.  The closing date for the competition is 12th July 2024. 

Children For Change is being published by Pop Up Projects. Dylan Calder, director of Pop Up projects, said, "We are on a mission to transform lives through literature. We hope this FREE ebook will inspire children to start thinking about how they can play a part, no matter how small, in tackling climate change."  Launching on October 7th as part of UN World Habitat Day, the anthology will be free to download for every child and in every Primary School in the UK.

More than 60 British children's writers and illustrators are already contributing to Children for Change, including Tom Gates creator Liz Pichon; multi award-winning author of Boy Everywhere, AM Dassu; The Gruffalo illustrator, Axel Scheffler; bestselling authors of the Dragon Realm series, Katie & Kevin Tsang; Draw with Rob creator Rob Biddulph and Young Bond author, Charlie Higson.  Author and broadcaster Konnie Huq is on the judging panel, together with the editor of The Week Junior, which is a partner in the competition. 

Huq, who is also editor of Children for Change, said, "I truly believe that children are the key to changing the future. We hope that by giving them inspiration we can help them make positive changes and decisions to build a greener and healthier future for our planet.”

The ten winners will see their story or poem published in this world-changing collection.  The original stories or poems should inspire other children to think about the things they can do to help the planet. 

Here are some entry guidelines:

If it is a story, it needs to be a fictional story - something imagined and created - so, not an essay, or an article. It needs to be original - it could be set in the real world, or it could be set in an imaginary place. It could have realistic people, make-believe characters, or even talking animals. It just has to do ONE thing: it has to help the reader understand something they can do to make the world a better, greener, healthier place.

If it is a poem. A poem doesn't have to be fictional (though it can be). The poem can be more personal, a way to express feelings about the world you know and love, and what people need to do to make things better. It doesn't need to rhyme (although it can if you want it to) - and there's no rule about how you should
structure it. 

There are just TWO things to think about before starting writing the story or poem:

1)   It needs to inspire another reader to do something - it could be something they can do personally, like changing a habit or behaviour. Or something they could encourage their family, community or school to do. It could be something others could do, like leaders or governments - or something the whole world should do!
2)   It needs to be no longer than 500 words - max!

To submit entries visit: https://pop-up.org.uk/childrenforchange.