competitions, National Year of Reading

Win 4 books by Peter Carnavas!

Little Treasures pack (covers)
WIN THIS BOOK PACK!

* This giveaway has now closed. Winner announced soon.*

 

In the winter issue of Alphabet Soup, we feature author-illustrator Peter Carnavas. (Read his Q&A—including his advice for young writers and artists—in our earlier blog post.)

GOOD NEWS! We’re very excited to have 4 of his books to give away to one lucky reader, thanks to New Frontier Publishing

The ‘Little Treasures‘  pack includes a mini-sized version of Jessica’s Box, Last Tree in the City, The Important Things, and Sarah’s Heavy Heart.

Our winter issue also celebrates the National Year of Reading. So, for your chance to win, leave a comment under this post and recommend a favourite picture book you think everyone should read. (Favourite books published long ago or just last week are equally welcome). We will draw the winner at random at 7pm EST on Friday 6 July 2012.

Fine print: We can only post the prize to an Australian address. (You are welcome to enter from overseas if you can nominate an Australian postal address.) We will announce the winner here on the blog, on Twitter and on Facebook. The winner will have until 14 July 2012 to contact us and provide an address. If we have not heard from the winner by 14 July 2012, we will draw a new winner. Good luck!

competitions, info

Winter 2012 writing competition

Entries close 12 JULY 2012

Boy writing. Artwork copyright Greg MitchellWrite a story no longer than 500 words (shorter is fine). Your story should include the word ‘orange’.

You can enter as many times as you like, but each entry must include a separate competition entry form. This may be printed from the website (see competition rules), photocopied, or contact us to have one emailed or posted to you.

Your entry can be handwritten or typed. Make a copy of your entry as we cannot return entries.

A $20 book voucher is awarded to the winner in three age categories: Under 7s, Under 9s, and Under 12s.

competitions

Writing comp for kids (years 5 and 6)

Random House Australia is running a writing competition for kids in year 5 and 6. It’s called James Patterson’s Random Shorts story competition.

Write an awesome story about school and you can win a $250 book pack. Download an entry form and read the competition rules on the Random House Australia website.

Entries close 30 July 2012.

competitions

Autumn 2012 writing comp winners

We received heaps of fabulous entries for our autumn writing competition!  We asked you to imagine a fairytale or folktale had been written as a newspaper article and you had to send us the perfect headline for that article. Congratulations to our winners—here they are:

Under 7s winner: L Sargasso (VIC)

Servant Girl Marries Handsome Prince

Under 9s winner: J Riordan (WA)

Emperor Exposed in Fashion Disaster

Under 12s winner: F Langer (WA)

Unexpected Guests at Grandma’s House!

The winner in each category won a $20 book voucher. Happy reading! (PS—details of our next writing competition will be up on Alphabet Soup’s website soon … )

competitions, National Year of Reading

Autumn 2012 writing competition

Entries close 12 APRIL 2012

Imagine your favourite folktale or fairytale has been rewritten as a newspaper article. Create the perfect headline for that article! (We only need a headline. You do not need to write the article.)

You can enter as many times as you like, but each entry must include a separate competition entry form. This may be printed from the website (see competition rules), photocopied, or contact us to have one emailed or posted to you.

Your entry can be handwritten or typed. Make a copy of your entry as we cannot return entries.

A $20 book voucher is awarded to the winner in three age categories: Under 7s, Under 9s, and Under 12s.

competitions

Summer 2011 writing comp winners – Under 12s

For our summer writing competition, we asked you to write a poem and include the word ‘dragon.’ Here is the winner in the last age category—the Under 12s.

A reminder: always check the rules of the competition. If you don’t stick to the rules, we have to disqualify your entry and that makes us sad!

Under 12s winner: F Apel (QLD)

MY DRAGONS

My little dragon is not a fright
Because she never plays in sight;
Talks all night and sleeps by day;
In my mind she likes to play.
My other dragon is big and mean,
Slimy, smelly, scaly green.
Breathes out smoke that makes me choke;
He’s a scary dream.

 

See the Under 9s winner.

See the Under 7s winner.

 

competitions

Summer 2011 writing comp winners – Under 9s

For our summer writing competition, we asked you to write a poem and include the word ‘dragon.’ Here is the winner in the Under 9s section.

A reminder: always check the rules of the competition. If you don’t stick to the rules, we have to disqualify your entry and that makes us sad!

Under 9s winner: L Massey (VIC)

DRAGON

My brother wants a dragon, a green one for he
Why do you want a green dragon?
To hide among the leaves

My friend wants an orange dragon, an orange one will do
Why do you want an orange dragon?
To see the fire it can spew

I want a rainbow dragon, a rainbow one for me
Why do I want a rainbow dragon?
Cos it’s the best you see!

 

competitions

Summer 2011 writing comp winners – under 7s

For our summer writing competition, we asked you to write a poem and include the word ‘dragon.’ Here is the winner in the Under 7s section.

A reminder: always check the rules of the competition. If you don’t stick to the rules, we have to disqualify your entry and that makes us sad!

Under 7s winner: D Morgan (WA)

I WISH I WERE A DRAGON

I wish I were a dragon who could fly high in the sky
I wish I were a dragon who could talk to a fly.
I wish I were a dragon who was very nice and kind,
And even help people who are completely blind.
I wish I were a dragon who would go to sleep,
And just have one more little peep.
And open my eyes to a brand new morn’
And breathe my fire into the dawn.

 

competitions, teachers' resources

Summer writing competition – win a $20 book voucher!

Entries close 21 JANUARY 2012

Write a poem no longer than 12 lines. Your poem should contain the word ‘dragon.’

Include a competition entry form. This may be printed from the website (see competition rules), photocopied, or contact us to have one emailed or posted to you.

Your entry can be handwritten or typed. Make a copy of your entry as we cannot return entries.

A $20 book voucher is awarded to the winner in three age categories: Under 7s, Under 9s, and Under 12s.

Happy writing!

competitions

Spring 2011 writing competition – winner under 12s

In our spring writing competition, we asked you to write a story with the title ‘The Three Little ____’ (characters of your choice). Here is the winner in the final category—Under 12s.

A reminder: always check the rules of the competition. If you don’t stick to the rules, we have to disqualify your entry and that makes us sad!

Under 12s winner: B Kempson (WA)

THE THREE LITTLE JELLYBEANS

Once upon a time, there were three jellybeans. Their names were Orange, Red and Green, although their colours were different. Orange was red, Red was green and Green was orange! Red was curious, which usually landed him in trouble, Orange was smart, always solving equations, and Green was brave. They were orphans, who lived in a packet in a cupboard with other jellybeans. One day, they were quietly playing with other jellybeans, when Red said something that shocked them all.

‘I wonder what it’s like outside this packet?’ All the other jellybeans gasped.

‘What, in the HUMAN world?’ said Green. The other jellybeans gasped again, as if Green had said a swear word.

‘To my calculations, surviving the outer world is one in one million of a chance,’ said Orange. ‘Still, it’s possible … ‘ Orange trailed off when he saw the look in Red’s eye.

‘Oh no you don’t, ‘ said Green, who had realised the look as well. ‘If i have to save you once more, I’ll have to get a personal doctor. Look what happened the last time you did something crazy!’ Green lifted his arm to show a nasty scar.

Even so, the next day, Red cut a hole in the packet, small enough for one jellybean to slip through, and leaped out onto the floor. He grinned to himself muttering, ‘Who’s a clever jellybean? Me!’ Suddenly, he felt a giant glob of slobber, as big as one dozen jellybeans, fell on his head.

He looked up to see where it came from, and saw an ugly brown and white beast with yellow teeth, beady eyes and a small black snout. He had heard legends of a creature like this, but the pictures he had pictured in his mind were nowhere near as terrifying as this.

It was a dog.

You could hear Red’s scream from miles away. Luckily, Green and Orange were lying in the sun near the place that Red escaped. Green’s head jerked up from its position, wondering what Red had done now. He looked around for Red, but stopped when he saw the hole in the packet.

‘Oh no,’ he said, running to the hole. Thinking of Red, he leapt throught he hole and onto the floor. He looked around, and saw Red and the dog. The dog had cornered Red by a table, and was about to eat him, when Green dived through the hole. Red sat down, dazed.

‘You know what? I’m never going to do anything dangerous again,’ he said.

‘Good,’ said Green and Orange.

‘Now let’s go cliff diving!’ said Red, walking off with his friends.