This year we announced the winners of our Children’s Story Competition 2022 at Yorkshire Festival of Story with our fantastic judge Joanne Harris and in partnership with North Yorkshire County Council and Settle Community Library. We were looking for short stories of up to 750 words that feature a woodland creature or creatures by young writers aged 7-12 to celebrate the magic and wonder of the natural world.
You certainly didn’t disappoint! We were delighted to receive so many entries – and of such high quality. It was a very difficult decision for Joanne Harris, but we are thrilled to bring you the three wonderful winning stories.
1st Prize: ‘The Jays of Oakley Wood’ by Holly Clutterbuck
Light filtered through the almost-bare branches of Oakley Wood, sprinkling golden dust over scurrying squirrels, bouncing bunnies and hiding hedgehogs. It was late autumn and all of the wood’s residents were busy preparing for the incoming winter. Freddie the squirrel scampered between trees, his dainty paws crunching over fiery leaves. He chittered with delight as they danced around him.
Freddie had just sat down to help his sister separate nuts when the door flew open and a flock of flustered bluetits burst in.
“Help! Help! Our oak tre-eet has been – tweet cut down!” they chirruped.
Everyone was horrified. No one could believe their ears. This particular group of tits lived in one of the oldest oak trees in the whole wood! Many animals had made a home there, from cosy dormice in the roots to haughty pigeons in the crown!
The birds spoke again. “We all have no home, no food and no protection.”
All the animals had a meeting to discuss what to do.
“There is plenty of room in our oak tree,” piped up a young mouse shyly. “I’m sure they could stay there!”
Everyone agreed that it was a good idea, but they knew it was not a long-term solution.
“The thing is, woodcutters are greedy. Once they’ve chopped one down, they can’t stop,” hooted an owl.
“Yes,” agreed a rabbit. “Soon there will be no trees left!”
Luckily, Freddie remembered something. “I have a store of acorns in a hollow beech tree. We could plant them in the gap, and in other empty spots!”
“Well,” said Professor Twinkle, the owl, kindly. “We’d better get started.”
Freddie scampered to the hollow tree with an army of squirrels, rabbits and all kinds of mice. They then collected all the acorns, which was an easy task with so many paws. On their way back to the clearing, Freddie spotted some deer lurking and whispering nearby. He sent some trustworthy jays to check they weren’t up to anything. The jays sat still in the tree above the deer, cocking their heads.
“Yum! When they start to grow, those new oak shoots will be delicious!” whispered the deer excitedly, thinking nothing could hear them. They started discussing when would be a good time to eat them. When the jays were sure they had heard enough, they fluttered back in the direction Freddie had gone, knowing they had important information. They arrived and Freddie listened curiously to the deer’s naughty plan.
“But,” the birds finished, “we have a plan too.”
“Whatever is it?” Freddie questioned.
“Wait and see!” replied the jays mysteriously.
Everyone started to plant acorns throughout the woodland. There were piles dotted about so the job could be done quicker. Mice, foxes, badgers, squirrels, owls and rabbits…everyone helped! The jays helped too, though in their own curious way. Freddie wondered why the jays kept darting into prickly bushes like gorse, holly and brambles. They would pick up an acorn in their precise beaks, pop into a bush, and there would be a minute or so of the bush shaking and the jay would pop out again. No one knew why, but they would in the coming of the spring.
It was next spring, and after a harsh winter, the animals were glad to feel warming sun rays on their backs. Many went out for a walk on the first few fine days and many noticed new green shoots poking up through the prickly bushes. They looked like oak trees! There were questions asked and the jays replied, “Deer can’t walk through spikey bushes any more than you can.”
2nd Prize: ‘Conkers and Acorns’ by Rhona Paton
It was a deep, dark night in the deep, dark wood. Everyone was tucked away, hiding in their cosy homes sheltered from the cold. On this deep, dark night there was no noise, except…
CRUNCH. CRUNCH. CRUNCH.
A flash of fur, a glint of eyes, and from behind a bolder out stumbled a little snuffling kitten. This stumbling sneezer was close to home, where Mummy wildcat was curled up in her sleep.
CRUNCH. CRUNCH. CRUNCH.
Conker crept forward, his soft, brown nose twitching. His small paw slipped and with a yowl he tumbled, tail-over-head, into the woods. He rolled, fur catching on brambles and twigs, into leaves, out of leaves; squeaking, he landed in a muddy heap. He heard a small squeal, shrill in the quiet. Flicking his head and slowly blinking, his bright blue eyes came to rest on a red bundle with a big bushy tail. Squirrel hopped around on the floor reaching for her scattered acorns.
“Excuse me,” said Conker timidly “can I help?”
Squirrel stopped collecting and stared at him, a surprised look on her bright red face. She tilted her head once. Twice. Then nodded. Conker stooped to the nearest acorn, nudging it to Squirrel’s small paws. She reached out to grasp it tightly and added it to her growing pile. With one last nod and tiny wave she scrambled up, up, up an old gnarled oak to her three waiting kits.
CRUNCH. CRUNCH. CRUNCH.
On Conker scampered, deeper and deeper into the wood. He heard a strange noise, a shrieking scream.
“Don’t eat me Mr Owl, please don’t!”
A little mouse was curled under a great, big tree surrounded by three young owls, the mouse squealing louder as they flapped their wings. Conker drew himself up, then… SPRANG onto one of the owls, who began hooting, and one by one they flew into the night.
The little mouse gave a sigh of relief, “oh thank you, brave friend!” and it bowed, then danced, then pranced into the grass. Conker paused and smiled; then off, off, off, he skipped into the trees, bouncing through leaves, splashing through streams, hop-step-hop down the slope. He skidded and rolled, laughing all the way until his four fluffy paws landed on the ground. His sky blue eyes danced with wonder as he chased his tail round and round. As he came to a stop, head still spinning, there was a grunt and a squeak from a weasel. It was trapped beneath a log.
The little weasel gave a small, sad, smile. “If you wouldn’t mind, could you remove this log?”
Conker bounded over and with a HEAVE, HEAVE, HEAVE, Weasel was free! He delightedly shook himself off, saluted, grinned, and scampered away.
Conker heard a crack behind him, turned his striped face and, startled, saw a big black nose. His hairs on end, Conker leaped backward onto a stump, growling at the fox.
“Well helloooooo little kitty” said the old fox slyly “you shouldn’t be out alone so late. Why not join me for tea?” A wicked grin spread across his face.
“What are you having?” Conker asked.
Fox’s eyes brightened, “YOU!”
With a pounce and a yap Fox sprung into the air. Conker ran, fast as he could, under branches, over branches, dodging trees, boulders and mounds, wading rivers and bogs until he rounded a corner – straight into a cliff; a dead end! There was only a crooked tree and, trembling, Conker pressed himself against the steep rock. He could hear Fox stalking, CLOSER. CLOSER. CLOSER.
“I’ve got you now little kitty” Fox snarled. Shaking, Conker edged closer to the tree, coiling himself ready to jump; then he LEAPT up the tree, threading through branches. Beneath him, Fox prowled.
“You’re mine little kitty” he crowed, yellow eyes flashing, “all mine”.
Suddenly, a streak of brown launched at Fox, biting his neck; a dash of squeaking grey pulled his ears with tiny paws; while a small, red bundle pelted him with acorns.
“Leave our friend alone!”
Fox yelped and scarpered into the distance. Squirrel, Mouse and Weasel stood proudly at the base of the tree as Conker slid down to join them.
CRUNCH. CRUNCH. CRUNCH.
Four friends walked back though the deep, dark wood to a house by a bolder, where Mummy wildcat slept. Conker curled up, and soon his eyes drifted closed to dream of the friends he had helped, and who’d helped him in return.
3rd Prize: ‘Woodland Wars’ by Billy Collins
When I was four I started school and made some friends called Frizbow, James and Adam. Now, nine years later, we are still best friends and we like to hang out in the woodland next to my house. In there we have a spacious den made from the finest willow which we discovered lying on the mossy ground of the wood.
This morning I decided to explore the woods before going to school. I stepped outside, the warm summer air greeting my face. Entering the woods I heard a long, lingering “Ssssss”, but that did not stop me from carrying on as the sounds of the wood did not scare me.
In the early morning light, a large, long and beautifully patterned snake suddenly sprang out of the bushes onto the pathway in front of me. It was clearly panicking. Jammed on its head was a plastic bottle. I grabbed my pen knife and cut the poor snake free. Right there and then I made a promise to myself that I would do whatever I could to protect the woodland and its inhabitants from litter.
Looking at my watch, I noticed it was already eight thirty. It was thirty minutes until school started! My legs started to walk, then run, then sprint. As I hurtled through the school gates I heard the bell ring.
“Phew” I said to myself.
I had made it to school on time. I waited for what felt like hours to tell my friends about what I had seen.
“That’s atrocious! What should we do?” Adam asked.
We can do a litter pick,” suggested Frizbow.
“Yes, that sounds like a good idea.” I said.
At the end of the day I went to the woods with James, Adam and Frizbo. We immediately saw a plastic bag on the wet and muddy woodland path so we picked it up and put it in the bin bag. But the plastic just kept coming. Within ten minutes the bag was nearly full! We decided to have a rest after an hour in the woods picking up endless amounts of plastic. Suddenly I heard a quiet rustle in the clearing behind the den.
“Shhh” I whispered.
The rustling in the clearing continued. We decided to investigate. Putting on our camouflage coats, which were handmade from leaves and twigs, we followed the noise until we saw two teenagers eating crisps and throwing the empty packets over their heads. Shocked, we went back to the den where we found the poor snake shivering in a pile of leaves.
“It must be lost,” James said sorrowfully.
We looked around for a place to put the snake. In the middle of the forest we found a rock which was warming in the sun. We released it there.
“This is serious, we need to do something.” I said.
“I am going to keep watch over night to see if they come back.”
I quickly dashed home to tell my mum that I was sleeping over at James’s house. I got a torch and sleeping bag and set off again to the woods.
I went straight to the rock where we had released the snake. It was still sleeping. I suddenly had a brainwave. If I set a trap I would not need to stay here all night. I walked further into the wood, the cold night air came over my body like a wave. I decided to dig a big, deep hole and cover it with leaves. As I walked out of the clearing I thought it would be smarter to go home and wait until morning.
The next morning I met my friends outside the entrance to the woods. They were impatient to hear about what had happened during the night. I explained about the snake and the hole that I had made.
“Let’s go and see if anyone is in there.” Adam said excitedly.
As we approached the hole we heard cries for help. Crouched down in the bottom of a hole were the two teenagers that we had seen the day before. We told them that they were trapped because they had been spotted littering and destroying the habitat of the woodland. They immediately felt bad and apologised for their behaviour. They promised never to do it again.
Several months later, the two teenagers were spotted planting oak saplings with the local woodland trust. They had converted to being nature lovers.
Runners-Up
Eadie Marilyn Brown for ‘The Great Migration’
Jasmine Wales for ‘The Voice of Nature’
Roza Kalkowska for ‘The Animal Charms’
A huge well done to all the winners, runners-up and everyone who entered!
Main image L-R: Rhona Paton, Billy Collins, Eadie Marilyn Brown and competition judge Joanne Harris at the competition announcement on Saturday 26 November 2022. Photo by Tony Crossland.
