Calling young writers - pen a hero animal story and win!

20 February 2017

To celebrate World Book Day’s 20th anniversary (2 March) vet charity PDSA has teamed up with award-winning children’s writer Hilary Robinson to launch its annual writing competition.

The competition is open to budding young writers, aged 16 or under, and this year’s theme is Animal Heroes. This coincides with Hilary’s latest book Flo of the Somme, which tells the story of a heroic dog who worked in the WW1 battlefields, delivering medical supplies to injured soldiers.

To help this year’s entrants, Hilary has started the story of Buddy: a pet who comes to live with twins Jess and James when their grandma moves into a care home. It’s now up to the young writers to complete the story – more details can be found here.

The winner – judged by Hilary – will receive an Amazon Kindle, a signed set of Hilary’s books, and a VIP tour with Hilary at a PDSA Pet Hospital. Three runners-up will each win a signed copy of Hilary’s latest book Flo of the Somme and a special PDSA Pet Protectors goodie bag.

Hilary commented: "I'm delighted to be taking part in the PDSA animal heroes writing competition, it's so important we do everything we can to look after our furry and four-legged friends. They've done so much for us - going all the way back to when they went to war for us 100 years ago! And one of the best things you can do, as well as support fantastic charities such as PDSA, is write about them and tell their stories for them, so please do send in your wonderful entries."

Hilary, who is an author, radio producer, broadcaster and feature writer, has written over 50 books for children and is perhaps best known for Mixed Up Fairytales as well as her WWI picture book series, created with War Horse illustrator Martin Impey.

Entries should be around 1,000 words and can be emailed to petprotectors@pdsa.org.uk or posted to: Young Writers Competition, PDSA Head Office, Whitechapel Way, Priorslee, Telford, Shropshire, TF2 9PQ. The closing date is 26 May 2017 and entrants should give their full name, date of birth, email address, plus their membership number if they are already a Pet Protector.

World Book Day is designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of and is observed in over 100 countries. It is the biggest celebration of its kind and helps to encourage millions of children to explore the pleasure of books and reading.

For more information on Hilary Robinson, visit her website.