Over the last couple of months it’s been such a joy sharing stories from our young writers. A huge thank you to everyone who entered!

This month we didn’t receive any entries and in full honesty, even my own kids wouldn’t have managed it either.
Between school assessments, a round or 5 of lergy (anyone else??) and the usual busyness of family life, it’s been pretty full on here.
And I can imagine the same for others.

This blog exists to make things easier for parents and guardians, not add more to the dreaded and ever growing to-do lists. The blog is still quite new, so thank you for coming along on the journey as it grows and develops.
It’s led to exciting ideas and projects (watch this space!) and people have offered so many kind words of support 🙏

🌈Your Words! will still of course be focused on children’s creativity.
Going forward, we’ll run writing competitions during the school holidays (starting with the Summer Holidays), but children are always welcome to send in their stories just for fun. It honestly makes my heart utterly FILLED TO THE BRIM with joy to see what incredible story telling talent the future holds!

I’ll also continue using this feature’s space for storytelling Top Tips from brilliant authors and illustrators. They have been truly inspirational and something I not only share with my own kids… but keep in my when I’m writing my own stories!

📝Author’s Top Tips!

This month, I’m BURSTING WITH EXCITEMENT to introduce this month’s Top Tips guru, Uju Asika.
Uju is a British-Nigerian author, multi-award-nominated Babes About Town🔗 blogger, speaker and creative consultant. And that’s not all! She’s a former journalist and has written for The Guardian, Time Out and Salon.com. Her poetry appears in select literary anthologies and also as a screen writer and script editor.
Uju’s books include adult reads Raising Boys Who Do Better (publisher: DK), Bringing Up Race (publisher: Yellow Kite) and her gorgeous, uplifting debut children’s book A World For Me And You (illustrator: Jennie Poh, Publisher: Wren & Rook).
This should truly be in every home and school. Imagine a world where everyone looks identical, all food tastes the same and we all speak the same language. DULL! This joyful picture book gives children the tools to imagine their world as a vast library with room on the shelves for everybody’s story. Just the thought of this brings happy tears to my eyes as I’m writing this blog. Yes it could be my age & hormones, but I think it’s more than that. In a world that recently seems topsy turvy on so many levels, a book of hope and joy that inspires future generations to be better is EXACTLY what we need.
Uju lives with her husband and two footie-mad boys.

And these are her top story creating tips…

Every writer needs a voice. But how do you find your own?
What is a “writer’s voice”? It’s the words you put on a page that sound like the words in your head (not what anyone thinks you’re “supposed” to have said). It’s how you joke with your friends, what makes you laugh or cry or snort, the way you say potato, whether you speak fast or slow. It’s the books you read and the stories you love and the songs that make you hum and how you sometimes talk just like your mum. In other words, it’s everything that makes you sound like YOU.

Your voice is important.
Don’t let anybody hush you when you have something to say. We all need other stories to make our worlds feel bigger. Your story can make all the difference to someone who reads it. Even the smallest voice can speak loudly on the page. So use your voice and if you have a story in you (everybody has a story in them), don’t forget to WRITE IT DOWN (or record it).

Imagine your story!
Writing stories uses IMAGINATION. Imagination comes from what you see, mostly in your mind’s eye. In fact, writing is like drawing or painting what you see, using letters instead of crayons or brushes. With just 26 letters of the alphabet, you can draw a whole universe. Isn’t that magical? What stories can you draw today?

Stuck for ideas?
Take your brain for a walk. Get outside and see what you can notice. Ask yourself, What If? You see a dog chasing a ball. What if the ball chased it back? Let your imagination run free, like a puppy without a leash. And remember, every good story has a twist in its tail.

A 5 word challenge
Think of a name, a bird, a piece of clothing, a flower, a favourite food. Now see if you can write a story using all 5 words. Try this as a challenge with a friend. See how differently your stories turn out? Even with the same ingredients, nobody can cook your story just like you.

Thank you Uju for your beautiful words and tips!

Next week keep your eyes peeled for our epic ⚔️BATTLE OF THE BOOKS! this time featuring author of The Cruise Ship Kid Emma Swan!