Prime Minister, Gordon Brown has contributed to WOW! 366, a new short story anthology from Scholastic Children’s Books. He joins an array of famous authors, including Roald Dahl, Charlie Higson, Anne Fine, Raymond Briggs, Nina Bawden, Roddy Doyle, Jeremy Strong, Terry Jones, Michael Morpurgo – and even Tom Fletcher from McFly.
Celebrating the 2008 National Year of Reading, WOW! 366 showcases more than 240 mini stories, each told in just 366 words.
The Prime Minister encourages children to enjoy the anthology with a description of his own voyage of literary discovery as a 10 year old.
Read a sample story right now!
From rising stars and debut writers, to today’s top authors and prize-winners, there is a huge range of storytelling talent on offer throughout the collection. And with each speedy story taking about a minute to read, it’s a great way for young readers to easily discover new authors. Recommendations from the author follow each of their stories, suggesting where eager readers might like to explore next.
Primarily aimed at 5-11 year olds, this sparkling selection of bite-size reads is perfect for parents to share with their children at any time of day, and is ideal for tentative readers of any age – or those who don’t have the time to read – to branch out on their own.
Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan have provided an introduction to the anthology. They say, “This year we were delighted to extend the Richard and Judy Book Club to include kids’ books for the first time… We deliberately chose entertaining books to make getting to grips with reading fun. Enjoyment has to be where it all starts. But we also know that it can be hard to find the time to read stories, with everything that has to be done in a day. WOW! 366 is the answer. The mini stories in this collection are great fun, but more importantly, they open doors, and fire imaginations… Happy reading!”
Profits from sales of WOW! 366 will be donated to ChildLine, the UK’s and Ireland’s free, confidential 24-hour helplines for children and young people, provided by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.
Scholastic is also running a competition alongside the publication of WOW! 366, inviting all budding young authors to enter their own 366 word story at www.scholastic.co.uk/nyr. The winning author will receive 366 books to add to their personal library. The closing date is 31st December 2008.
Paperback ISBN: 9781407107981