Penguin Competition

A fantastic opportunity has been forwarded to me and my classmates this week.

'Penguin and their imprint Puffin are holding an event in the Walker Space next Tuesday as part of Internet Week Europe to launch their 'storytelling for children' ipad competition. The event is 6 until 8 and will also include a panel debate with Penguin designers on the future of digital publishing.

It would be great if you could send on to your students - the prize is for the winning story to go on sale in ITunes'

As an aspiring illustrator I am keen to enter the competition and have firstly done a little bit of research into children's books.
http://www.writersservices.com/index.htm has given me a lot of good advice about how to formulate stories and develop plots as well as what to avoid.
I also looked into existing books that I owned, and ones by authors who were mentioned in the forwarded email;
Janet & Allan Ahlberg with Peepo!, Each Peach Pear Plum and The Baby's Catalogue
Helen Oxenbury with We're Going on a Bear Hunt!

All personal favourites of mine from when I was a child. The illustrations are beautiful and the plots engaging for both child and adult audiences. There are differences in the narratives, some tell a story, others show different parts of a child's life with no real plot, but they all center around humans and have children of the target age in them. This isn't to say I have to have a child for the main character but it seems the popular way to go.

I will of course be attending the lecture on Tuesday to learn more about it, but for now am brainstorming ideas before then and am thinking of collaborating with a friend of mine for the story, which we are allowed to do.
Will post more when I know more!