Land Rover has teamed up with the creator of the ‘Landy and Friends’ children's books to launch a competition for young story tellers. The winning writer will have their own scene illustrated in the next Landy book by Lamond herself.
Author and illustrator Veronica Lamond has been creating her hugely popular stories about 'Landy' the Series I and 'Fender' the Defender (and the humans who share their adventures, Jack and Dan) since 2010. So far there are eight in the series, the seventh having been commissioned by Land Rover to commemorate the end of Defender production at Solihull in 2016.
If you know a young Land Rover fan with a creative mind, this could be the perfect opportunity to get them writing, especially in these months of prolonged lockdown. Teachers and schools are also being invited to take part, and Veronica Lamond has created some useful resources for teachers and parents, available for free on her website.
The competition launched today, World Book Day (March 4), and it runs for three weeks with a deadline of 11:59pm on Thursday 25 March.
Stories must be no more than 500 words long. Judging will be by Veronica Lamond herself, and split into two categories: ages 5-6 and ages 7-8.
Each of the two age groups will have one main winner, who will receive signed copies of the Landy and Friends books, plus an invitation to go off-road on a Land Rover Half Day Experience – in addition to the star prize of having their scene included in the next book. Each age group will also have two runners up, who will receive signed editions of the books.
Anthony Bradbury, Jaguar Land Rover UK Marketing Director, said: “At this tough time for children, parents and teachers, we’re hoping to inspire a brand new generation of creative writers. Veronica Lamond has perfectly brought Landy, a 1951 Land Rover Series I, to life with her books and we’re greatly looking forward to seeing the adventures Landy embarks upon in the minds of the nation’s children.”
Entries can be submitted via the competition website.
Writing tips for kids
Author Veronica Lamond has given a few tips to help kids create an effective story:
“You could find some pictures of Land Rovers doing interesting work, speak to a grown-up about something adventurous they have done in a Land Rover or just make up a story about something you’d like to see or do,” she says. “Plan the structure of your story: beginning, build-up and problem resolution and then get going. Have fun – we look forward to reading your story.”
Good luck to everyone who gets involved! Who knows – maybe this competition will start someone on a journey that results in them writing for LRO one day…
Landy and Friends writing competition in a nutshell
Maximum word count: 500
Deadline: 11:59pm Thursday 25 March
Age categories: 5-6 and 7-8
Entry submission: click here
