HarperCollins and Act on CO
Dad: There was once a land where the weather was very very strange – There were awful heat-waves in some parts and in others, terrible storms and floods…
Some places could even disappear under the sea. And it was the children of the land who’d have to live with the horrible consequences…
The grown-ups realized they had to do something. They discovered that over 40% of the ‘CO
Dad: …no more tonight darling.
Girl: …is there a happy ending?
Well, what do you think? Is there? Write your short story or fairytale (between 100 and 3000 words) and copy and paste it into the submissions page which you'll find here...
The competition deadline is January 31st 2010.
For full Terms and Conditions, click here.
19 comments:
The grown-ups realized they had to do something. They discovered that over 40% of the ‘CO2’ was coming from ordinary everyday things like keeping houses warm and driving cars.
Dear oh dear.
I'm going to be horrid and suggest, given that preachy prose, no reader would actually get to the bit where the Girl asks, 'Is there a happy ending?'
I believe it's satire :p Er, if it's not it's as though When The Wind Blows never happened.
Interesting that one of my 10 predictions for hot topics in 2010 is post-environmentalism - a backlash with books focusing on people making the deceision to live for the here and now - probably with a major reissue of Epicurus in the pipeline. Oh sod it the opportunities for sarcasm are so great I really must be quiet. I shall just say what I said in the forum - hasty and unthought-out.
In Shoreditch Library, When the Wind Blows is classified for the under tens, I suppose because it's by the author of The Snowman, and the librarians don't read.
But Dan, it's about the aftermath of nuclear war, not climate change.
I know - I grew up with it :) I was referencing it because it was the book that showed you could address deeply serious, topical, disturbing topics in a very unpatronising, unflinching way that was accessible to adults and children alike
Yes...but WtWB is so depressing.
I wouldn't have wanted my daughter to read it when she was young, and I don't believe it was written with children in mind. It's an adult graphic novel, surely?
We were given it to read when we were at school when it first came out - a quick flick of the internet suggests what I thought - that was my last year of junior school - maybe that has coloured how I think of its intended readership. I agree it is incredibly depressing but it's beautifully handled and as pre-teen kids growing up in the 80s we DID read a LOT of stuff about nuclear war, and sat glued through Threads (we were shown that at school) and no one even considered whether the material was too adult - we were living in the shadow of the bomb, that's what we wanted to know about. I think a measure of how seriously society takes an issue is in inverse proportion to the extent it patronises its youngsters about it. In the early 80s we weer genuinely terrified of the bomb and of AIDS, and we talked about those two things with absolute openness and frankness - if we shield the vuilnerable from the harshest facts it suggests that we find the offence to their sensibilities more worrying than the threat - which sends the message - to me at least - that we don't really take the threat seriously.
Oh God, Threads, that cast a shadow over me. I wished I hadn't watched it. What is the good in being made to worry about something you can do nothing about?
At least re climate change I can ride a bike, not travel abroad, and turn off the heating. (And not over-eat, too, which most people in the western world seem wedded to. That has a huge environmental cost, as well as bad consequences for people's health and appearance.)
Now this is a challenge I can take up!
Story coming right up!
I suppose it's not impossible, but as someone who as a child was severely disturbed by feelings of undeserving, having waited, flinching, for my mother's attention while she volunteered to break bottles at a recycling center, having been made to clean up my mile-around rural block until my skin came off in sheets, and having come to, in the third grade, double the lines on the lined paper I used and write my language arts assignments extra-small, to use as few sheets as possible, and then to stop doing math homeworks altogether, as I could figure those things out any time I needed in the future, the idea of laying world problems on the narrow shoulders of children is troubling.
Speaking on darkness as a whole, and our children:
We're certainly raising our children differently today than we did 15-20 years ago.
I was born in '78, and reading dark literature and watching dark films were the norm. It was about hope existing amidst darkness, and prevailing in the end.
The NeverEnding Story, for instance. World is ending. A boy saves it by reading a book. The film "Where The Wild Things Are" released recently? Apparently droves of kids were crying during it, or just terrified.
We're raising generations of weaklings! God forbid we're attacked by aliens when they're grown-ups. We won't stand a chance!
To answer the question, I think it's very important to worry about a coming darkness. It gets you thinking about how you can prevent it, or it prepares you for the storm.
Ignorance is bliss, but raising a bunch of ignorant leaders won't do the planet much good.
Perhaps the story could be called "Climategate: The Biggest Scientific Hoax of all Time.
Not sure how I'd be able to explain to kids about 'cap and trade', 'a world government' and 'new world order' though.
Lol, I've just thought of something, why not give them 'Lord of the Rings'. The Wraiths would be the former States sucked dry by a carbon trade, mere puppets of the One Ring to rule them, and and the dark lord could be David Rothschild. I hear he already has a Jesus complex http://www.ukcolumn.org/2009/10/12/david-de-rothschild-jesus/
Not much of a short story though and children and people have such short attention spans. I blame tv and video games and the dumbing down of the people.
I have one for this that's under two pages. It's for kids. I'll upload it tomorrow. I'm too lazy today. It isn't serious of pound over the head.
I ahve a google acct on the desktop and I'm on the laptop so this is anon.
Strayer
i just have a silly question. are we supposed to start the story with the part where dad says "there once was ..."? i'm new here and want to make sure i do this one right.
love,
barbara/babylonia
I guess it would have to be a fairytale, wouldn't it?
This is a great idea. So many parents and children love stories with a message. If its done right then a beautiful heart-warming tale can be told. I've definitely entered and not a fairy in sight!! My youngest listened from start to finish and loved it...good enough for me!
ajk of Hobgoblet
As this is a highly complex subject, and a red-hot political topic, it's inappropriate for Harper/authonomy to host this contest at all.
Please keep politics - whether left, right, or other - out of literature and off this site.
The American book industry sinks lower and lower in the mire of goodthink and political correctness. And Harper/Collins is in lockstep with the tried and true method of putting over collectivism: use children as the Trojan Horse. What's the difference between this "fairy tale" ruse and how the Nazis brainwashed German school children? Or how Hamas brainwashes children to become anti-Jewish, anti-American jihadists? The Harper/Collins tactic here is even ludicrous, given that the whole "climate change nee global warming" bugaboo has been disinfected with reason.
I find the clip disappointing. Lustreless writing and very childish. Is this a competition for a children's book or a serious compendium of good literature dealing with this controversial issue in many ways. There's terrific scope for good "Sci-Fi" here. Think "Andromeda Strain" ... Crighton's classic chiller.
I personally loathe the "fairy tale" tag. How can you link a fairy tale to a serious issue?
Bottom line ... is competition for children's lit or for adult readers?
Is it right or wrong to ask people to write about climate change? Are they fairy tales or not? Is it a political isue or not?
I thought writing had no boundaries or restrictions.
If this raises awareness then great. Good job Harper Collins and well done to all of the people who have submitted articles.
We can't in my opinion be picky about how we tackle this issue.
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