An adventure through Egypt with a talking duck and the story of a snail who loved to paint were just some of the stories which have been awarded prizes in this year’s DH Lawrence Prize children’s writing competition.

This year’s theme was Animals and there was a record number of entries from Broxtowe and beyond, as far flung as Thailand, Spain, and the USA.

The team of judges absolutely loved reading everyone’s work and had the difficult task of narrowing them down to just a few winners in four categories – age 4-7, age 8-11, age 12-16 and Best of Broxtowe.

The winners in the age 4-7 category were:

• The Mayor of the Borough of Broxtowe, Councillor Robert Bullock, reading a winning entry at the D.H. Lawrence Birthplace Museum.

placeholder image — • The Mayor of the Borough of Broxtowe, Councillor Robert Bullock, reading a winning entry at the D.H. Lawrence Birthplace Museum.

1st – Arthur, Adventure in Egypt, Manchester

2nd – Isabel, What I Saw, Nottinghamshire

3rd – Elsie, Nibbles and Dandelions, Nottinghamshire

Highly commended – Isobel, The Life Saving Octopus, Derbyshire

• Some of the winning children with (from left to right – back row) the Mayor of the Borough of Broxtowe Councillor Robert Bullock, the Mayor’s Consort, Angela Rigley – Eastwood and Brinsley Writers’ Group, Museum and Collections Officer Carolyn Melbourne, Mia Hagues – Youth Advisory Board of Nottingham City of Literature, the Mayor of Eastwood Councillor Ken Woodhead.

Highly commended – Lewis, Panda Defense, Nottinghamshire

The winners in the age 8-11 category were:

1st – Leen, My Little Paradise, Swansea

2nd – Ayse, Animals of the Forest, Broxtowe

3rd – Siddhan, untitled, Wokingham

Highly commended – Laurence, Rolo the Monkey, Nottinghamshire

The winners in the age 12-16 category were:

1st – Oluwatamilore, The Classroom Clock, Manchester

2nd – Annabel, I was Born With What They Came For, London

3rd – Akhil, The Fox That Watched Me, Texas USA

Highly commended – Madison, The Light We Couldn’t Keep, Washington USA

Highly commended – Rose, Animals, Colchester

The winners in the Best of Broxtowe category were:

1st – Saffron, Rubbish in the Park

2nd – Mia, Once Upon a Maximus

3rd – Alexa, A Different Type of Animal

Highly commended – George, Our Dog Hugo

Carolyn Melbourne, museum and collections officer at Eastwoo’s DH Lawrence Museum, said: “This is the third year that the museum has run this competition and it’s great to see the engagement grow.

"It’s now an established part of the museum’s offering and many schools use it as a tool to encourage their students’ creativity.

“The competition helps to educate young people about DH Lawrence – it takes themes that he wrote about and brings them to a new audience, showing how they are still relevant today.”

Coun Teresa Cullen (Brox All), portfolio holder for health and leisure at Broxtowe Council, added: “It’s wonderful to see so many entries to this year’s competition from children all across the globe.

“Having read through the winning submissions, it’s clear to see there is plenty of young literary talent in Broxtowe and beyond.”

The winning entries will be available to view in an online exhibition in September.