By Tate Papworth
Pupils at Mother of God Primary School in Ardeer have become published authors.
Author Emma Bowd worked with the pupils over a seven-week period to develop a story as part of a writer in residence program.
The end result is Super Astro Chicken and the Giant Red Tomato.
The story follows the adventure of Super Astro Chicken and her dreams of a life of adventure. When she sees a giant red tomato in the night sky, she becomes more determined than ever to head for outer space.
Ardoch Youth Foundation programs team leader Bess Norton said the program inspired creativity.
“This is a way to engage children in literacy,” she said. “We put a writer in the school for a seven-week period and they hold book-writing workshops with the grade 4 and 5 students.
“The writer helps the children identify story ideas, build characters, pen their stories, edit them, create illustrations and eventually put a story book together.”
Bowd spent five weeks developing the story with pupils before using the final two weeks to put the project together.
Ms Norton said the children were excited to see the finished product.
“At the end of the program, all the students receive a copy of the book, which is always a big thrill,” she said. “We’ll also look to put a few copies of it within Brimbank libraries.”
Details: ardoch.org.au
