The Deepings Literary Festival asked entrants to give an imaginative twist to a nursery rhyme or tale.
The Three Little Pigs Go Camping Daniel Mulgrew Aged 9 So you all know the story of the Three Little Pigs, right? However, you don’t know what happened to them after they killed the wolf, do you? Did you ever wonder what they did? Did they really live happily ever after? Well here’s the story of what happened next.
Winner 9-15 group
After a while they got BOAR-ed of living in the same house with the same pigs day after day, night after night, with Brick Pig hogging the bed and eating all the food, so they decided to have an adventure and go on a camping holiday. The only problem was they had never been on a camping holiday before so they didn’t have anything to camp in. So Straw Pig ordered a tent and inflatable bed, Wood Pig hired a small basic campervan and Brick Pig bought an all singing all dancing Elder 840 caravan. They decided to stay at the Muddy Meadows campsite at Farmyard Fun Theme Park. Unfortunately, there was a huge, terrifying storm as they arrived, so they had to set up quickly. Straw Pig picked a pitch at the bottom of the hill, Wood Pig choose a pitch halfway up the hill and Brick Pig set up on an extra-large pitch at the top of the hill. In the middle of the night, Straw Pig woke up suddenly as he was soaked through. He looked outside and the rain was still lashing down. The raindrops were the size of huge meatballs bouncing off the ground and rolling downhill towards his tent. The tent was filling up fast with water. So he decided to make a run for it, but the water was too deep to walk in and he couldn’t swim, so he used his bed as a boat and paddled his way towards Wood Pig’s campervan shouting “HELP, HELP, LET ME IN, I’M NOT A WATERHOG!!”, “Quick come in then, I don’t want my campervan to be flooded too” replied Wood Pig. Straw Pig climbed in quickly and huddled under a blanket to get warm. The booming storm continued, thunder rumbled and lightning flashed, lighting up the sky. The pigs heard crackling above, then suddenly lighting struck the engine. It made a huge bang, sizzled and almost set the campervan on fire. The smoke coming from the
engine was creeping inside. “Let’s get out of here or we’ll be smoked!” shouted Straw Pig. So they dashed outside and ran as fast as they could to Brick Pig’s caravan shouting “HELP, HELP, LET US IN!” As they climbed in they said “Thanks”, you have saved our bacon, we could’ve been roast pork!” Brick Pig made them all steaming mugs of hot chocolate before they all fell fast asleep in Danel Mulgrew Brick Pigs huge bed, as cosy pigs in blankets. The next day the storm had cleared and they finished their holiday, all staying together in the caravan enjoying the site’s facilities and they camped happily ever after, well for a week at least!
Patron of Deepings Literary Festival and judge Elly Griffiths commented
• The Three Little Pigs go Camping by Daniel Mulgrew From the start of this story you know that you are in the hands of a confident storyteller with a very individual voice. I loved the humour and the wordplay, especially the pigs being ‘as cosy as pigs in blankets’ • The Ugly Puppy by Molly Lane I loved the compassion in this, especially the description of the girl meeting the puppy. • Jack and the Beanstalk by Emily Ramsay A stylish retelling of an old tale and a writer who is not afraid to be dark in places. 37
