Stories for Change Competition Winners
This year’s National Share–a–Story Month theme, “Changing the World, One Book at a Time”, celebrates the power of storytelling to inspire environmental awareness, hope, and action.
In February, Guppy Books and the Federation of Children’s Book Groups launched Stories for Change – a short story writing competition for children aged 7-12, inspired by the themes of NSSM 2025 and Maggie Blue and the Lost Child by Anna Goodall.
Anna Goodall herself kindly agreed to judge the entries andgive feedback to the shortlisted young writers. We are thrilled to announce the winner and runners up today.
You will be able to hear Anna reading the story on the website very soon.
Winner: ‘The Deep Blue’ by Cressida Wainwright, aged 9.
This is the story that stayed with me the most. A journey of self-discovery for a plastic bag. It’s a very unusual way of telling the story of human impact on the oceans. I also appreciated the detail of what happened to the sea creatures… it made an impact, on the plastic bag and on me. And the plastic bag’s acceptance at the end: that its role is to change and evolve into something new. This is what we should be thinking, too: we need to evolve and change to protect our planet. Well done, Cressida. Especially at only nine-years-old, I think this is a very imaginative and well-constructed piece of work with drama and pathos but also hope. Congratulations.
Shortlist (in no particular order):
‘The Old Garden Gate’ by EDH aged 11.
‘Anvita’s Dilemma’ by Prithvika Arun Prasad aged 11
‘A New Life’ by Ziatong (Abbie) Zhang aged 11
‘Fraper Paper’ by Josh Carr aged 11
‘The School Pond’ by Atlas Devrimoz aged 11.
Title: The Deep Blue
Author: Cressida Wainwright
Age: 9 years old
I was thrown in the air. I was kicked again and again, until I fell in. The water of the River Pang splashed all around me.
They shouted and laughed at me. “See you in the sea loser!” they cried.
I saw something in the distance and I asked myself what it was. It swam closer and I saw that it had something on top of its back like a blade.
“What are you?” I asked it.
“I’m a fish,” she said. “What are you?”
“I don’t know.”
The fish told me she was going to The Deep Blue. She told me all about the Deep Blue, with its coral reefs and golden sand. It sounded incredible. I decided I was going to go there too. But, as the fish swam off downstream, I realised that I was caught on a branch and couldn’t follow.
Later on, an older, larger and wiser fish came. This fish told me of all of its amazing journeys to the Deep Blue just like the first fish. But this fish also told sad and sickening tales. He once saw a fish with a plastic bag around its head and it was horribly injured. He had seen a turtle dead on the beach, its stomach full of plastic. And, another time, he saw a bird drown because it had a plastic ring caught around its wing.
Then he told me that plastic can change. Plastic can be “RECYCLED”. This transformation happens when it is picked up and put in a magical pot called a “RECYCLING BIN”. Then he told me the terrible truth.
I am this plastic.
I am a plastic bag.
The revolting realisation swirled inside me. If I go to the Deep Blue, I will cause this damage that the fish had just told me about. This harm. This death. This destruction.
Now I realise I must never go to the Deep blue. I must go to a recycling bin.
Later that day, some school kids came along.
“Come on! Let’s do a litter pick!” they said and I knew what I had to do.
I grabbed the branch and heaved myself up. Now they could see me! All I had to do was wait.They were coming. It was my turn. I was going to be recycled!
Suddenly, the branch snapped. I fell into the water and began to float away. There was no hope. I was never going to get picked up. I was never going to be recycled.
But what’s this? Someone was coming. They looked like fishes. They surrounded me and lifted me onto a rock.
“Look! A plastic bag! I’ve got it!” a child cried. I was dropped into a dark container. Was this it? Was this the recycling bin?
—————
The recycling centre roared and crunched all around me and I knew I was where I was meant to be. I closed my eyes and imagined what I could become in my new life.
