Since they first opened in St Andrew’s Churchyard in Penrith, the owners of Wordsworth Bookshop and Coffee House have been keen to work with local schools to get children hooked on books. Proprietors Andrea and Jon have been impressed with how reading is taught in the schools and wanted to give the children an opportunity to showcase their talents. They organised a Halloween Festival Poetry Competition and they were delighted with the high standard of work produced.
 
North Lakes School entered several pupils from Year 3&4 groups, with Harvey R taking first prize of a £20 book voucher. Competition was fierce for the remaining places but Niall E and Katie M were joint second and won a £10 book voucher each.
 
Andrea called into school to present the children with their prizes at morning assembly and to tell them that their work was on display in the shop. She was rather surprised to find every child, along with teachers and assistants, dressed in their pyjamas and night-dresses as part of their fundraising for Children in Need Day! 
 
Below is a copy of the winning entry, a list poem entitled 

Ten Things In A Wizard's Pocket, by Harvey R (Y4)
 
A glitch of mean monsters
 
A jar of rotten pumpkins mixed with derelict skeltons
 
A pot of gold and rubies
 
A pixel of calamity
 
An asteroid the size of a skyscraper
 
A console magically come to life
 
An ancient stick, ready to walk the globe
 
A darkness from the sky, ready to be light
 
A flying dictionary, floating lightly in the library
 
A lightning strike as fierce as a slice from a warrior's spear