Story time with actress Tamzin Outhwaite & talented storytelling mums

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Published on Friday, 12 July 2013 11:09

Last Updated on 12 July 2013

Monica Costa

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Recently we met former Eastenders actress Tamzin Outhwaite at Vauxhall Farm for an exclusive interview which will be published in our next London Mums magazine. She met a group of London Mums and told the story written by a mum who won the Munch Time competition previously.

Check our this amazing and special story time only for us in this sweet video:

What’s more interesting is that mums are encouraged to write their own stories and submit them for their chance to win the top prize of £1,000 in the annual search for a budding children’s author.

Twickenham Mum Sara Christie’s story has been shortlisted for awards and she now calls on community support as public voting for children’s story-writing competition opens.

She has beaten hundreds of entries to be shortlisted as one of 10 regional finalists from across the country in this year’s Munch Time children’s story writing competition.

Her story ‘Munch and the Magic Tractor’ can be seen and voted for at www.munchtime.co.uk from 1st July 2013. The tale features Munch the Cow who enjoys some rather unusual adventures.

Sara, who is taking some time away from being a lawyer to care for, enjoy, and run after her two children – Alexander, 4 and Teddy, 20 months, decided to turn her hand to writing after the Munch Time competition caught her imagination.

She said “I’ve always been interested in stories and writing, and really enjoy story time with my boys, but I haven’t written anything since I was a child so I am really pleased and excited to be shortlisted. ”

The competition, by Munch Bunch® yogurts, is in its fifth year and is supported by the National Literacy Association. It aims to highlight and celebrate the importance of stories and creative time between young children and parents, and gives amateur writers the opportunity to shine. A previous Munch Time winning author has subsequently secured a publishing deal and established successful careers in writing. The winner won’t be the only one to win a cash prize, three runners up will also receive £500.

In a recent survey of parents with children under five, Munch Bunch found that more than a quarter of UK parents harbour ambitions to write a children’s story. It also revealed 8 out of 10 admit struggling to entertain their children, with over 70% citing running out of ideas, or feeing too tired or too stressed as reasons.

Munch Time judge and chair of the National Literacy Association, Ray Barker, says:

“Reading with your child is a beneficial and easy way to entertain and we want parents to help foster a love of stories with their children as early as possible. It’s been proved time and time again that children who are introduced to the joy of sharing books and stories at an early age will be at an advantage when they start school. Making reading fun is so important too and the great thing with Munch Time is that it allows parents to discover great new stories to read with their young children.”

Vote now for your favourite Munch Time entry and also receive an opportunity to win a prize at www.munchtime.co.uk. Voting will conclude at midnight on Thursday 1st August 2013 with the winning story unveiled shortly afterwards – watch this space for the announcement!

Fans of Munch Time can also be part of the story writing competition count down on Facebook.