The fourth FABO Story competition will be judged by author Helen Vivienne Fletcher. Enter now!
Instructions
1. Read the story starter and continue the story.
2. Your story should be no more than 500 words (not including the story starter).
3. You have a week to write your story, so there’s no need to rush! Take your time and send us the best story you can write.
4. Send your story to us by 7pm Saturday April 25th (NZ time).
5. The winner of the competition will be announced on this website a few days after the competition closes.
6. Every week there will be a new competition and a children’s author will post a new story starter for you.
7. The competition is open to kids aged 13 and under.
8. The winner will receive a Puffin book of their choice* and their story published on the Penguin NZ website!
*book must be $25 or under, book must be in stock, book will be delivered post lockdown.
Helen Vivienne Fletcher’s Story Starter
Marco had never met anyone who had a whole library in their house before. Bookshelves, sure, maybe even a wall covered in books, but never a whole room. His uncle had just that, and it was a BIG room. The towering shelves stretched up, up, up in front of Marco, each containing hundreds, if not thousands of tomes. He spotted Alice in Wonderland on one shelf, The Wizard of Oz on another. He’d enjoyed those books, but today he wanted to read something new.
He wandered between the shelves, reading the spines. Something was calling to him, he could feel it. Like a little whispering voice, it was as if he could “hear” that the perfect story was in this room, just waiting for him.
Finally, he saw it. At the very top of one of the shelves, a single book seemed to stand out. The title, The Book of the Missing, was written in gold lettering, which caught the light. It was practically glowing! Marco knew he had to read it.
There was just one small problem. The book was near the ceiling, and that was at least three metres out of his reach.
“How on earth does Uncle Toby get books down?” he said aloud.
The books didn’t answer.
“Well,” said Marco, “there’s only one thing for it.”
He got a foot up onto the bottom shelf, and started to climb …
Fabo Story 
Hi, We have not received the results from the first FABO story. Have they been completed?
Cheers,
Megan
If you look at the ‘Latest Blog Posts’ section on the front page, you’ll see links to all the results.