Celebrating Storytelling! Welsh boy wins trip to FAO Schwarz
Last year we held the Barefoot Books Young Storyteller Competition in the UK in an effort to help children develop their communication, language and performance skills in a creative and fun way. We received hundreds of wonderful video entries from all across the UK and Ireland from children up to age 14, and six lucky finalists were invited to perform in our Bath office to win a trip to New York City.
After six inspiring performances, nine year old Tomos Turtle from Abersoch, Gwynnedd was chosen as the winner of the trip to world-famous toy store FAO Schwarz in Manhattan. In true storytelling tradition, he stood up and related the magical tale of Michael and the Fairies in front of a panel of authors, storytellers and around 60 guests at our Bath office. His efforts also won £1,000 worth of Barefoot Books for his Primary School.
2008 was the National Year of Reading, and so we thought this would be a great interactive way that we could support storytelling and the importance of literacy for children. We were overwhelmed by the positive response to the competition and hope to run a similar competition in the US soon!
Join us in congratulating Tomos on his achievement!