Children urged to dream up short stories

Icebergs, polar bears, and a stranded pedalo — it sounds more like the beginning of a Disney blockbuster than a children’s competition, but that’s where the crucial ingredient of imagination comes in.

As part of the eighth annual Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards, Specsavers is launching a nationwide short story competition for children aged 16 and under.

Stranded in the Arctic having pedalled their pedalo a little too enthusiastically, children will be asked to write a story about happens next to the hapless duo now surrounded by ice.