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When you get an idea you don't want to stop - meet the young authors

Julie McCulloughand
Claire Graham,BBC News NI
BBC A boy with dark hair is looking at the camera. He is wearing a blue sweatshirt with a red t-shirt underneath. There are children sitting at tables in the background.BBC
Eight-year-old Ishan is one of the P5 children taking part in the workshops

Writing a book that will appeal to children and entertain parents is a difficult challenge, but one that some primary school students have taken in their stride.

Pupils at schools across Northern Ireland have been trying their hand at being the next Julia Donaldson or Jeff Kinney thanks to a special programme run by Fighting Words NI.

The charity, which works with children from high-need schools to improve their creative writing skills, has joined forces with the Laureate na nÓg (Irish Children's Laureate) to encourage young people to pick up a book and read.

For eight-year-old Ishan, the writing process was a slower burn before inspiration struck.

"At first you don't want to write," he said.

"But when you get in there, you have lots of ideas that you want to write and when they say stop you're like, 'oh man I want to write a lot more'."

A young girl with light brown hair tied back from her face is smiling at the camera. She is wearing a blue sweatshirt with a red t-shirt underneath.
Nine-year-old Scarlett says she has enjoyed writing stories

Nine-year-old Scarlett is enjoying the challenge "because you get to draw the pictures and you get to draw the characters".

But, she says, "it's very complicated because you have to think of the ideas".

A woman with auburn coloured hair is smiling at the camera. She is wearing a green cardigan and a yellow coloured jacket.
Author Patricia Forde is the current Irish Children's Laureate

Laureate na nÓg Patricia Forde said the task is setting the children up for success in other areas of life.

Speaking to BBC News NI, she said people who are read to and pick up a book themselves "do better in school, better in life and, this is the killer, they are happier people."

However, books, she said, were facing an ever-growing competition from technology like to read in today's society is competition against technology, particularly computer, television or tablet screens.

"Parents make readers," she said.

"Reading to your child when they're going to bed at night. Teachers make readers. Taking time every day in school to say we're not going to do anything now, you're just going to listen to a story.

"We can compete – but we have to up our game."

A woman with long brown hair is smiling at the camera. She is wearing a flowery patterned top and is standing in front of a curtain.
Julie Annette has been teaching for 19 years and says the programme has been hugely beneficial to the pupils

Julie Annette, a primary 5 teacher at the school, said she had seen a big change in pupils' confidence as the Fighting Words writing programme had progressed.

"Part of the programme is to monitor four or five children specifically but it's a small class and I've been able to see a development with all of the children," she said.

She chose to monitor pupils who were reluctant readers and writers who have "struggled to find creativity and to find imagination" in the past.

"Their confidence and self esteem, their interest, and also just the fact that they're willing to write something and get up and share it with the rest of the class which they wouldn't have been beforehand."

A woman with shoulder length blonde hair and brown framed glasses is looking at the camera. She is wearing a checked blazer with a white top underneath. there are children at desks in the background.
Hilary Copeland, director of Fighting Words NI, says the aim of their project is to make writing fun

Fighting Words NI director Hilary Copeland said that by building a child's "confidence, creativity and communication skills" the charity was equipping them to go out into the world.

It is currently working with five primary schools in Belfast over a three year period.

"The schools might have quite a mix of pupils in the classroom - special educational needs, newcomer pupils and we have pupils who might struggle with reading or writing skills," said Copeland.

She says the main aim was to make writing fun and "spark joy".

Isabel and Dylan. Isabel has blonde hair in pigtails, wearing pink glasses and a pink Miss Chatterbox costume. Dylan is dressed as Ironman.
Isabel and Dylan dressed as Miss Chatterbox and Ironman

Pupils at Whiteabbey Primary School took part in the tradition of dressing up as their famous fictional characters.

Isabel, dressed as Miss Chatterbox, said she liked "funny books".

"I like when characters slip in puddles," she said.

Dylan liked "seeing funny things happening in the books".

Seth and Danan. Seth has ginger hair, wearing sunglasses and a black bomber jacket, holding a toy squirter gun. Danan has brown curly hair, wearing glasses with the right glass cracked, a navy check shirt and navy suspenders.
Seth and Danan dressed as Alex Rider and Piggy from Lord of the Flies

Seth dressed up as teenage spy Alex Rider and said what he likes about reading is you "can create anything in your head with the books".

Danan said he likes "books without pictures because you can imagine the story".

Millie and Joey. Millie has long dark hair, wearing a pink and purple striped top, pink and purple cat ears and face paint giving her a Cheshire cat smile. Joy has long dark hair, wearing a grey beanie hat with felt eyeballs on it. She is holding a Rainbow Fish book.
Millie and Joey dressed as the Cheshire Cat and Rainbow Fish

Millie said she still likes being read to, as well as reading by herself.

Joey said she has brought 53 books in for an in-school book swap.

A world of imagination in Moira

Four children in a classroom dressed in costume for World Book Day. Jack, who is tall and has short dark hair, is wearing a green jumper with a Minecraft logo. Mason is wearing a Willie Wonka outfit which consists of a bright purple jacket, a brown top hat and a gold bow tie. Izabella, who has long, dark hair, is wearing a red cape as Red Riding Hood. Scarlett has blonde hair and is wearing a pink snout, pink ears on a headband and a pink cardigan and skirt.
Jack, Mason, Izabella and Scarlett got into the spirit of World Book Day in Moira Primary School

Staff at Moira Primary School in County Down have been celebrating World Book Day for as long as they can remember and this year there was lots of colour and imagination on display.

Despite the wealth of children's books published in the past few years, it seems the classic stories remain very popular when it comes to dressing up.

Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood and Willie Wonka all put in an appearance in Mrs McIntyre's P2 class.

One pupil, Scarlett, came disguised as one of the Three Little Pigs, complete with a detachable pink snout.

Scarlett told BBC News NI she was definitely "the pig that lived in the brick house" - that's the one which outsmarted the big, bad wolf.

Murphy, a P2 schoolboy, poses for a photo with his teacher Mrs McIntyre, a woman with shoulder-length dark hair. Murphy has dark hair and is wearing a green t-shirt under a set of colourful, spotted fabric wings. He is hugging a stuffed toy caterpillar. His teacher is wearing a red cardigan and red and black ladybird wings. They are sitting in a bright classroom.
Murphy's caterpillar outfit, with hidden butterfly wings, impressed his P2 teacher Mrs McIntyre

Her classmate Murphy came to school dressed as the Very Hungry Caterpillar, a beloved bestseller first published in 1969.

He loves the book because of all the "flaps" or holes in the pages, which are designed to represent the caterpillar snacking its way through the storyline.

And just like his greedy hero, Murphy's costume allowed him to transform into a beautiful butterfly, with a set of hidden wings tucked into the back of his T-shirt.

Two young girls sitting down wearing World Book Day costumes. Rachel has long blonde hair and is wearing a purple unicorn headband, a light purple cardigan and she is holding a large white unicorn toy. Ava has long dark hair and is wearing a red cape and a red and and white dress.
Rachel became a unicorn for the day while while Ava's mum picked her Little Red Riding Hood costume

Some children were inspired by more modern fairy tales - Rachel's outfit was influenced by the Unicorn Magic series of children's books.

Staff at Moira Primary were also keen to stress they understood costume days could put extra pressure on parents.

For that reason, children were allowed to trade in their uniform for a sports kit for the day and are encouraged to bring in a book about their favourite sports star.

The school's literacy co-ordinator said World Book Day "creates excitement and a buzz every year" and helps children develop skills which are of lifelong importance.

Two schoolgirls in a classroom reading a book together, The younger child, Chloe, has long, dark hair and is wearing a pink t-shirt under a purple fleece. The older girl, Eliza, has long, fair hair tied in plaits. She is wearing a yellow cardigan and holding a blue book called Some Dogs Do..
Some of the P7 pupils like Eliza (right) were asked to read out loud to the P2 class in Moira Primary School for World Book Day

At a book reading at Shankill Road Library in Belfast, nine-year-old Lucas was dressed as a footballer.

"You can be different things... you can have different options. You can wear anything you want," he said.

Two boys - one with dark hair holding a purple book and another with light hair and glasses - he is holding a blue book that says Star Wars
Lucas and Logan were at Shankill Road Library for a book reading and crafts

Logan, 11 was wearing a Star Wars jumper, he said that on World Book Day that he believes he is the book he is meant to be.

"You don't have to have the costume, it's just the feeling that you're the one dressing up as the book and you should be what you want to be," he said.

What is World Book Day?

World Book Day is held annually on the first Thursday of March and is a worldwide celebration of books and reading.

Parents are often asked to dress their children up as book characters for school to help mark the occasion.

In recent years, some schools in Northern Ireland have encouraged families to decorate potatoes instead to help save on costs.