Chapter 1

The grey clouds glided peacefully across the setting sky revealing the golden glow of the sunset, silhouetting the town in the distance. Meanwhile in the houses below people were settling down in front of their fires.  Suddenly Josh caught sight of his watch glistening in the fading light.

“Quickly Grace we need to get home. Mum will have our tea ready!”

Adding the final touches to the snowmans’s face, Grace turned to Josh, “I can’t believe the last two hours have gone so quickly. At least our snowman is finished.”

Reluctantly, Grace grabbed her brother’s hand and the two children began their walk home. They had raced to the snow covered field after school with only one thing on their minds. Grace glanced longingly at their magnificent snowman standing proudly on the horizon and felt sad to be leaving him all alone. The crunching sound of their young footsteps filled the air as the children continued on their journey.

“What was that?” whispered Josh stopping dead in his tracks. A blanket of fear and panic swept over his face. Grace too became aware of an eerie sound hanging in the night sky. It sounded like sobbing. It surely couldn’t be the snowman?

Chapter 2

Josh and Grace decided to continue walking because the air had turned cold and they feared what their mum might say if they returned any later for their tea. The wind was whipping their faces, making their cheeks glow bright red and causing their eyes to stream uncontrollably.

Once again, a noise stopped them in their tracks. It was impossible, but the children were sure that the noise was coming from the snowman. It sounded like a harrowing howl echoing through the air swirling above them. As the snow began to fall, they decided that they could no longer resist the temptation so they turned around to investigate the mysterious noise. The snow was not a glistening snow but rather a thick cruel snow that fell heavily from the grey sky. They began to walk back towards the snowman in the shivering cold. The blizzard got worse and worse as they trudged through the snow covered field.

“I don’t think it’s such a good idea!” shouted Grace.

But Josh simply said, “We are going to see what that sound is,”

Grace vanished into the frozen snow. Josh fell to his knees and his face hit the snow. He tried to get up but the snow was too deep!

“Help!” he wailed. By that stage Grace was too far away to hear him. Josh pulled himself away from the grip of the snow but hit something icy and hard in front of him. Josh recognised the feeling on his hands and it sent a shiver down his spine.  “The snowman!” he shrieked.

 Chapter 3

 Josh stopped suddenly.  “What are you doing here?” he asked quietly. His legs were shaking like leaves spinning round in the wind.

“I’m your snowman and I’m ALIVE!!!” explained the icicle-fingered snowman shivering like a vibrating rattlesnake. Josh turned to run home to find Grace to tell her what was happening. He slipped.  The icy ground was as slippery as a shiny wet glass mirror that somebody has spilt water over. He ran as fast as he could. The snowman ran speeding after him. Josh ran faster. So did the snowman! He could hear him behind, his feet splodging in the sloshy snow, his panting breath like a lion chasing his prey. He felt the snowman’s cold breath shimmering on his neck.

What was he going to do? How could he get away?  Suddenly he tripped over a piece of sharp ice in the centre of the wet, icy path.

He called  “Help!”.  The snowman calmly picked him up. He wanted to show Josh that he wasn’t going to hurt him. Josh was making a funny noise…a rumbling sound.

“Please help me” he said. “I’m caught in a magical spell. I come from the Land of Giant Snowmen. An evil wizard with a snow white beard has been stalking us. When he saw you building your snowman he shrank me smaller and put me inside it by sending me through a portal in space. I can never be free on myown.”

The snowman cried sadly with drops of ice falling from his eyes.

“Will you help me get home? I miss my friends so much and they’ll be wondering where I’m gone!”

Suddenly a whirlwind of snow appeared in the middle of the bumpy, white field.

“Watch out” shouted the snowman in haunted voice. “It’s him!”

Chapter 4

“It’s the wizard!” yelled the snowman. Josh’s face went white with fear, as white as the snow that had been falling heavily all day. The wizard was like nothing Josh had ever seen. He had bony, twisted fingers and a pale ghostly face which sent shivers down Josh’s spine. His face was cruel and evil, with a sly clown-like smile plastered across it. As Josh looked at the wizard’s beard it seemed to be wriggling as if it was made of sickly green snakes.

The wizard looked up at Josh and hissed, “Give me that snowman! I am trying to capture all of the Giant Snowmen so that I can finally be the king of Giant Snowman Land”.

Just then, as quick as lightning, the wizard waved his magical wand at Josh and the snowman and began to chant a deathly spell.

“Ziggedy Zaggedy, Zoggedy, Zoom. Now prepare to meet your doom”.

Suddenly, a huge flash of light shot out of his wand but before it could hit them, Josh, who was feeling heroic, pulled a mirror out of his pocket and reflected the spell back at the cunning wizard.

“RUN!” screamed Josh “QUICK!” And they ran as fast as cheetahs through the crunchy, freezing snow.

“Where are we going?” asked Josh.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got a plan”, whispered the snowman as he smiled quietly. “In here” he muttered and his voice echoed through a dark, gloomy cave. Slowly, they crept in.

“What are we doing in here?” asked Josh.

“It’s the only safe place I could think of to show you this” said the snowman as he took off his tatty, battered hat and produced a glittering snow-globe, glowing eerily in the dark cave.

“I stole this from that cunning wizard earlier today” he said proudly.

“What on earth do we do with that? How can it possibly help us?” Josh replied breathlessly.

The snowman explained that the snow-globe was a magical object and would transport you anywhere you wanted to go.

“We need to go to where that ghastly wizard lives and stop him once and for all” the snowman said determinedly.

Josh and the snowman held hands and began shaking the magical snow-globe.

Chapter 5

“Go to the cruel wizard’s frozen castle!” the Snowman commanded.

In a flash they appeared at a gloomy, icy castle. As they looked at it they began to dread going inside but they knew they had no choice. “C-c-c-come on Josh, let’s g-g-g-g-go” the snowman stuttered nervously. “I know you’re scared but we have t-t-t-to.”

They crept silently towards the castle knowing that there was a chance they would never escape this forbidden place. When they eventually looked up they spotted long, sharp icicles dangling from the high ceiling and just at that moment they heard a huge booming voice calling “Who dares trespass in my lair?” A ghostly figure emerged from the creepy darkness; Josh screamed “It’s a ghost, help!” But the Snowman just walked calmly on as he was determined to stop the wizard once and for all.

Suddenly the wizard swept in and Josh felt an icy shiver run down his spine as the wizard began to chant a ghastly spell. Josh was sure that this was his end!

“Rusty, rusty something rusty. I order my spell to make you frosty!” Another yellow blinding flash of light shot speedily from the wizard’s wand but as before Josh cleverly whipped out his trusty mirror and the spell flew back into the wizard’s glaring, black eyes! It froze him immediately, but not all of him, his wand lay wriggling on the icy floor.

The snowman quickly grabbed the dangerous wand which nobody dared touch when in the evil grip of the wizard. Nervously, the snowman demanded

“Frosty spell, please make this wizard freeze for all his life so everyone can be cheerful again.”

The spell reached out and wrapped the wizard in a case of never melting ice. Josh felt exhausted, they had won and he couldn’t believe his eyes as the Snowman lifted him high into the vast sky in celebration! The Snowman turned to Josh and whispered “I could not have done it without you; the Snowmen owe you their lives in return!”

Josh felt so proud of himself but he could not help to begin to think of Grace and his home. The Snowman interrupted his thoughts, asking him “Come join us Josh, there will be the most amazing celebration in honour of you and your quick thinking!” Josh thought carefully as he gazed around the mesmerising ice world. The Snowman looked at Josh and realised that Josh had to go home. The kind Snowman gently clasped Josh’s trembling hand and he quietly said “Take Josh home,” as he shook the magic snow globe.

Josh landed on the soft snowy ground in his garden with a bump. In a hazy blur Josh could see the silhouette of the Snowman disappear. Excitedly, Josh raced inside and hugged his mother tightly and thought “Oh, such a day I have had!”

by Year 2 pupils from Collis, Sheen Mount, Trafalgar Infant, Stanley and Lowther primary schools

Once there was a spooky house that stood on its own in the middle of a sunflower field. It was easy to spot because you could see a light flashing from the window that was always open. Nobody lived there, but people that passed felt a shiver of fear when they looked at the house. Everybody wondered what had happened in that house and why the window was always open…

The farmer’s children were curious about why the light flashed from the window. Some evenings just before they turned off their light to go to sleep, Rebecca and Bob would stare at the mysterious light and imagine what could possibly be causing it to flash. More and more the two children thought about the house and the light. They DESPERATELY needed to find out about the house. One night, brother and sister crept down the stairs. Never having been out in the dark on their own before, they were feeling both scared and courageous at the same time. As Rebecca quietly opened the door, Bob signalled to Jasper the dog to follow them outside. They scampered along the path through the sunflower field until they reached the house. Rebecca stopped and started to approach the house cautiously. Suddenly Bob pointed.

‘A face!’ he cried. ‘A face, there at the window!’

Then, Bob and Rebecca realised that the face was not a scary monster, it was actually a young girl with long blond hair screaming for help.

“We need to help her,” shouted Rebecca.

“Let’s find a way in,” exclaimed Bob. So Bob and Rebecca rushed up to the large creaky door at the front of the house.

“It’s locked,” said Rebecca frantically. They tried banging on the door but nobody answered. “Let’s find another way in,” exclaimed Rebecca.

“WINDOWS!” said Bob with wide eyes. So the pair tried all the windows but none of them were opened.

“What are we going to do NOW?” cried Rebecca.

Then suddenly they heard Jasper the dog scratching and barking at something on the side of the house. They scurried over to see what Jasper was scratching at.

“It’s a small dusty door,” whispered Bob. So Rebecca and Bob both grabbed the door handle and pulled the dusty door open…

The door lead to a dark, gloomy corridor thick with hanging cobwebs.  A girl’s cries floated down a dusty staircase at the end of the corridor.  Rebecca, Bob and Jasper crept towards the sound.  At the top of the stairs, they saw the young girl, laid flat on the floor with her foot stuck between some flaky, rotten floorboards.  She wore a muddy, purple top and black riding boots and she was clutching a bright yellow torch.  She sobbed with relief when she saw them.

“Are you alright?” they asked.

“No, I think I’ve broken my leg!” she wailed.

“What’s your name and how did you get into this mess?” Rebecca comforted.

The girl explained.  She had been riding past the mysterious house when she noticed the open window and decided to investigate.  As she entered the seemingly deserted house, the door suddenly slammed shut behind her. Just then, from upstairs, she could hear crying and wailing so she tip-toed nervously upstairs into the filthy bedroom. Inside the girl found the torch. As the wailing got louder, the floorboards fell through, trapping her leg.

For two days she had flashed the torch through the window to try and get someone’s attention but no one had come.  At that moment, all three children heard the same crying and wailing sound drifting from the attic room above them…

Rebecca, Bob and Jasper decided to investigate the noise. They slowly tip-toed up the stairs towards the attic whilst the wailing got LOUDER and LOUDER! They opened the door but, again, the door slammed behind them. On the floor, in front of them, was an enormous egg with cracks all over it. Suddenly there was a flicker of light from inside and the children watched as the egg slowly cracked open!

Out crawled a small dinosaur with sharp teeth. It had hair all over its body and a small pair of wings. When it saw the little girl it stopped wailing. The children gasped in fear as it waddled towards them. Putting one wing behind its back, it bowed politely and asked, “Are you my family?”

“No, but you can come and live with us on our farm if you like!” chorused the children.

Suddenly the dinosaur flapped its wings and swooped up the chimney out of sight!

The children shivered and rushed to the open window only to see a tiny little dot high up in the sky.

Was it returning to its real home?

by pupils in Year 2 from Bishop Perrin, East Sheen, Stanley, Lowther and The Russell primary schools

Crowds gathered in the busy school field. It was a bright, sunny day and the fluffy, white clouds looked like cotton wool against the pastel blue sky. Excited chatter filled the air! Something COLOSSAL was about to happen …

The Great Balloon Race was about to begin. All the schools in Teddington had been asked to enter the race to raise money for the children in Syria. Nervously, two children were waiting next to a beautiful, rainbow coloured hot air balloon. They had both been chosen to represent Sacred Unicorn Primary School.

Ricky and Rosie were in Year Two. Ricky was a sensible, intelligent boy with hair as yellow as the sun and kind, sapphire blue eyes that sparkled in the sunlight. There was something extraordinary about Ricky… he could do MAGIC! Rosie (on the other hand) was a sneaky, crafty character. She loved to make mischief wherever she went! She had flame red hair, a cheeky glint in her turquoise eyes and a scattering of freckles on her nose. Perched on her shoulder was a little, tabby kitten called Ginger. Ginger (who was hiding timidly behind Rosie’s hair) was Rosie’s loyal companion and went everywhere with her. “It’s alright Ginger, we’ll be safe. I promise!” whispered Rosie reassuringly. The truth was Rosie didn’t know that for sure. Nobody did…

Suddenly, the first whistle blew. That was the signal for them to step into their balloons. Rosie’s tummy rumbled and her breathing began to get quicker. Ricky held on to Rosie’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Don’t be scared Rosie, look how beautiful the twinkling blue sky is,” whispered Ricky with a cheeky grin on his face…

The second whistle blew and the race began! A cheerful, loud noise filled the sky as the crowds beneath them roared for their school to win the race. They couldn’t waste another second and Ricky was so excited he started singing “Up, up and away we go”. The balloon jerked and started to rise slowly up into the air.

Rosie froze in fear and couldn’t keep hold of Ginger. She wasn’t helping Ricky to steer the balloon either and it was moving faster and higher up in the air. “Rosie, help me, I can’t manage it on my own,” ordered Ricky. Rosie couldn’t find the words to speak. She started shivering and shaking her head. Ginger started to purr as they passed some fluffy, candyfloss like clouds. Beneath them, everything seemed so out of reach.

Rosie began to feel a little calmer but just as she turned to pick Ginger up, she screamed because there was Ginger on the edge of the basket. “Ginger!” Rosie screeched but it was too late…Ginger had leapt out of the balloon. “Oh no,” wailed Rosie as tears dripped down her pale cheeks. “What are we going to do?” Ricky turned and looked at Rosie. “Don’t worry Rosie, I think I can help…”

As quick as a flash, he magicked up a basket, a rope and mini-air balloon. He attached the balloon to the basket, and cast another spell. Incredibly, it began to drop down to Ginger.

Below, the crowd looked up in amazement, thinking, “How on earth are they going to rescue Ginger?” A child and a teacher fainted because of the dangerous and terrible sight. The balloon race was turning into a nightmare.

Ricky screamed as loud as he could, “Get into the basket.” Ginger felt sick and scared, but managed to stab his claws into the basket and pulled himself in to it. Ginger was safe. Slowly the cat began to rise up and return to safety. The amazed crowds below began to cheer and clap.

But suddenly there was a loud bang and a clap of thunder. An incredibly rough storm descended from the sky and the balloon started to wobble. The rope slipped in Ricky’s hands and Ginger fell in to a very deep hole in the ground. Rosie and Ricky looked on in horror as their beloved cat disappeared. What could they do next to save him?

Ricky thought very quickly. He had to do something, however Rosie’s desperate sobs were not helping. Suddenly he remembered the broomstick spell from his secret spell book. “Abracadabra, turn this balloon into a broom. Alcazaam!” whispered Ricky secretly.

In a flash Ricky and Rosie were sitting on a very speedy broomstick. “What a good idea!” shouted Rosie followed by, “Don’t worry Ginger, we are coming!”

Ricky, who was an expert at broom driving, zoomed through the air and did a somersault in the air to the cheers of the crowd below. “Stop showing off Ricky, we have to rescue Ginger,” urged Rosie and as quick a flash Ricky pointed the broom in the direction of the hole.

As soon as they entered the dark spooky caves the sunlight disappeared. Ricky slowed the broom to get his bearing but unfortunately disturbed a bats’ nest, to Rosie’s horror. “We need a light Ricky. I don’t want that happening again,” exclaimed Rosie and straight away Ricky muttered some strange words and a lantern appeared on the front of the broom.

The cave was gigantic, they did not know where to start the search. The silence of the eerie caves was suddenly disturbed by a loud bang. Rickie looked around for a second. However this meant he could not see the huge boulder in front him. Boom! The broom crashed and fell. The next thing Rosie remembered was waking up with her head on something soft. Suddenly the soft patch wiggled and meowed. “Ginger” Rosie shouted with delight.

“I’ve the broom and it still works” exclaimed Ricky, “Come on, lets get out of here quick.” Rosie did not need to be asked twice and got on the broom as quick as a flash.

After a few short minutes the brave team emerged into the bright sunlight surrounding the school field. As soon as the worried crowd spotted them they cheered. Ricky, to celebrate, lit up the sky with fireworks from the back of the broom. He then flew gently to the landing spot and jumped off to further cheers.

Suddenly the Headteacher of Sacred Unicorn appeared through the crowd with a huge grin on his face. “Well done team. I think we can have a day off tomorrow to congratulate you.” When the rest of the pupils heard this they jumped for joy and lifted Ricky and Rosie onto their shoulders. Ricky smiled, looked at Rosie, and said “What an exciting day we have had.” With that, both them burst out laughing and continued enjoying being firmly back on the ground.

by Year 2 pupils from Collis, East Sheen, Stanley and St. Edmund’s primary schools

It was another grey and dull day in London. Enough rain was pouring down to fill the world’s oceans in one go. The Smiths were really excited. Due to the miserable rain? No, but because they were about to escape the horrible weather and jump on a plane to a much warmer and sunnier place…

There were four very different members of the Smith family. Mum was kind, Dad was extremely bossy, Lily was always sensible and Tom was a complete daydreamer.

Unfortunately, Heathrow airport was particularly busy that day. People were chatting loudly, suitcase wheels were squeaking across the floors. In fact, it was so noisy that you couldn’t even hear yourself think!

After what seemed like hours, they looked up impatiently at the black and yellow Departures Board for the hundredth time and realised that their short flight to Lyon would soon be taking off. Mum, Dad and Lily were so busy talking about the scrumptious pain au chocolats and practising their terrible French accent that they didn’t notice that someone had gone missing, until…

After letting out a piercing scream, Mum shrieked, “Tom! Where is my precious boy? Tom!” Dad and Lily frantically looked around to see a panicked expression on Mum’s face. They scanned the immediate area but Tom was nowhere to be seen! Fear overwhelmed them all and they were rooted to the spot. Where had he gone? By now Mum was sobbing and Dad was just about to contact the security people, when out of the corner of her eye, Lily spotted a boy wearing the same coloured clothes as Tom. He was climbing the steps of an aeroplane just outside the window of the departure lounge. This plane was not going to Lyon though, it was going to America!

Lily shouted hysterically, “There he is!” “He’s getting on the wrong plane!” Desperately they all ran to the departure gate screaming, “Stop, stop! That’s our boy and he’s on the wrong plane!”

The Smiths sprinted as quickly as they could, but by the time they got to the departure gate, it was too late. The plump security guard had closed the gate, and was gobbling up his last chocolate truffle. Mum came rushing up and demanded, “WHERE IS MY LITTLE BOY?!” But the security guard didn’t know. What were they going to do?!

Tom stared down at his i-pad as he shuffled up the stairs, pass the flight attendant and onto the plane. He was so close to unlocking the next level of his Angry Birds game, he couldn’t put it down! When he got onto the plane he walked to a window seat, sat in the cosy first class chair and looked out of the oval shaped window. It was dark outside, so all Tom could see was the shimmering runway lit by hundreds of tiny lights. As he gazed at the glow, he drifted soundly to sleep.

Tom was woken with a big bump and a ROAR as the plane wheels shrieked to a halt. He looked around quickly and soon realised he was all alone! Tom was terrified. He jumped out of his seat, and begged the nearest stewardess for help. “HELP! I’ve lost my Mum and Dad, please help me find them!”…

“Where did you last see them?” questioned the Stewardess.

“Well…erm…I last saw them at Heathrow Airport.”

Luckily, the plane was travelling back to England that night. The Pilot and the Stewardess agreed that Tom could stay on the plane until they were ready to leave.

Tom started to feel sad and lonely and missed his family. He missed his bossy Dad and his sensible sister, but most of all he missed his kind and caring Mum. He could really do with a big Mummy hug now.

The Stewardess saw that Tom was sad and took a Mars bar out of her pocket and gave it to Tom. The new passengers started to arrive on the plane. The Stewardess didn’t want to leave Tom on his own so she gave him a job to do. Tom was going to be the youngest Stewardess ever.

“Lily would love this job,” thought Tom.

On the flight Tom was very busy. He had to remind people to be careful, he had to give out the food and drinks to the passengers and he had to check everyone was wearing their seatbelt.

Soon they arrived in rainy England and Tom was excited to see his family again. As he walked off the plane, he saw them. Dad looked angry, Lily was excited and Mum was shocked to see him. Tom ran towards them and gave them all a big hug.

“This has been the best holiday ever!” He cheered as he waved goodbye to the helpful Stewardess and the Pilot.

by pupils in Year 2 from Collis, Sheen Mount, Stanley and St. Edmund’s primary schools