B. Ware was in for a treat when she visited Bridgwater Library on 5th August and met young Oaklee. Not only had he already read one of her books from cover to cover in the run-up to her event, but he also took his story book along on the day to show her. And she was blown away by how talented he is at just six years old!
She fondly recalls Oaklee giggling in anticipation of what was to come whilst he read his story aloud… especially just before the part when Groot’s bum caught on fire!!! She wishes she could have spent more time with him on the day, as she’d have loved to have heard more of his story ideas. And she certainly plans to keep in touch with him going forwards, in the hope that he’ll send her any future stories he writes.
She has no doubt whatsoever that Oaklee will become a published author himself one day, and is thrilled to be able to share one of his stories on here.
The Moon Landing, which won Oaklee a BBC 500 Words certificate, is beautifully illustrated by Oaklee himself. It tells the tale of a green and blue spotted giraffe called Groot, whose mission was to go to the moon.
It started like a normal day… until Groot got into his rocket, pressed the wrong button, and landed on Pluto!
On Pluto, he found tap-dancing elephant who gave him some tap-dancing shoes so he could practise for a show. But despite the elephant showing Groot what to do, Groot found tap dancing very hard and was very bad at it. So, Groot went back to the rocket. But he pressed the wrong button again and landed on Mercury, where he met a sleepy frog playing a flute. And Groot became so sleepy…
When Groot returned to his rocket, he pressed the wrong button AGAIN and nearly crashed into the Rockaxy. But luckily, he managed to land on Mars instead. After everything that had gone on, he needed a rest. So, he sat down. But he got a hot bottom, so he blasted off to his rocket with his bum on fire!!!
Then he pressed the wrong button AGAIN, and landed on Uranus. He walked around the outside of the planet, on the ring. But it was like being on a balance beam. And it was very wobbly, as it wasn’t screwed in that much. Groot fell onto Saturn with a crash and saw a big potato mountain. He climbed up to the top where there were beans. Then he slid down the mountain, landing on Neptune. But once Groot found his rocket again, he pressed the wrong button and landed on Venus!
On Venus, there were monkeys in banana cars having a race. Groot tried not to get hurt by the banana cars. He stood on the side and cheered for the winner. Then he decided to join in. But there was a banner at the end which was too small for Groot to fit under, so he came last! Groot decided he didn’t like banana cars, so he went back to his rocket. But he pressed the wrong button… AGAIN… and landed on Jupiter.
There, he found pink aliens with big eyes and ten fingers on each hand. Their spaceship was broken, yet they wanted to go to the moon as well. So, they asked to go in Groot’s rocket. Groot agreed, and they worked together as a team to go to the moon. They all got into the rocket, and the aliens were so helpful. They pressed the RIGHT button, and the rocket finally landed on the moon!
At the moon, they found the Starverse. They were now astronauts. Groot was happy. He had found the moon. He said goodbye to the aliens and flew back to Earth in his rocket to see all his giraffe family and friends.
He told them what had happened on each planet. They didn’t want to go to space, but they thought Groot was very brave. They liked his story and were pleased he’d made it to the moon.
