A GIFTED schoolgirl from Durham has won a national writing competition for her modern-day take on Snow White.

The learning company, Pearson, encouraged children between the ages of 4 to16 to tear up the rule book and give their favourite fairy tale, fable or regional folk story a 21st Century twist.

Lilyella Smethurst, 11, who attends Witton Gilbert Primary School, near Durham, was chosen alongside 13 other fantastic stories written by children across the country, all of which have now been published.

The book, titled My Twist on a Tale Winning Stories was released on World Book Day. All the budding writers have received a copy of the book which is also available to download on Pearson’s website.

Lilyella’s story was an inventive take on Snow White. Following a car accident. which tragically took Snow White’s mum, Snow White uploaded a profile of her Dad on to the Singles app. With little interest, she added the word rich and her Dad suddenly became popular marrying one lady who moved in with just one possession, a mirror.

Lilyella said: “I felt very happy when I found out I had won. I chose to twist Snow White because I like the Disney film. I used my knowledge of the local area to change my tale and decided the queen would speak in slang from my village. I feel that if I write something good then I can make people happy.”

Over 3000 pupils and schools across the country entered the competition, with Lilyella’s Snow White Terrifically Twisted taking the top prize for the North East.

Katy Lewis, Head of English, Drama and Languages at Pearson said: “Lilyella should be extremely proud of the story she has written. Her imagination and writing skills in giving Snow White a twist was outstanding. It was an incredibly difficult decision choosing winners from the 3000+ stories we received, as they were all fascinating to read.

“It was important to us that all entries included a personal twist and reflected the personalities, locations, heritages, interests and experiences of the authors. It has been fantastic to see the world from the perspectives of learners today and incredibly interesting to be able to identify the issues and areas that matter most to them.”

“This competition goes to show that diversity, inclusion and belonging matter to children and young people across the country. They matter in the literature we consume and the books, poetry and plays we put in front of them as well as in the literary content they are empowered to create.”