VIDEO: Creative Sheffield school kids pick up their prizes after winning The Star's reading competition

In October we teamed up the Off The Shelf literary festival and former Childrens’ Laureate Michael Rosen for a competition as part of our campaign to get Sheffield reading more.

The competition challenged primary and secondary school pupils up to the age of 16 to submit videos of themselves performing a recital of their favourite poem or piece of prose by the writer.

And Year 4 pupils at Carterknowle Junior School in Millhouses took first place for their class recital of Alligator Problem.

Today they have now been presented with 30 books worth around £200 for their school from the kind people at Off The Shelf.

The video featured 28 youngsters on screen, while a total of 44 pupils worked on the project as a whole including behind the scenes work.

And the first to congratulate them was Michael Rosen himself.

He said: "I wholeheartedly support the Sheffield Star reading campaign. There were some lovely entries to this competition and I’d like to congratulate the winners, Carterknowle School, for a great rendition of Alligator Problem.

"Poetry comes alive when it is read aloud and it was super to see the whole class joining in the fun. Now the school can enjoy some fabulous books, won by Year 4, selected and donated by the Off The Shelf team."

Hannah Wood, head of Year 4 at Carterknowle Junior School, said: "The children really enjoyed making the video and are very happy to have won.

“It was a great chance for them to explore some of MR's poems and perhaps some of his lesser known works.

“They chose Alligator problem because they liked the joke at the end of it."

Pupil Heather Rea, aged eight, said: "I really enjoyed making the video. I love reading and read pretty quickly so I am really happy with the prizes because there is a lot to get through."

Nancy Fielder, editor of The Star, said: "Picking the winner was not an easy task for our judges but they made the right decision and I'm sure children at Carterknowle Junior will make good use of these wonderful books.

"We love reading at The Star and will continue working with groups across Sheffield to raise aspirations and get more young noses into books."

Maria de Souza, of the Off the Shelf committee, said: "We enjoyed all the entries and it’s great to see so many young people enjoying the poetry and prose.

"It was a hard choice as but the Carterknowle School entry was a super example of working together and we congratulate them.”

The runners-up were Ada McAuley, aged four, of Hunter's Bar Infants, who performed We're Going On A Bear Hunt and Edie Wilson, aged eight, of Westways Primary School in Crookes, for her performance of Hot Food.

They are both due to receive book vouchers worth £10.