Favourite book comes to life in showhome for World Book Day
As children all over the country celebrate World Book Day (6th March) this year, one local 9 year old, Lottie Betts has had her favourite book – The Velveteen Rabbit - brought to life and was invited to officially launch Bloor Homes’ new showhomes featuring her winning design, alongside Cllr Mark Cherry, Mayor of Banbury.
The Y4 student at Orchard Fields Community School won the developer’s competition to turn her book-themed bedroom design into a new showhome bedroom on the final phase of the developer’s Banbury Rise development. First prize was a £50 Waterstones voucher.
The competition was run by the showhome interior designer for Banbury Rise, Carrie Edwards at Chapter 9 Designs. Carrie visited Orchard Fields Community School in October to provide the students with a brief with the aim of turning the winning design into a real bedroom in time for World Book Day.
The Velveteen Rabbit, written by Margery Williams in 1922, is a lovely story about a stuffed rabbit toy who longs to become ‘real’. He forms a deep bond with his boy owner and learns from the old and wise horse in the nursery that toys can become real through being truly loved by a child. After the boy falls ill with scarlet fever, the rabbit is destined to be burned along with other contaminated toys, but because of the genuine love he has experienced, a fairy appears and transforms him into a real, living rabbit.
Lottie said: “It was a lot of fun designing the bedroom and has been my favourite school project, I was very pleased to win the competition. The Velveteen Rabbit is one of my favourite books and I thought it would look nice as a bedroom. I really liked walking around the new bedroom that I designed!”
Carrie Edwards said: “Our school competition challenge was for the pupils to design their perfect bedroom based on their favourite Book. The children came up with some fantastic ideas, but Lottie’s beautiful design of the ‘Velveteen Rabbit room’ really stood out as the winner.
“Our team’s interpretation of it was to install a pale blue carpet and hand painted woodland mural around the walls. The fun bunkbed maximises the sleeping space whilst the wardrobe and table / chairs give options for storage and play. Artwork around the room is taken from the book itself.”
There were two runners up - second place went to Ellis Smith for his ‘Elmer the Elephant’ entry – he received a £30 Waterstones voucher, and third place went to Henry Truelove for ‘The Kitten Nobody Wanted – he received a £20 Waterstones voucher.
Steve Garton, Sales Director for Bloor Homes Western region, said: “The students and school really embraced the idea; we had 45 wonderful entries which made judging them very difficult. It was great to see how books continue to inspire the imagination – well done Lottie, Ellis and Henry on such fabulous designs.”
Bloor Homes’ final phase of its popular Banbury Rise development is bringing 194 energy-efficient two, three and four-bedroom homes to the area. Nineteen properties across the development are eligible for the First Homes Scheme that enables first time buyers to purchase a quality new home with a discount of at least 30 percent, subject to eligibility criteria.
The new three-bedroom Wixham showhome and four-bedroom Harwood showhome featuring Lottie’s designed bedroom, are located off Stratford Road, Banbury and are open daily from 10am to 5pm. For more information, visit bloorhomes.com