ONE GIANT LEAP FOR SOPHIE’S RABBIT

A Cheetingham schoolgirl has won the £1,000 first prize in a nationwide poetry contest.

Sophie Manning, of Blackheart Lane, beat thousands of other children with her entry in the competition, which was sponsored by Bluddengutz Sausages.

Eight–year–old Sophie, a Year 3 pupil at Cheetingham Primary, wowed the panel of judges with her piece entitled I Used To Have A Rabbit.

Said chief judge Phoebe Wallaby-Ridge: “The panel were unanimous in their decision to award the prize to Sophie. Her poem displays remarkably able handling of such poignant and personal subject matter.”

Asked what she would spend her winnings on, a jubilant Sophie replied: “I'm not sure – it hasn’t really sunk in yet.

“But I think I might use the money to take out a contract on my teacher.”

The Observer is proud to reproduce the winning poem in full.

I USED TO HAVE A RABBIT by Sophie Manning

I used to have a rabbit

His name was Mr. Buggs

I’d greet him every morning

With cuddles and with hugs

I used to have a rabbit

I loved him very much

We kept him in the garden

In a little wooden hutch

I used to have a rabbit

He was the special one

He was my very best friend

We used to have such fun

I used to have a rabbit

But one sunny day

Death came to call at our house

And took Mr. Buggs away

I used to have a rabbit

He was playing on the lawn

When a car veered off the road outside

Because its tyres were worn

I used to have a rabbit

So sad to tell you that

The car came crashing through the hedge

And squashed my bunny flat

I used to have a rabbit

But before his body could harden

Daddy dug a great, big hole

And buried him in the garden

I used to have a rabbit

Mummy says I mustn’t cry

Says he’s happy and he’s hopping

With Jesus in the sky