A LOCAL author has scooped a top writing prize.

Children’s author Chloe Daykin, from Hexham, won the Gandy’s Children’s Travel Book of the Year at the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards, beating five other hopefuls.

The awards were held at the London Transport Museum and winners were presented a globe of distinction.

Fire Girl, Forest Boy is Chloe’s third novel and is a wild environmental adventure, set in the Peruvian rainforest, aimed at eight to 12-year-olds.

Chloe said: “My books are all set in different countries and I work with a lot of kids whose families don’t have a lot of money and will probably never travel abroad.

“I feel that children’s literature is a brilliant way of transporting young people to places they don’t have the power or capacity to get to.”

Chloe’s debut, Fish Boy, won the Northern Writers Award and was published to huge critical acclaim.

And The Boy Who Hit Play won the Julia Darling Travel Award.

“Whatever happens in the future and however we travel, I hope children keep being transported through literature and finding the magic around them whenever and wherever they can”, she added.

Fire Girl, Forest Boy was selected by Waterstones as their ‘word of mouth sensation you just have to read’ and was displayed in their flagship store, in Piccadilly, London.

Chloe is currently working on her forth book, which is set in Venice.