”The Belsize Community Library is at the heart of our community and I am grateful for all the wonderful work they do to encourage all of us to be creative and have fun.
They are looking for budding young artists to create a new mascot for the library and I am proud to support this competition.”
Tulip Siddiq
MP for Hampstead and Kilburn
The Runaway Peacock Art Competition
get to know more about...
The Competition
The Runaway Peacock Art Competition is for nursery and primary school children in Camden. The theme is 'The Runaway Peacock', inspired by a female peacock who escaped from ZSL London Zoo and was recaptured in Belsize Park, a year later.....
Artwork should be submitted by 9 June 2023 to the library to belsizecommunitylibrary@gmail.com
The Runaway Peacock-Picture and Story
Once upon a beautiful day, a Peacock decided to leave London Zoo in search of a story at the Pleasure Gardens in Belsize Park. The Peacock heard that the Gardens were a magical place full of wonder and stories, and she wanted to experience it for herself.....
The Runaway Peacock - Peacock Facts
Peacock, also called peafowl, are large, colourful pheasants (typically blue and green) known for their iridescent tails. There are three species of peafowl: the blue, or Indian, peacock of India and Sri Lanka, the green, or Javanese, peacock, found from Myanmar (Burma) to Java and the Congo peacock. ...
About the competition
The Runaway Peacock Art Competition
The theme of the competition is "The Runaway Peacock", inspired by a female peacock who escaped from London Zoo and was recaptured in Belsize Park, a year later. We would like to think that she visited Belsize Community Library and have written a story about her favourite pastime – honking in the library and listening to stories read by Lucy the librarian.
After reading the story we would like you to design your own library Peacock mascot.
Some prompts for your artwork:
- What was the Peacock’s name? What did she look like?
- How often did the Peacock visit the library?
- How many books did Lucy read to her?
- What book do you think Lucy gave the Zookeeper to read to the Peacock? What was her favourite book?
- What did her friends Zigzag Zebra and Itty-Bitty Hippo look like?
About the competition
Q & A
Q: Who is eligible to submit artwork?
- Nurseries and primary school children in the borough of Camden.
Q: What is the time line?
- Children will have 6 weeks to enter projects into the contest. The contest starts on 24th April and ends 2nd June. Artwork submissions are due by 9th June. The winners will be announced at the celebratory ball on the 21st June.
Q: How to submit the Artwork?
- Artwork should be submitted by 9th June to the library. We can accept scanned images or can arrange collection of the artwork before the end date. Scanned images should be emailed to: belsizecommunitylibrary@gmail.com. Please include The Runaway Peacock in the subject of the email.
Q: What contents need to be included in the artwork?
- Content that needs to be included in the artwork is your own interpretation of The Runaway Peacock – that will become our Library mascot!
- Name of our Library: Belsize Community Library (Please help your student write this if need be)
- On the back of the artwork: name of school/nursery, name of participant, age, date
About the competition
Q & A
Q: What we are looking for?
- Artwork must be the original work of the student. Submitted work may not be traced from another piece of art
- All entries must be FLAT. No 3-D pieces accepted
- Entries must be A4 210 x 297 mm
- Entries larger than A4 210 x 297 mm will not be considered for judging
- Number of submissions – one per artist
- The finalists will need to grant the library full rights to use the artwork for promotional materials
About the competition
the prizeS
- Belsize Community Library will exhibit all submitted artwork and give the participants the opportunity to visit the library and admire their creations over the summer!
- We will select 5 of the mascots to be displayed locally
- The library will host a ball for a chance to celebrate all participants achievements with special guests and activities such as designing your own badge and bookmarks
- £20 Book vouchers for the 5 chosen finalists
- The 5 chosen finalists will be entered into the ‘Explorers for extinction – sketch for survival’ international art competition!
by lucy telfer, library manager
listening to the story
The Runaway Peacock Art Competition is for nursery and primary school children in Camden. The theme is 'The Runaway Peacock', inspired by a female peacock who escaped from ZSL London Zoo and was recaptured in Belsize Park, a year later.
We would like to think that she visited Belsize Community Library and have written a story about her favourite pastime – honking in the library and listening to stories read by Lucy the librarian (click PLAY icon).
After listening to the story, we would like you to design your own library peacock mascot.
Artwork should be submitted by 9 June 2023 to the library, which can accept scanned images or arrange collection of the artwork before the end date. Please send any scanned images or any questions you may have about the competition to belsizecommunitylibrary@gmail.com
The Runaway Peacock - THE Picture
the peacock
The Runaway Peacock- THE Story
Once upon a beautiful day, a Peacock decided to leave London Zoo in search of a story at the Pleasure Gardens in Belsize Park. The Peacock heard that the Gardens were a magical place full of wonder and stories, and she wanted to experience it for herself.
As she wandered through the city, the Peacock saw many different sights and sounds, from busy streets with zooming cars to quiet neighbourhoods with sleepy homes. Eventually, she met a lady who was also looking for directions to Belsize Park underground station. Excitedly, the Peacock followed the lady to the station but was disappointed to find out that the Pleasure Gardens no longer existed!
Feeling lost and sad, the Peacock kept walking until she stumbled upon a rounded building with tall, elegant
windows. Peeking inside, she saw a huge room filled with shelves overflowing with books. Curious, the Peacock ran inside. She stretched her long, slender neck out and honked, “HONK!” - that’s what peacocks say when they are excited. The loud noise startled Lucy, the friendly librarian.
The Runaway Peacock- THE Story
Lucy explained to the Peacock that the famous Pleasure Gardens closed long-long ago. But the library had many books with daring adventures and brave heroes. She smiled at the Peacock and offered her a seat and a book. But alas, the Peacock couldn’t read. Sitting down with the Peacock, Lucy read her a story.
From that day on, the Peacock visited the library many-many times and Lucy was always there to read to her and became her dear friend.
One day, while the Peacock was listening to a story, the Zookeeper and a policeman arrived to take her back to London Zoo. They told her that her neighbours, Zigzag Zebra and Itty-Bitty Hippo, were missing her terribly. The Peacock was sad to leave her friend Lucy and the magical world of books, but Lucy made a deal with the Zookeeper. She asked him to read stories to the Peacock every day, just like she did.
The Zookeeper agreed and the Peacock went back to see her friends, feeling happy and loved.
From that day on, the Peacock would listen to stories from the Zookeeper every day. And even though she missed her friend Lucy, she knew that she had found a someone who loved stories just as much as she did.
Peacock, also called peafowl, are large, colourful pheasants (typically blue and green) known for their iridescent tails. There are three species of peafowl: the blue, or Indian, peacock of India and Sri Lanka, the green, or Javanese, peacock, found from Myanmar (Burma) to Java and the Congo peacock. The males of both species are called peacocks, females are peahens, and the babies are peachicks.
The CONGO peacock
THE PEACOCK FACT SHEET
The Blue peacock
The GREEN peacock
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List classifies the blue peacock as a species of least concern. However, the green peacock is classified by the IUCN as an endangered species. The IUCN has classified the Congo peacock as a vulnerable species.
Facts about Peacock:
- Peafowl can fly
- Only the male birds are actually “peacocks”
- Female peacocks are called Peahen
- Together, they produce peachicks, or baby peafowl
- Peacocks are national bird of India
- Peacocks shed their feathers after mating season is over
- They stay in groups
- They have remarkable lifetime - between 10 and 25 years in the wild and up to 50 years in captivity
Belsize Community Library 2023