CHRONICLE columnist Judith Heneghan has joined an array of famous authors by contributing to a new short story anthology for children, with all profits going to ChildLine.

The book, called WOW! 366, celebrates 2008's National Year of Reading, with more than 240 stories of 366 words each.

She joins four other authors from Hampshire, as well as Roald Dahl, Anne Fine, Tom Fletcher from McFly and Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Ms Heneghan, who is an author as well as a regular contributor to the Hampshire Chronicle's First Person section, said she jumped at the chance when she was approached by the book's publisher, Scholastic.

She said: "It seemed like such a great idea. It was a fun thing to do and a contained thing.

"I'm always setting these tasks for my students so I thought it would be interesting for me to try it."

The intention is that because each story takes about a minute to read, it will encourage young readers to explore different authors.

Ms Heneghan said: "The variety of stories is incredible. It seems like a very limiting concept, writing to a small word limit, but the range is huge.

"Authors like to have a contained task. There are usually no limits on you when you are writing a book so the opportunity to write something that is limited is quite refreshing really."

Ms Heneghan's story revolves around a boy who finds an old tin on a beach, and the mystery of what could be inside.

In contrast, Gordon Brown's 366 words encourage children to enjoy the anthology with a description of his own voyage of literary discovery as a 10-year-old.

Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan have provided the introduction to the anthology. In it they say: "It can be hard to find the time to read stories, with everything that has to be done in the day. WOW! 366 is the answer.

"The mini stories in this collection are great fun, but more importantly, they open doors and fire imaginations."

Profits from sales will be donated to ChildLine, the 24-hour helpline for children and young people.

Scholastic is also running a competition for young authors to enter their own 366-word story at www.scholastic.co.uk/nyr. The winner will receive 366 books and have their story published on the website.