National Book Tokens and Puffin launch children's writing contest

National Book Tokens and Puffin have joined forces to launch a new writing competition for children across the UK and Ireland.

The Big Dreamers Writing Competition will be judged by Puffin authors Robin Stevens, Yassmin Abdel-Magied, Sam Copeland, Carrie Hope Fletcher, Emma Smith-Barton and Nathan Byron with thousands of pounds worth of National Book Tokens up for grabs.

To take part, children aged six to 18 need to write a 300-word short story on the subject of “Big Dreams”. They can interpret the theme however they like; an epic fantasy inspired by a dream, their favourite book, an amazing adventure that takes place in another world, or a true-to-life story set in an imaginary school.

The competition is open to children in three age categories of six to 10, 11 to14 and 15 to18.

National Book Tokens is offering a prize fund of £3,600, with each of the three categories receiving a grand prize of £200, two runners up will get £100 and 16 will receive a £50 token.

The deadline for entries is 28th May and winners will be announced on 14th June via Facebook Live during the final day of the Puffin Festival of Big Dreams. The winning stories will also be published on the National Book Tokens website.

Puffin's seven-day online festival launches on 8th June, celebrating 80 years of the publisher and will be hosted on its YouTube and Facebook Live channels. The festival will feature an all-star line up of authors, illustrators, and special guests who will be running writing masterclasses, draw-alongs and creative challenges.