Writer in Residence Tom Percival announces his drawing competition

Name: William Joseph
Price range: $

15 June 2026

Send in your drawings of characters expressing emotions to win a book bundle and art supplies.

Tom Percival is an author, illustrator, and BookTrust’s current Writer in Residence

Hello! I have a question for you. Well, I have two.

Firstly… do you have feelings? Secondly, do you like to WIN things?

If you answered yes to both of those things, then this is YOUR lucky day because that means you are QUALIFIED to enter the Tom Percival BookTrust Writer in Residence COMPETITION where you could win a bundle of my books and some art supplies!

It’s very simple… You just need to draw a character displaying an emotion and then write what that emotion is.

How to draw expressions

But what if you can’t draw a character? Don’t you worry about that… I will teach you. It’s so EASY I could even teach a dog to do it.

Okay, maybe not…

But I can definitely teach YOU how to do it though!

If you like you can come up with a reason for your character to feel the way they’re feeling. You could even write a short story about them, if you like.

We’ll be offering three prizes: one for Reception, one for Key Stage 1, and one for Key Stage 2. So everyone’s in with a chance!

Good luck and happy drawing!

How to enter

You can win a bundle of Tom’s books and some art supplies!

To enter, send your entry to [email protected] by 11pm on Friday 31 July 2026. Please include your child or class’s year group, as there are three prizes – one for Reception, one for Key Stage 1 and one for Key Stage 2.

If you’re sending documents, please include these as attachments to the email rather than using file sharing services such as WeTransfer, as these links can expire.

Terms and conditions

Entrants entering on behalf of a child must be at least 18 years old.
To enter the competition, you must be a resident of England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
The competition is not open to employees (or members of their immediate families) of BookTrust.
Only one entry per person.
Entries must be submitted by 11pm on Friday 31 July 2026.
There will be three winners selected by a judging panel including Tom Percival and BookTrust staff (from all eligible entries).
If a chosen winner does not respond to correspondence within one week, a new winner will be selected.
Our decision will be final, and no correspondence will be entered into.
The prize will not be transferable to another person.
No part of the prize is exchangeable for cash or any other prize.
The prize is run by BookTrust of No. 1 Aire Street, Leeds, LS1 4PR.
By entering you are agreeing to the terms and conditions in our privacy statement.
BookTrust reserves the right to amend the competition end date at any time.

Writer in Residence

Find out more about our Writer in Residence Tom Percival and stay up to date with everything he’s getting up to during his time in the role.

Take a look