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Stormzy to publish first children’s book, Superheroes – plus, win a chance to meet the man himself

Superheroes: Inspiring Stories of Secret Strength aims to challenge representation in children’s books. Find out more – and how you can win a chance to meet Stormzy.

A black and white photo of Stormzy's head and shoulders
Stormzy. Image: Getty

The first children’s book from Stormzy’s imprint #Merky Books is on its way – and in bombastic style.

Superheroes: Inspiring Stories of Secret Strength will be a comic strip-style book celebrating more than 50 iconic British figures, chosen by Stormzy and the #Merky Books team, with an intention of challenging the lack of representation in children’s publishing. Stormzy has also written an introduction for the book.

Only 7% of children’s books published in the UK between 2017 and 2019 features characters of colour. Superheroes Assistant Editor Tallulah Lyons says the team wanted to combat that by publishing a book that allowed “the younger generation to see themselves represented in a way that they may not have experienced before.”

“Superheroes is packed full of amazing modern day ‘superheroes’, all of whom have taken their unique talent, passion and skill and turned it into something extraordinary. I hope after reading this book, children everywhere are inspired and know that they can achieve whatever they set their mind to.”

Among the people featured in Superheroes are model Jourdan Dunn, writer-director Reggie Yates, former footballer Ian Wright, athlete Dina Asher-Smith, comedian Mo Gilligan, writer Candice Carty-Williams and scientist Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon. Poet and author Sophia Thakur has told the story of each superhero – and their superpower – and the illustrations have been done by Denzell Dankwah, a 21-year-old student who reached out to the #Merky Books team on Instagram.

Those who pre-order Superheroes through Bookshop.org will also be automatically entered into a prize draw to win the chance to meet Stormzy at an exclusive event at Madame Tussaud's London. Simply pre-order Superheroes between 26 July and 8 August via Bookshop.org.

PRIZE DRAW TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

1) By entering this prize draw, you agree to accept and be bound by these terms and conditions.  All entry instructions form part of the terms & conditions of this prize draw. 

2) This prize draw is open to anyone aged 18 or over who is a resident of the UK (excluding residents of Northern Ireland), except for employees of The Random House Group Limited (the Promotor), Bookshoppe Ltd (Bookshop.org), Merlin Entertainments Group (Merlin), any of their subsidiary companies, and any of the employees’ families of the cited companies and their subsidiary companies and any other company (and their employees’ families) connected with the prize draw.  

3) Upon pre-order of one or more copies of Superheroes by Sophia Thakur, Hardback edition, [ISBN 9781529118896] from https://uk.bookshop.org/ made between 26th July 2021 and 8th August 2021 you will be automatically entered into the prize draw, but you may choose to opt out of the prize draw by emailing us at on uk.support@bookshop.org.  The cost of each pre-ordered book is £15.79, and there are between £2.99 and £4.10 delivery costs associated with an order.

4) Entries may be submitted from 09:00 on 26th July 2021 (Opening Date) and must be received by 23:59 on 8 August 2021 GMT (Closing Date).

5) Only one entry per person is permitted, no matter how many copies of the book you pre-order. No entrant may win more than one prize.

6) Neither the Promotor nor Bookshop.org or Merlin accept any responsibility for entries not successfully completed for any reason including a technical interruption, fault or site failure occurring when pre-purchasing online.  Entries that are corrupted or which fail to be received by the Closing Date for any reason, will not be counted.  Automatically generated entries or entries via agents or third parties are invalid and shall not be counted. Promotor, Bookshop.org or Merlin take no responsibility for incomplete pre-purchases however caused and any incomplete pre-purchases will not be considered valid for entry into the prize draw.

7) All correctly submitted and completed entries will be entered into a prize draw which will take place on Monday 9th August 2021. The first 90 entries drawn at random by computer process will be the winners.

8) The prize is a ticket for each winner and a plus one to an exclusive Stormzy event taking place on Wednesday 11th August at 6.30pm at Madame Tussauds London, including the unveiling of the new Stormzy figure (the prize). The prize is supplied by the Promotor and Merlin and is non-transferrable and no cash alternative will be offered. The prize is a ticket and plus one for entry to the event only.  The prize does not include access to the entire Madame Tussauds London attraction, transport to the event, accommodation, food, drink, spending money or any other expenses. 

9) The winners will be notified by email on Monday 9th August 2021 to the email address registered with Bookshop.org. The winners must claim their prize by 09:00 Tuesday 10th August 2021. If the prize is unclaimed by this time, it will lapse and the Promoter reserves the right to offer the unclaimed prize to a substitute winner selected in accordance with these rules.

10) By entering this prize draw, all entrants consent to the use of their personal data by the Promoter, Bookshop.org for the purposes of running the prize draw as detailed in these terms and conditions.  Details on how the Promoter and Bookshop.org process the personal data of entrants can be found in their respective Privacy Policies: http://penguin.co.uk/company/about-us/notices/privacy-policy/full-privacy-policy.html; https://uk.bookshop.org/pages/privacy_notice 

11) Events may occur which render the awarding of the prize impossible due to reasons beyond the control of the Promoter and the Promoter may, at its absolute discretion, vary, amend, suspend or withdraw the prize with or without notice.  The promoter, Bookshop.org or Merlin has no liability whatsoever for the delivery of the prize.

12) In the event of unforeseen circumstances, or any change of circumstances relating to the Covid-19 pandemic assessed by the Promoter and Merlin  as adversely affecting fulfilment of the prize in any way, the Promoter and Merlin reserve the right (a) to extend the validity period for the prize; (b) to substitute alternative prizes as determined by the Promoter and Merlin  at its sole discretion; and (c) in exceptional circumstances to amend or foreclose the promotion without notice. No correspondence will be entered into. 

13) The prize winners and their guest(s) will be required to take a lateral flow COVID 19 test within 24 hours prior to the event on Wednesday 11th August 2021 and show proof of a negative test at the event.  Please note that if a Prize Winner and/or their plus one guest is unable to provide a negative test result, the prize is not transferrable, there will be no substitute alternative prize and no cash alternative will be offered.

14) The Promoter must either publish or make available information that indicates that a valid prize draw took place. To comply with this obligation the Promoter will send the surname of major prize winners and, if applicable copies of their winning entries, to anyone who makes a valid request for such information within one month after the Closing Date. If you object to any or all of your surname and winning entry being published or made available, please contact the Promoter by emailing merkybooks@penguinrandomhouse.co.uk. In such circumstances, the Promoter must still provide the information and winning entry to the Advertising Standards Authority on request.

15) The Promoter may disqualify any entrant whose entry does not comply with these terms and conditions (in Promoter’s sole opinion) or who, in Promoter’s sole determination, has acted in a manner that is fraudulent, dishonest or unjust to other entrants including, without limitation, tampering with the operation of the prize draw, manipulating, hacking, deceiving, using multiple accounts to submit multiple entries, cheating or by harassing or threatening other entrants or a representative of the Promoter, Bookshop.org or Merlin.

16) The Promoter’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into in relation to the prize draw.  

17) These terms and conditions are subject to English Law and the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

18) The Promoter’s contact details are: The Random House Group Limited, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SW1V 2SA.

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