BBC's 500 Words Short Story Competition returns with Francesca as a judge

The BBC has announced the return of its brilliant short story competition, 500 Words, which invites children aged 5 – 13 years to write a story.

In this the 8th year of the competition Honorary Judge Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall will be joined by Francesca Simon, Malorie Blackman, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Jacqueline Wilson and Charlie Higson.

The live final will take place at Hampton Court Palace Festival in June, where superstar celebrities will read the winning stories live on the radio. There will also be a ride around the grounds of the palace in the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car plus tea on the River Thames aboard Her Majesty the Queen’s rowbarge Gloriana. The winners in each category will also receive

Gold Winners – Chris Evans’ height in books (plus 500 books for their school)

Silver Winners – HRH The Duchess of Cornwall’s height in books

Bronze Winners – Their own height in books

Find out more about how to enter here

Entries close at 7pm on 22nd February 2018 – good luck!

Fabulous Francesca Facts

"Families are great sources of comedy because they are about people trapped together. Only the parents chose to be there and the rest of you are stuck with these people that you might not necessarily like"

"Nobody feels emotions like children and with Henry, the war is constant and total. Anyone who has lived in a family has these shared experiences - the car journey from hell, nits or vomiting"

"I’ve never met a child who doesn’t love hearing stories. It’s a good way of introducing them to books and it’s a great way of getting them to understand stories that they might not be able to read themselves"

"We all love stories, it all helps making sense of the world"

"Horrid Henry speaks to the impish, rebellious child in all of us"

"My first book was called Papa Forgot and was published in 1993"

"I’ve written over fifty books"

"My birthday is 23rd February"

"I’m a bit scared of the dark"

"My hobbies are reading, cooking and going to the theatre"

"My favourite author is Anthony Trollope"

"My most disliked food is beetroot"

"My favourite colour is aquamarine"

"My favourite food is scallops"