The Wrong Shoes by Tom Percival was voted winner of the 2025 book award by pupils in Tower Hamlets
It was a very close-run award this year, with just 6 votes between The Wrong Shoes by Tom Percival and the very popular Mallory Vayle and the Curse of Maggoty Skull by Martin Howard. The Boy Who Cried Ghost by Ian Eagleton came third.
Over 350 pupils and teachers came to the finale at Genesis Cinema to meet Tom Percival, Ian Eagleton, Dev Kothari, J.P. Rose and Gita Ralleigh, with plenty of queues for book signing!
Woolmore School won the trophy for best performance, with their dramatic presentation of Bringing Back Kay-Kay. Meanwhile William Davis School took the trophy for winning the award’s quiz.
We’re now planning the 2026 Book Award – please email all feedback to Monica.Carmichael@towerhamlets.gov.uk
From left : Tom receiving his award, Dev Kothari with some of Woolmore’s props from their performance, authors busily signing and answering questions!
About the Book Award
The annual Tower Hamlets Book Award is just one of the exciting events made possible through subscriptions to the Tower Hamlets Schools Library Services.
The Book Award is for pupils aged 10 to 13 (Years 5 to 8). The aim is to encourage children to read, to bring children together to enable debate and discussion about books and to encourage children to share the pleasure of reading.
You can shadow the Book Award in small or not-so-small groups.
The shortlist!
Canary Wharf Group have kindly supported the 2025 award by funding a free set of the shortlist for all subscribing schools.
Buy additional sets
Additional sets can be ordered for £40 including protective jackets. Please email monica.carmichael@towerhamlets.gov.uk stating the number of additional sets that you’d like to buy. These will be delivered in September, subject to availability.
The books
The Wrong Shoes by Tom Percival : Exploring themes of empathy and child poverty.
Will has the wrong shoes – he’s always known it but doesn’t know how to change it. Navigating the difficulties of home and school when you feel you stick out is tough, but finding confidence with the help and empathy of friends can be all you need to see the way.
The Destiny of Minou Moonshine by Gita Ralleigh : A fantasy adventure set in an alternate history India, exploring some themes of colonialism.
Armed with a secret and a map, Minou sets off with her friends and a mechanical elephant, through the lush jungles of Indica, in search of a queen, a goddess and her destiny.
The boy who cried ghost by Ian Eagleton : Exploring themes of mental health and overcoming fear
Every day he carries out a series of rituals that he believes will keep the ghost trapped inside. He tries to tell his friends and family, but they dismiss his worries and concerns as being part of his OCD.
Mallory Vayle and the Curse of Maggoty Skull by Martin Howard : Exploring themes of loss (in a very funny way)
The ghosts of her parents are cruelly snatched away by the shadow of the grimmest, wickedest necromancer in all of history. To get them back, Mallory will have to learn how to use the talents she hates Her teacher? A talking skull called Maggoty, who wants some favours in return for his help…
Bringing back Kay-Kay by Dev Kothari : A mystery/ adventure set in a vibrantly-realised contemporary India
When Lena’s beloved older brother goes missing at the end of summer camp, the bottom drops out of Lena’s world. The police dismiss Kay-Kay’s disappearance as that of just another teenage runaway, but Lena knows they are wrong. Tired of not being listened to, powerless to reach her parents through their grief and unable to imagine a future without her brother in it, Lena sets off to find him.
Birdie by J.P. Rose : Exploring themes of family, racism and identity
Birdie Bagshaw has never known her parents. Having grown up in a children’s home for mixed race children in 1950s Leeds, now she has come to live with her great-aunt in the Yorkshire Dales. From her arrival, Birdie is treated like an outsider by the local children. When their bullying drives Birdie to hide in the nearby coal mine, she finds an unexpected rescuer in the form of Mr Duke, the last remaining pit pony in the village.
Every year we run an art competition based on the shortlist books.
Pupils are challenged to create an artistic response of their choice to any of the 6 Book Award books.
Previous competition entries have included…
Drawings/ paintings of scenes from the books
Poems inspired by the stories
Alternative endings/ scenes
Comic strips based on the books
Character portraits
Book cover designs
Bookmark designs
Models of scenes from the books
Winners will be awarded a prize at the finale where shortlisted work will be on display (guest authors have been known to request competition entries to put on their websites!).
