National Year of Reading

The National Year of Reading in 2026 has a theme of Go All In. That means finding a way to go all in to what you love doing by reading about it.

I was a very reluctant reader as a child. For me, it was football that got me reading. My mum encouraged me to read newspapers, magazines, the internet and books to encourage me to Go All In on my hobby.

So, for each month of 2026, I’ll be focussing on something different. Something that I love. That I have written about. I’ll be suggesting how you can go all in with my free resources for schools, libraries and parents to engage children with reading for pleasure.

The resources will include free films, texts, activities and more.

The themes I have chosen link my books to reflect what’s going on in that month. From football with the men’s World Cup in the summer to ghost stories around Halloween. I will also be hosting a monthly online live and recorded chat with a chance for you to ask me questions and will post the details here … (to come).

My National Year of Reading :

Month	Theme	Books I’ll be exploring
JANUARY	Holocaust Memorial Day	After the War
FEBRUARY	Six Nations Rugby & Super League Rugby	Scrum! Rugby Academy 4 x Rugby League books
MARCH	International Women’s Day	Resist Secret Football Club Rocky
APRIL	Nature	Angel of Grasmere
MAY	Cornwall	If The Invader Comes Pitch Invasion Over The Line
JUNE	World Cup football	Football Academy Foul Play Defenders
JULY	Summer Holidays	Armistice Runner Angel of Grasmere
AUGUST	Animals	War Dog War Cat Gus the fantastic football cat
SEPTEMBER	Reading for pleasure / Dyslexia	Rugby Academy 3 Football Academy – Reading The Game
OCTOBER	Ghost stories	Defenders 1-3 Ghost Stadium
NOVEMBER	Remembrance / Non-fiction	Over The Line Armistice Runner Wings D-Day Dog
DECEMBER	Christmas	Arctic Star

You’ll be able to click on the book title to Go All In with our resources

Use our Contact form to ask your questions.

Buy Books

Signed and dedicated copies of all my books are available personalised to order from my local independent children’s bookshop “The Thoughtful Spot” here.