I am absolutely thrilled to have been awarded the Ruth Rendell Award for Services to Literacy by the National Literacy Trust. Thanks very much to the teachers who nominated me.

Latest Awards news

Exciting news! Angel of Grasmere has been nominated for the 2025 Carnegie Medal for Writing and shortlisted for the 2025 York Book Award and shortlisted for the Dudley Children’s Book Award. Thank you!

December 24 Angel of Grasmere was selected as one of Topsta’s must-read children’s books of 2024

November 24 Angel of Grasmere was selected as one of The Daily Telegraph’s best children’s books of 2024

October 24 Angel of Grasmere was selected as one of BookTrust’s Great Books for 10-11 year olds

Angel of Grasmere was selected as Topsta’s May Book of the Month

Arctic Star is currently shortlisted for the Trinity Schools Book Award (TSBA) 2024

Resist wins the 2024 Grampian Children’s Book Award

2023 Awards

Resist has been chosen for the following awards and selections:

Nominated for the Carnegie Medal 2023

Winner of the Historical Association Young Quills award 2023

Winner of the 2023 Berkshire Book Award

Winner of the Cheshire Schools’ Book Award 2023

Winner of the North East Book Award 2023

Currently Shortlisted for the Archway Learning Trust Book Award 2023

Shortlisted for the Wolverhampton Childrens Book Award 2023
Shortlisted for the Dudley Children’s Book Award 2022
Shortlisted for the Northern Ireland Book Award 2023

2022 Awards

Resist was chosen for the following awards and selections:

The School Reading List August 2022 Fiction Book of the Month
Topsta Best Books of the Month August 2022
@OpenUni_RfP Top Text October 22
Imagining History Top 10 Children’s History Books of 2022
Shortlisted for booksfortopics.com best-books-of-2022 Upper KS2 (Age 9-11): Best Curriculum Support Vote Now Here

D-Day Dog was voted favourite children’s audiobook by Calibre Audio, the national charity that provides a completely free for life audiobook service to everyone with a disability that makes reading print difficult or impossible, thank you to all who listened to my book and Rachel Reay for narrating.

Arctic Star won @booksfortopics Upper KS2 Best Curriculum Support awards, thank you!

Arctic Star was also

shortlisted for the Historical Association 2022 Young Quills award
nominated for the CILIP Carnegie 2022 Medal
longlisted for the Spark! School Book Awards
longlisted for the Dudley Children’s Book 2021 Award
longlisted for the Berkshire Book Award 2022
shortlisted for the 2022 Staffordshire Young Teen Fiction Award

I am so proud that this year After the War was also :

longlisted for the 2022 UKLA Book Awards (11-14 + category)
shortlisted for the 2022 Grampian Children’s Book Award
shortlisted for the inaugural 2022 York Book Award
selected for the EmpathyLab‘s #ReadForEmpathy collection

2021 Awards

Arctic Star has also been chosen by LoveReading as a 2021 Star Book and has been chosen by Toppsta in their big Summer Reading Feature.

I was honoured that After the War won the 2021 10-13 yrs @historicalassociation Young Quills Award and the KS3#JamesReckitt #HullChildrensBookAward.

Thank you to all their hardworking history teachers and school librarians for organising and their young readers for voting.

After the War has also been:

nominated and longlisted for the @CILIPCKG Carnegie Book Award
shortlisted for the North Somerset Teachers’ Book Awards #NSTBA20
shortlisted for the Redbridge Children’s Book Award
shortlisted for the Calderdale Libraries Primary School Book of the Year
longlisted for the Sussex Amazing Book Awards
longlisted for the Cumbria SLS book awards.
longlisted for the Spark Book Awards Kingston and Richmond Children’s Book Awards
selected as Beckenham children’s book of the month October 2020
selected as one of the Daily Telegraph’s Children’s Books of the Year 2020

Thank you

2020 awards

I was so happy the D-Day Dog was voted the overall winner at the 2020 Children’s Book Awards which is run by the wonderful Federation of Children’s Book Groups. The fact that over 100,000 children nominate, longlist, shortlist and choose the winners makes it all the more brilliant and satisfying for me. Thank you 100,000 times over.

More exciting news … a massive thank you to all the Hull, Welsh, Warwickshire & Portsmouth children who voted for us!

And D-Day Dog has just been voted into the top 12 titles for the #FCBGCBA2020 Vote h ere D-Day Dog is currently also listed for :

the Bristol Teen Book Award 2020 Lockdown Longlist!
the Cheshire Schools Book Award 2020 shortlist
the Cumbria Schools’ Library Service Primary Spellbinding shortlist
the Reading Rampage Doncaster shortlist
the 2020 Grampian Children’s Book Award
winner of the James Reckitt Hull Children’s Book Award
the Nottinghamshire ELS Brilliant Book Award longlist
the Sheffield Children’s Book Award 2020 shortlist
the Staffordshire Young Teen Fiction Book Award 2020 shortlist
winner of the Warwickshire Junior Book Award 2020
winner of the Portsmouth Year 5 Book Award

I wish all the children taking part a very happy time reading all the books and choosing their favourites!

“Thank you for an amazing event this morning. The year 5-7 boys really enjoyed it and were really engaged in both sessions. They were very excited about the visit and were very inspired by Tom’s stories and fantastic books. Best of luck for the Carnegie awards, very well deserved!” Newcastle School for Boys

2019 awards

I am thrilled that Armistice Runner has just won the older readers category prize at the FCBG Children’s Book Awards!!

Currently, Armistice Runner is on the :

THE CILIP CARNEGIE MEDALNominations for 2020
shortlist for the UKLA Book Awards 2020
shortlist for Shrewsbury Big Book Award 2020
shortlist for Essex SLS Junior Book Awards for 2019
shortlist for Lancashire Fantastic Book Awards 2019-2020
shortlist for Derbyshire Schools’ Book Award 2020
shortlist for the Nottinghamshire ELS Brilliant Book Award
longlist for the Sheffield (Steel City) Book Club Awards 2020
longlist for Bury Grammar School Book Award 2020
longlist for Cumbria Schools’ Library Service Secondary Spellbinding 2020 book award

This year Armistice Runner thanks to children’s votes has won:

the Cheshire Schools Book Award
the Bury Grammar School Book Award 2020– Older Readers Category judged by all Yr 5 – 8 students across 4 schools
the KS3 James Reckitt Hull Children’s Book Award 2019
the Tees Valley TVED Book of the Year 2019

and has been :

reviewed for The Historical Association’s Young Quill Award
shortlisted for the Year 5 Portsmouth Book Award 2019
recommended on Book Trust’s #MyBookbuzz programme list 2019
recommended on Books for Topics 50 reads for Year 5

2018

Armistice Runner is

Books for Topics September book of the month.
School Reading List’s October book of the month.

And former UK Literacy Association President, Teresa Cremin, chose Armistice Runner as her Book of the Year for 2018.

2017

Over the Line is

reviewed for the North Somerset Teacher’s Book Award here.
selected for Toppsta’s Summer Reading Guide

Defenders 1: Killing Ground is long listed for :

the Grampian Children’s Book Award.
the 2018 Leicester Libraries Our Best Book Award!

2016

Rugby Academy : Combat Zone is

a finalist for the Coventry Inspiration Book Award 2016!
is selected for the Scottish First Minister’s Reading Challenge

big-friendly-read Wings: Flyboy – is selected for Leicester Libraries ‘The Big Friendly Read book list for children’

Wings: Flyboy – is selected for Booktrust’s Top 20 books for Reluctant Readers

2015

Over the Line is :

selected for the Recommended Reads list in the Historical fiction category for Read for My School
longlisted for the 2015 Portsmouth Book Award
shortlisted for the Lancashire Book of the Year Award

Ghost Stadium is awarded the Birmingham Catholic Diocese Schools Book Award.

2014

Ghost Stadium wins Leicester Libraries Our Best Book Award thanks to the votes from children at the city’s primary schools and is a selected title for Bookbuzz 2014.

Foul Play is chosen as one the 100 readformyschool titles.

Over the Line and Own Goal are selected for Bookspace‘s Top 20 Most Read Football Books for KS1-KS4.

Over the Line is chosen as Exeter’s City Read for the year.

2013

The Squad : Black Op wins the Solihull Children’s Book Award thanks to voting by children in the borough’s schools and is shortlisted for the Leicester Libraries Our Best Book Award

Secret FC is selected by the Book Trust for inclusion in their School Library Pack! Around 4000 English schools will received the pack funded by the Department of Education, as a way to encourage reading with the students.

2012

The Secret Football Club is longlisted for The Fantastic Book Awards (F.B.A), organised by Lancashire School Library Service

Foul Play 5 : Own Goal is longlisted for Red House Children’s Book Award for Younger Readers

Scrum! is shortlisted for Sheffield Children’s Book Award

2011

Foul Play 4 : Killer Pass longlisted for Doncaster Book Award

Foul Play 3 : Offside shortlisted for Calderdale Children’s Book of the Year Awards

2010

Foul Play is shortlisted for Stockton Children’s Book of the Year

Emily Palmer (no relation!) from St Michaels RC School was the winner in the Highly Commended category for her review of Foul Play by Tom Palmer.

2009

Foul Play shortlisted for Calderdale Book of the Year Primary Section

Foul Play 2 : Dead Ball shortlisted for Rotherham Children’s Book Award

Football Academy 1 : Boys United shortlisted for Doncaster Book Award

Football Academy 3 : The Real Thing longlisted for The Fantastic Book Awards (F.B.A), organised by Lancashire School Library Service

2008

Foul Play chosen for Booked Up

Foul Play shortlisted for Blue Peter Book Award

Other Accolades

Chris Bradford top 5 books — Chris Bradford’s Top 5

2013 The Squad : White Fear listed in Chris Bradford’s “Top 5 books Every Child Should Read Before They’re 12″

2013 Scrum! listed as one of New Zealand School Librarian Ali Hewett’s “100 Great Books Before Lunch”

2013 Ghost Stadium is nominated one of the “Ten of the Best Books to Make Reading Irresistible” by Marilyn Brocklehurst from Norfolk Children’s Book Centre.

Marilyn said, “This book allows you to access a great story and at the same time offers the opportunity to read more fluently. Tom Palmer is a champion for reluctant readers and works tirelessly to attract children – and particularly boys – to pick up a book. Ghost Stadium is thrilling from the very first paragraph. The combination of Tom and Barrington Stoke is perfect since this publisher has provided an excellent range of books to encourage children who are reluctant readers simply because they struggle with the practicalities of reading.”

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.