My last two books published have featured Syrian child refugees who have made it to the UK to be taken in by families and communities.

I did this because I have been in several schools and communities that have children who are refugees from Syria (and other troubled places in the world) and heard their stories in the staff room at lunch time.

That – and reading books and articles about Syria today – motivated me to develop Yusra, Galip and Aylan as characters in my children’s books.

I did it, also, because I want children who are in all schools to be able to read about how we – in our relatively safe and stable country – can help people whose lives have been smashed to pieces and how we need to remember this country has a history of taking in and accepting refugees.

Gus the Fantastic Football Cat (Egmont, KS1) is about a Syrian girl and her dad who look after a rescue cat when they arrive in the UK from Syria. The parallel of the girl taken in by a UK community and her, in turn, taking a rescue cat in is the only thing about the story that relates to her background. The rest of the story is hopefully a lot lighter, as the cat reveals it can predict World Cup football results.

Pitch Invasion (Barrington Stoke, KS2) is a bit more direct. The story is about a haunted hillfort in Cornwall and a ghostbusting duo – Seth and Nadiya – who realise there is a parallel between the ghost of Iron Age refugees escaping the Romans by heading west and two Syrian boys – Galip and Aylan – who have recently been taken in by a Cornish family, after tragedy in Syria.

Both books would have worked well enough without introducing Yusra and Galip and Aylan. But, because they are being published last year and this, I think it works better that I did include them.

I am delighted to be able to  say that I have a new book coming out in autumn 2018.

It’s called Armistice Runner and is about a  thirteen-year-old cross country/fell runner called Lily. And her great great granddad, who was a champion fell runner as well as a trench runner during the last weeks of the First World War.

The story is based very loosely on my daughter’s love of cross country and fell running and the champion fell runner of 100 years ago, Ernest Dalzell (above).

You can read Barrington Stoke’s Press release about the book here.

THANK YOU to the teachers, tutors, librarians, pupils and families who supported Defenders:Russia – a live thriller set at the men’s football World Cup finals in Russia, from 14th June-13 July 2018.

Defenders:Russia Dyslexia friendly BIND UP of  all 1-22 chapters available here.

Defenders:Russia CERTIFICATE for followers here.

Defenders:Russia QUIZ, thanks to the fantastic team @Ellis_Guilford here   (They will not be storing or using the response email address for marketing/communication or any other use).

Defenders:Russia Tom Palmer’s Guide To How Books Are Made WORKSHEET & answers here

• based on my new history series, Defenders more here
• FREE ten-minute read chapters for schools (Y4 – Y8) and families
• written each night, influenced by the fixtures on and off the field
• print it, read out loud, put on whiteboards, share on devices …
• featuring dramatic cliffhangers, voting to change the storyline
• “word of the day” extra activity

DOWNLOADS : Chapters 1-22 are now live.    I am grateful to the National Literacy Trust for hosting the story here.  Simply follow an easy and FREE registration process:

• click on Join us
• choose the Free Option
• start Membership
• enter Name, Email and Preferences
• verify by email

“The best time I remember from my primary school was when our teacher read the Foul Play World Cup Mystery out to us. I’ll never forget us all listening together every morning and worrying about what would happen if England won!” Kylie

If you are one of 1000’s of teachers, librarians, pupils and families all over the world who followed the Defenders:Russsia live story, we’d like to thank you all in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands, Channel Islands, Czech Republic, Eire, England, Ethiopia, Hong Kong, India, Isle of Wight, Isle of Man, Italy, Malawi, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, USA and Wales – you have made this truly World Cup reading revolution!

My Other World Cup Resources:

• Use this Live World Cup Read poster in your school or library.  Add when and where you will be reading it!
• SPAG worksheet here with powerpoint here
  based on  Dead Ball – my Russian children’s thriller – and linking to the 2018 men’s football World Cup
• Video – researching and writing Dead Ball in Moscow here
• Book Covers for making bunting etc. here 
• Football Readers pack – posters about real readers and template to make your own here 
• World Cup display ideas here
• Secret FC colouring here
• Football Academy colouring here

• Gus the Famous Football world cup predicting Cat colouring  download here 

• World Cup schools toolkit here
• World Cup Football Writing Exercises here
• Letter to send home to encourage reading here 
• Euro 2016/Somme toolkit here 

• Mae Cwpan y Byd yn dod yn nes, felly dyma linc i siart wal y gallwch chi ei lawrlwytho ac argraffu adre! Welsh World Cup wallchart here

Thank you!

I’ve been using the World Cup to help promote literacy  since 2006 (see here ) with spin offs like the Rugby World Cup, Euros, and last year’s Anne Frank Diary for the Women’s Football European Championships.  Thanks to all the pupils and teachers for your amazing support!

Our previous Live Read activities were downloaded nearly 500,000 times and used by tens of thousands of schools… “I have been downloading Tom’s fantastic episodic story from the Literacy Trust website. I just wanted to drop him a line to tell him how brilliantly his story is going down at our school. Every morning I have children, particularly the boys, running up to me to check that I have downloaded and printed out the latest chapter of the story. The feedback from all the teachers is really positive, they tell me that it has really captured the boys imaginations and is encouraging them to read too!”    Lucy Bakewell, SLA School Librarian of the Year

And if you like these you might like …

GUS THE FAMOUS FOOTBALL CAT
A NEW World Cup story 

 A funny and heartwarming story about a girl and her pet cat, who becomes a World Cup celebrity! 

There’s a football challenge at Yusra’s school and everyone wants to win. Which class can find the best way to predict England’s World Cup results? Yusra has an idea – her pet cat Gus could help! As Gus keeps guessing the scores right, the word spreads and soon everyone wants a piece of the famous football cat. But is the life of a celebrity as purrfect as it seems? More here 

Gus the Famous Football Cat colouring sheet download here 

More FREE literacy resources here

More about all my other books for children here

Background to the Defenders trilogy

Seth and Nadiya specialise in solving ghostly hauntings at football venues, which take them to settings including:

Each book ties into a KS2 history theme:

Killing Ground (Vikings & Anglo Saxons) 
Dark Arena  (Roman Britain) 
Pitch Invasion  (Iron Age Celts)

More here

PRIVACY & COOKIES POLICY                            TERMS & CONDITIONS

It’s International Cat Day today, so maybe it’s about time I wrote about Gus.

This is Gus.

Whenever I settled down to write on the sofa in the attic, I soon heard his footsteps padding up the stairs, the little bell on his blue collar tinkling. He sat next to me in the summer. He sat on me in the winter.

Gus was my writing cat.

Gus died dreadfully in August last year. A grim night that ended with me and him visiting the 3 a.m. vets in Halifax. I’ll spare you the detail.

I can no longer write on the attic sofa. I write on my bed. Or in the kitchen.

I put Gus in my new book, Dark Arena. Here’s his short cameo role.

Now he’s in the book, I feel better. Here’s to Gus!

Happy International Cat Day!

England Women, Scotland Women and fourteen other countries will play out EURO 2017 this month and next. It is a fantastic showcase for the women’s game as it makes giant strides from the grassroots to elite football.

There are five things you can do to help add to that momentum.

One. Watch tonight’s Denmark v England match and persuade your sons and daughters to watch it too. It’s England’s last warm up game before EURO 2017 kicks off and should give everyone a taste of what’s to come. Thanks to Channel Four for showing the game on their website.

Two. Read about EURO 2017 on the BBC website and She Kicks magazine. Hopefully there will be lots of coverage in the mainstream press too.

Three. Read chapter one of my free live EURO 2017 story, Dutch Diaries, published by the National Literacy Trust and the FA. And, if you like it, read all nine chapters to your family or school assembly as the tournament develops.

Four. Collect the Panini EURO 2017 sticker collection.  Available in WHSmith and other newsagents. (Although you may see this as a colossal waste of money,  it is good news that the women’s game now has sticker albums you can find in the shops.)

Five. Check out the National Literacy Trust’s spectacular range of literacy resources to use in the lead up and during EURO 2017. Great for schools, home and libraries.

EURO 2017 kicks off on 16th July. The final is on 6th August. This is the official website.

I

When I was younger I didn’t think books could be set in the sort of places people actually lived. I understood that books were set in unreal magical places. Or London.

I certainly had no idea they could be set in Yorkshire. Or – even – be written by people from Yorkshire.

As a result, when I started reading and writing for pleasure, I didn’t think it was a career option. I was just something I did.

I was 20. School had gone badly. I’d been unemployed. But, with a sudden love of reading, I started an A level at night school in Leeds. Things were changing.

Within a month of starting the A level, we had read Wuthering Heights and watched film of the poem V. by Tony Harrison. One set on the moors above Haworth. One set in Leeds. A double dose of Yorkshireness.

I had my epiphany then.

You know? That great moment in your life when everything changes.

My epiphany: I could write about where I was from! And… I could be a writer. As a job!

II

Tomorrow I am launching my new book Killing Ground in Halifax.

Because it is set in Halifax.

On the moor next to where they host the Halifax Agricultural Show. At the Shay football and rugby stadium. In the new central library. Inside the town’s extraordinary Piece Hall. And on the streets that connect all those places.

I will visit four Halifax schools to tell them about a book set on their doorstep. I’ll tell them about Emily Bronte. And Ted Hughes, who lived just up the road. I’ll tell them about me.

And I’ll tell them they can read about Halifax in fiction. And write about it too.

You can find out more and read the first chapter of Killing Ground here.