Category Archives: Uncategorized

RESPONSES TO OVER THE LINE

Here is a little gallery of some of the wonderful class and home work already created by children and teachers in response to “Over the Line”.

I hope they inspire you!
 

Children from Stramongate Primary School in Kendal were inspired by ‘Over the Line’ to create a dance to perform at a dance festival. Tom visited the school to share his stories and engaged in a Q&A session before enjoying a performance of the dance.

The children enjoyed reading ‘Over the Line’ as their class text, as part of their World War I unit of work. Alongside the classroom learning, the children worked with dance artist, Rachel Towe, to explore the themes of the book and use them in the creative process to create a dance. The dance was performed at a local dance festival where primary and secondary schools came together to share and celebrate dance work. The children performed to a public audience of nearly 300 people in a local professional venue, The Brewery Arts Centre, in Kendal. Many of the children had never performed in a professional venue or on stage before.

The dance begins when the outbreak of war is all over the newspapers. The footballers are distracted, their heads are still in the game. Eventually, they sign up. Then they become lost in the horrors of the frontline. The dance also included the extraordinary ceasefire on Christmas day; a magical historical moment that brought football back to the soldier’s life for a fleeting moment. The two opposing sides play football in ‘no man’s land’. Finally, the dance depicts the poppy fields, a symbol of the soldiers who died during WWI.

All involved in the project were excited to share the dance with Tom. They wondered if Tom had ever had a dance created that was inspired by one of his books before.

Dance Artist Rachel Towe explained… As soon as I read Tom’s book ‘Over the Line’, I knew it was going to be a great stimulus for a dance with the Year 6 children I was working with. Many of the children had never danced on stage before, let alone perform on a professional stage. I knew they loved the football and war theme and that it would be great to capture the interest and imagination of that group of children in particular. Sharing the dance with Tom, when he visited the school, was really special – It looked like Tom was quite moved by the performance, and it was a memorable experience for all involved!’

Stramongate Primary pupils also produced cakes and other 3D and 2D representations of Over the Line.  Amazing!

Photos shared with permission.

Over the Line is powerful historical novel about one footballer’s experience in the First World War. It’s 1914 and Jack is making his debut as a professional footballer. But the match is marred by a demonstration demanding that the players sign up to do their duty in France.  It is not long before Jack is bound for the trenches with the Footballers’ Battalion.

“Classic” The Guardian

Find out more about Over the Line and more resources here

Email me here what you thought about Over the Line and for more information about my books or use my contact form here.

Thank you.

PRIVACY & COOKIES POLICY                            TERMS & CONDITIONS

 

Spring 2024 highlights

What’s on offer this term, Spring 2024

  • January 2024 Holocaust Memorial Day
  • March 2024 World Book Day
  • Spring Term Author visits
  • May 2024 New historical fiction preview
  • NEW Rocky Race series
  • NEW Football Ultimate Heroes

Saturday 27 Jan 2024 – Holocaust Memorial Day

Mala and Ben illustration by James Innerdale

Our 2024 resources are available with partners including UCL Centre for Holocaust Education and the National Literacy Trust. This year we are offering  …

  • a webinar with the Historical Association
  • a Free 5 part story
  • an online Q&A event with Mala Tribich


7 March 2024 World Book Day

Can you judge a book by its cover?  Watch below or in YouTube…

Dress up ideas for all my books here https://tompalmer.co.uk/world-book-day/

And lots more free resources here

 


May 2024 – new Historical Fiction

I will have a new children’s historical fiction out in May set in Cumbria in the Second World War.

  • More about researching and writing Angel of Grasmere here 
  • Signed and dedicated copies are available personalised to order from my local independent children’s bookshop “The Thoughtful Spot”  here.

Meet me 2024

Thursday 30 May 2024 11-3pm Imperial War Museum North

Friday 31 May 2024 11-3pm Imperial War Museum London

More here

 


Audiobooks update

After the War, Resist and Soccer Diaries are already available.

D-Day Dog, Armistice Runner, Over the Line, Arctic Star and Angel of Grasmere are being recorded now and will be available from May 2024

More here 


Latest Football Fiction – NEW Rocky Race series

Rocky Race, the sister of Roy of the Rovers – has a new spin off series kicking off .

In Rocky Takes L.A. we join the combative British fourteen-year-old as she signs up for a summer soccer school in California.

Author Visits

I am available for in-person and virtual author visits with a focus on creative writing, sports, reading and writing about history.

For latest availability & fees, please email admin@tompalmer.co.uk, subject “2024 Author Visits”


USE this form to receive availability and publication reminders

Please contact me …

 

 

 

Our replies are never automated so you will get a personal reply. Please be patient with us!


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. 

With an extra special Christmas or birthday card from me on request!

 

Overseas :
Australia: Boomerang

Canada: Amazon Canada
New Zealand: Wheelers

USA :  Indigo books

Visit myAmazon bookshop or support your local bookshop HIVE

 

 

Schools bumper 33 book pack offer here

33 books
£194 saving £63 – over 25% discount
FREE DELIVERY & SIGNED BOOKPLATES

Please email rosie@rosemaryhillbooks.co.uk

 

Schools class set offer here.

15 copies 20%+ discount
30 copies 25%+ discount
100 copies 30% + discount

FREE DELIVERY & SIGNED BOOKPLATES

Please email rosie@rosemaryhillbooks.co.uk for a quote

 

 

Email me here for more information or use my contact form here to ask me a question.

Thank you.

 

 

PRIVACY & COOKIES POLICY                            TERMS & CONDITIONS

 

Christmas in Fiction : Resist

To accompany Resist, here is an extra FREE Christmas story “Silent Night”

Audrey Hepburn’s childhood story of resistance in the Second World War against the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands inspired my book Resist.

Silent Night is an extra special short story I have written about Audrey’s secret Christmas mission, free to read below, but here’s a bit of background …

RESIST  :  One Girl’s Fight Back Against the Nazis 

Cover : Tom Clohosy Cole

Resist shines a light on the incredible work of the WWll Dutch resistance, in a story inspired by the childhood of Hollywood legend Audrey Hepburn.

As the brutal Second World War stretches on with no end in sight, life for ordinary Dutch people in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands is fraught with peril and hardship. There is very little to eat and the population lives under the constant threat of arrest and enslavement.

BUY THE BOOK

Find it at your local library, local independent bookshop, 
Waterstones and Amazon

Overseas : FREE Delivery worldwide from The Book Depository.  

Special Resist souvenir readers’ packs are available here. 

Now read the extra special short story below about Audrey’s secret Christmas mission

Watch me read the story
Print the story here

 

Find out more about Resist here

More of my Christmas in Fiction

Arctic Star

Angel of Grasmere


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. 

 

With an extra special Christmas or birthday card from me on request!

Australia: Boomerang
Canada: Amazon Canada
New Zealand: Wheelers

USA :  Indigo books

Visit myAmazon bookshop or support your local bookshop

 

Schools bumper book pack
offer

33 books for £200

Saving £73

Over 25% discount

Free Delivery

Please email rosie@rosemaryhillbooks.co.uk

Schools class set offer

15 copies 20%+ discount
30 copies 25%+ discount
100 copies 30% + discount

FREE DELIVERY & SIGNED BOOKPLATES

Please email rosie@rosemaryhillbooks.co.uk for a quote

 

Email me here for more information or use my contact form here to ask me a question.

Thank you.

PRIVACY & COOKIES POLICY                            TERMS & CONDITIONS

Christmas in Fact : Football’s Greatest Moments

Read my 15th out of (in no particular order)100 Football’s Greatest Moments.  Lily Parr and Dick, Kerr Ladies football match on Boxing Day 1920 with the flip book below :

 

 

(You might also like to read my free chapter from Arctic Star on Christmas  Day 1943 here)

Discover the most memorable moments in football history in this new edition to the Ultimate Football Heroes series!  Featuring Pele’s World Cup, Maradona’s Hand of God, John Barnes’ Maracana magic, and the Lionesses’ European Championship triumph, this is an endlessly fascinating treasury of stories for fans of all ages.

Will you agree or disagree with what I think are the 100 most important moments in the history of the game?

Find out more here

Order a signed or dedicated copy personalised to order from my local independent children’s bookshop “The Thoughtful Spot”  here.

Order from Amazon here


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. 

With an extra special Christmas or birthday card from me on request!

 

Overseas : FREE Delivery worldwide from The Book Depository.
Australia: Boomerang

Canada: Amazon Canada
New Zealand: Wheelers

USA :  Indigo books

Visit myAmazon bookshop or support your local bookshopHIVE

 

Schools bumper 35 book pack offer here

35 books
£190 saving £60 – over 20% discount
FREE DELIVERY & SIGNED BOOKPLATES

Please email rosie@rosemaryhillbooks.co.uk.

 

Schools class set offer here.

15 copies 20%+ discount
30 copies 25%+ discount
100 copies 30% + discount

FREE DELIVERY & SIGNED BOOKPLATES

Please email rosie@rosemaryhillbooks.co.uk for a quote

 

 

Email me here for more information or use my contact form here to ask me a question.

Thank you.

 

 

PRIVACY & COOKIES POLICY                            TERMS & CONDITIONS

 

Christmas in fiction : Arctic Star

Use these resources this Christmas time based on Chapter 19 of Arctic Star.   

Find out how the young Royal Navy sailors celebrate Christmas Day 1943 aboard HMS Belfast in the Arctic Circle with dinner, carols and listening to the King’s Speech.

 

Christmas Resources:

Read chapter 19, Christmas Day on the Arctic Ocean, 1943 as a pdf here to share with the young people you work with or use the flip book below :

 

Christmas Blackout Poem Challenge here

Includes a how to guide, suggested extracts featuring the King’s speech on Christmas Day,  examples and a signed certificate.

 

 

Film of Tom reading Chapter 19 on board HMS Belfast this Christmas

Christmas History Special: WWII Arctic Star 80th Anniversary

Join me in to commemorate & discover the 80th Anniversary of the WWII naval Battle of North Cape this December with Mr Dilly.

Watch here

More about Arctic Star

Book Trailer

For more Arctic Star resources and to find about how Tom researched and wrote it click here 

More of my Christmas in Fiction

Resist

Angel of Grasmere


Buy the Book

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

With an extra special Christmas or birthday card from me on request!

Australia: Boomerang
Canada: Amazon Canada
New Zealand: Wheelers

USA :  Indigo books

Visit myAmazon bookshop or support your local bookshop

Schools bumper book pack
offer

33 books for £200

Saving £73

Over 25% discount

Free Delivery

Please email rosie@rosemaryhillbooks.co.uk

Schools class set offer

15 copies 20%+ discount
30 copies 25%+ discount
100 copies 30% + discount

FREE DELIVERY & SIGNED BOOKPLATES

Please email rosie@rosemaryhillbooks.co.uk for a quote

Email me here for more information or use my contact form here to ask me a question.

Thank you.

PRIVACY & COOKIES POLICY                            TERMS & CONDITIONS

 

Football’s Greatest Moments – Read Chapter 1

Find out more about my my first Ultimate Football Heroes book, Football’s Greatest Moments here

Soccer Diaries – Read Chapter 1

Find out more about Soccer Diaries staring Rocky Race, a British footballer looking to make it big in a US soccer school here.

Christmas History Special: WWII Arctic Star 80th Anniversary

Friday 1 December 2023 11am-Midday
Christmas History Special: WWII Arctic Star 80th Anniversary

Join me in a virtual event to commemorate & discover the 80th Anniversary of the WWII naval Battle of North Cape this December with Mr Dilly.

Launched 11am-Midday Friday 1 December and then available throughout December 2023.

More about Arctic Star

Book now FREE.

USE this form to receive reminders

Please contact me ...

Our replies are never automated so you will get a personal reply. Please be patient with us!


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. 

With an extra special Christmas or birthday card from me on request!

 

Overseas : FREE Delivery worldwide from The Book Depository.
Australia: Boomerang

Canada: Amazon Canada
New Zealand: Wheelers

USA :  Indigo books

Visit myAmazon bookshop or support your local bookshopHIVE

 

Schools bumper 35 book pack offer here

35 books
£190 saving £60 – over 20% discount
FREE DELIVERY & SIGNED BOOKPLATES

Please email rosie@rosemaryhillbooks.co.uk.

 

Schools class set offer here.

15 copies 20%+ discount
30 copies 25%+ discount
100 copies 30% + discount

FREE DELIVERY & SIGNED BOOKPLATES

Please email rosie@rosemaryhillbooks.co.uk for a quote

 

 

Email me here for more information or use my contact form here to ask me a question.

Thank you.

 

 

PRIVACY & COOKIES POLICY                            TERMS & CONDITIONS

Autumn Highlights 2023

What’s on offer this term, Autumn 2023

  • NEW Rocky Race series
  • NEW Football Ultimate Heroes
  • Rugby Union World Cup
  • October starts Christmas Book Giving
  • November Remembrance Day 2023
  • December Christmas History Special Virtual: WWII Arctic Star 80th Anniversary
  • Christmas Arctic Star resources
  • January 2024 Holocaust Memorial Day
  • Spring Term Author visits
  • May 2024 New historical fiction preview

NEW Rocky Race series

Rocky Race, the sister of Roy of the Rovers – has a new spin off series kicking off on 28 September.

In Rocky Takes L.A. we join the combative British fourteen-year-old as she signs up for a summer soccer school in California.

Rebellion Publishing. 28 September 2023.

  • More about Rocky here
  • Read Chapter 1 here

 

NEW Football’s Greatest Moments.

This year I am branching out into non-fiction with my first Ultimate Football Heroes book, Football’s Greatest Moments.

Will you and your pupils agree or disagree with what I think are the 100 most important moments in the history of the game?

Dino Books. 12 October 2023

  • More about Football’s Greatest Moments here
  • Read Chapter 1 here

8 Sept-28 Oct 2023 Rugby Union World Cup

With the men’s Rugby Union World Cup being hosted by France in September and October, look out for my rugby-related competitions and resources linking rugby and reading.

·         More about my Rugby Academy children’s series here

 

 


November 2023 Remembrance Day Video Assembly

I am offering a Remembrance Day 2023 video assembly based around my children’s historical fiction.

I have written books for children set in both World Wars and about children of today’s serving members of the Armed Forces :

First World War Over the LineFlyboy and Armistice Runner

Second World War Resist, Spitfire, D-Day Dog, Arctic Star and After the War

21st century Armed Forces Typhoon, D-Day Dog

 

I have written books about various sections of the Armed Forces:

Royal Navy Arctic Star

Army Over the LineArmistice Runner and The Last Try

RAF Flyboy, Spitfire, Typhoon and Rugby Academy 

the Reserves and Paratroopers D-Day Dog

 


Starting 30 Oct 2023 Christmas Book Gifting

For the past ten years I have asked teachers, TAs and librarians if they would be kind enough to nominate a child they think would benefit from the gift of a book for Christmas.

My family and I would like to do the same for Christmas 2023.

  • Nominations open Monday 30 October
  • Please Nominate by Sunday 26 November 2023
  • More here

 


Friday 1 Dec 2023
Christmas History Special: WWII Arctic Star 80th Anniversary

Join me in a virtual event to commemorate & discover the 80th Anniversary of the WWII naval Battle of North Cape this December with Mr Dilly.

Launched 11am-Midday Friday 1 December and then available throughout December 2023.

·         More about Arctic Star here www.tompalmer.co.uk/arctic-star/

·         Book now FREE.


Christmas 2023 Arctic Star Resources

Christmas Day on the Arctic Ocean is the subject of chapter 19 of Arctic Star.

Watch me reading it aboard HMS Belfast

Read the chapter online

Take part in my Christmas Blackout Poetry Challenge.


ADVANCE NOTICE SPRING 2024

 Author Visits

I am available for in-person and virtual author visits with a focus on creative writing, sports, reading and writing about history.

·         More about my author visits here www.tompalmer.co.uk/schools-librarians/author-visits/


Holocaust Memorial Day Saturday 27 Jan 2024

Free Holocaust Memorial Day resources suitable for every school to use in the run up to Holocaust Memorial Day produced with the National Literacy Trust.

We will be offering a range of free resources for Key Stage 2 & 3 to mark Holocaust Memorial Day including a virtual assembly with a Holocaust Survivor.

 


May 2024

I will have a new children’s historical fiction out.

 

USE this form to receive availability and publication reminders

Please contact me ...

Our replies are never automated so you will get a personal reply. Please be patient with us!


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. 

With an extra special Christmas or birthday card from me on request!

 

Overseas : FREE Delivery worldwide from The Book Depository.
Australia: Boomerang

Canada: Amazon Canada
New Zealand: Wheelers

USA :  Indigo books

Visit myAmazon bookshop or support your local bookshopHIVE

 

Schools bumper 35 book pack offer here

35 books
£190 saving £60 – over 20% discount
FREE DELIVERY & SIGNED BOOKPLATES

Please email rosie@rosemaryhillbooks.co.uk.

 

Schools class set offer here.

15 copies 20%+ discount
30 copies 25%+ discount
100 copies 30% + discount

FREE DELIVERY & SIGNED BOOKPLATES

Please email rosie@rosemaryhillbooks.co.uk for a quote

 

 

Email me here for more information or use my contact form here to ask me a question.

Thank you.

 

 

PRIVACY & COOKIES POLICY                            TERMS & CONDITIONS