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.

I am delighted to be Cornwall’s Ambassador for the National Year of Reading. Find out more about what I’m up to in Cornwall here.

And for each month of 2026, I’ll be focusing 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 …

My 2026 National Year of Reading :
Your chance to GO ALL In with one of my books with The Book Stop
on 27 Jan 2026

Month	Theme	Books I’ll be exploring
JANUARY	Holocaust Memorial Day	After the War from Auschwitz to Ambleside

Ask me your questions by emailing admin @ tompalmer.co.uk

Book now here

Month	Theme	Books I’ll be exploring
JANUARY	Holocaust Memorial Day	After the War from Auschwitz to Ambleside
FEBRUARY	Six Nations Rugby & Super League Rugby	Scrum! Rugby Academy 4 x Rugby League books
MARCH	World Book Day / International Women’s Day / Dance	Resist Secret Football Club Rocky
APRIL	Spring / Earth Day	Angel of Grasmere
MAY	Second World War	NEW If The Invader Comes
JUNE	World Cup football	Football Academy Foul Play Over the Line
JULY	Summer	Armistice Runner Angel of Grasmere
AUGUST	Animals	D-Day Dog War Dog NEW War Cat Gus the fantastic football cat
SEPTEMBER	Reading for pleasure / Dyslexia	Rugby Academy 3 Football Academy – Reading The Game
OCTOBER	Autumn / Ghost stories / Iron Age / Roman / Vikings	Ghost Stadium Defenders 1 Killing Ground Defenders 2 Dark Arena Defenders 3 Pitch Invasion
NOVEMBER	First World War / Remembrance / Non-fiction	Over The Line Armistice Runner Wings War Dog
DECEMBER	Winter / Christmas	Arctic Star

Click on the book title to find out more and Go All In with our resources.

Visit my Meet Me page to find out about my National Year of Reading events.

Use my Contact form to keep updated and 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.