Tom Palmer author page

Tom Palmer biography

Tom Palmer writes children’s books about history and sport. His best known series include Football Academy, Foul Play and Roy of the Rovers. He is also the author of the Foul Play football books and has written books in the Football Academy, Football Detective and Soccer Diaries series.

Palmer has worked in reader development and has been a coordinator of the Reading Partners consortium. He also teaches annually for the Arvon Foundation and has trained librarians and teachers in techniques to encourage boys to read.

The Secret Football Club was published by Puffin on 6 May 2010 as part of the Pocket Money Puffins series. Over the Line was published by Barrington Stoke in 2016 and is a First World War novel about the Footballers’ Battalion and the professional footballer Jack Cock. After the War was published on 6 August 2020 and follows Yossi, Leo and Mordecai, three children who arrive in the English Lake District after surviving Nazi concentration camps.

Armistice Runner won the Children’s Book Award in 2019 and was nominated for the Carnegie Prize. Resist is a Second World War story inspired by the childhood of Audrey Hepburn and the Dutch resistance. Sudden Death is the seventh Roy of the Rovers fiction novel and belongs to the third season of the series.

Tom Palmer teaching resources

• Tom Palmer’s official Literacy Resources page provides free PowerPoints and photocopiable resources for class and homework, including poster packs, reading certificates, free reads, cover-prediction worksheets, playscripts, SPaG worksheets, quizzes, colouring sheets and guided-reading material.
• Tom Palmer’s author visits page gives school booking information for in-person author visits, with preparation materials for pupils including videos, a PowerPoint, a souvenir booklet, colouring resources, Q&A information and contact details for fees.
• Tom Palmer’s virtual visits page explains his live and pre-recorded virtual learning options for schools, with downloadable virtual workshop options and information on sessions delivered through Zoom, Skype, Microsoft Teams, YouTube and other platforms.
• Tom Palmer’s First World War Literacy Resources page gathers classroom materials for Over the Line, Wings: Flyboy and Armistice Runner, including first chapters, posters, PowerPoints, reading comprehension worksheets with answers and teacher’s notes, SPaG worksheets, cover-prediction sheets, glossary and workbook downloads, videos, quizzes, playscripts and classroom discussion guides.
• Tom Palmer’s Second World War Literacy Resources page provides materials for D-Day Dog, Spitfire, After the War, Arctic Star, Resist, Angel of Grasmere and War Dog, including a Second World War timeline PDF, first chapters, cover-prediction worksheets, playscripts, a settings map worksheet, blackout poem challenges, quizzes, colouring sheets and guided-reading resources.
• Tom Palmer’s Football Literacy Resources page links football-themed reading materials for his Football Academy, Foul Play, Roy and Rocky of the Rovers, Defenders, Wings and Over the Line books, including posters, certificates, first chapters, a Football Readers Pack, quizzes, films, playscripts, discussion guides, free stories, a Roy and Rocky writing kit, a young carers PowerPoint and a prose-and-comic worksheet.