The ultimate guide to the Marcus Rashford Book Club
Children’s books that inspire and engage, recommended by iconic international football player and child food poverty campaigner Marcus Rashford MBE. Discover all of the Marcus Rashford Book Club choices here.
Marcus Rashford MBE is famous worldwide for his achievements both on and off the pitch – but before he was a Manchester United and England footballer, and long before he started his inspiring campaign to end child food poverty, he was just an ordinary kid from Wythenshawe, South Manchester.
Marcus read his first book at the age of seventeen, and credits this with changing the direction of his life.
‘I only started reading at seventeen, and it completely changed my outlook and mentality. I just wish I was offered the opportunity to really engage with reading more as a child, but books were never a thing we could budget for as a family when we needed to put food on the table.’
Marcus Rashford
The Marcus Rashford Book Club books, chosen for their ability to inspire, empower and delight, will equip young readers for any obstacles or adversities they may face and allow them to relate to characters by ensuring that people of all races, religions and genders are represented within them. Here, we share all of the Marcus Rashford Book Club books chosen so far.
Books in the Marcus Rashford Book Club:
The 13-Storey Treehouse
by Andy Griffiths
Illustrated by Terry Denton
Ages 6+
The 13-Storey Treehouse is the fourth book selected for the Marcus Rashford Book Club.
Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton’s bestselling Treehouse books are loved by kids all over the world for their laugh-out-loud stories, which follow best friends Andy and Terry who live in an ever-expanding treehouse. But it's a treehouse like no other, with a giant catapult, a secret underground laboratory, a tank of man-eating sharks, and not to mention flying cats and mermaids . . .
The Breakfast Club Adventures
by Marcus Rashford
Written with Alex Falase-Koya
Ages: 8+
The Breakfast Club Adventures is the third book selected for the Marcus Rashford Book Club.
When twelve-year-old Marcus kicks his favourite football over the school fence, he knows he's never getting it back. Nothing that goes over that wall ever comes back. But the next morning during Breakfast Club, Marcus gets a mysterious note inviting him to join the Breakfast Club Investigators, and he is soon pulled into an exciting adventure with his new mates to solve the mystery and get his football back!
Inspired by Marcus's own experiences growing up, and written with Alex Falase-Koya, The Breakfast Club Adventures is packed full of friendship, adventure, community and fun.
The Breakfast Club Adventures: The Ghoul in the School
by Marcus Rashford
The Breakfast Club Investigators are back! And good job too – they haven't managed to solve a mystery in months and Marcus is worried that the group is going to break up. So when Gbenga, the captain of the school basketball team, comes to ask for their help Marcus knows this might just be the Investigator's last chance to prove themselves. As the mystery deepens they discover that someone – or something – has cursed the basketball team . . .
Silas and the Marvellous Misfits
by Tom Percival
Ages: 7+
Silas and the Marvellous Misfits is the second book selected in the Marcus Rashford Book Club.
Erika has a BIG secret. She’s a member of the Dream Defenders – a top-secret organisation that banishes your worries while you sleep! And tonight they're on a mission to rescue Erika's best friend Silas from the clutches of the evil Glooms – creatures who want everyone in the dream world to look and think exactly the same way! Can the Dream Defenders save Silas and help him to see that being a misfit can be a truly marvellous thing? This action-packed adventure that shows kids the joy of being themselves is the third book in the Dream Defenders series.
‘Encouraging children to find joy in, and celebrate, their differences is so powerful in today's society. Tom inspires this mindset in the most fun, engaging, action-packed way. I would have loved to read this book as a child! ’
Marcus Rashford
A Dinosaur Ate My Sister
by Pooja Puri
Illustrated by Allen Fatimaharan
Ages: 7+
A Dinosaur Ate My Sister is the first book selected for the Marcus Rashford Book Club.
Esha Verma, her snotty apprentice Broccoli and his cunning pet tortoise have a dream. They are going to win the legendary Brain Trophy – the ultimate inventing prize. This year's entry: A TIME MACHINE. But the day before the competition, Esha's IGNORAMUS big sister hijacks the time machine and gets lost in the Cretaceous age. In this laugh-out-loud, fully-illustrated time travel adventure, Esha and Broccoli will have to face hungry dinosaurs, mysterious black holes and malfunctioning inventions to get them back in time . . .
Stay up to date with the Marcus Rashford Book Club on Instagram here: @MarcusRashfordBookClub.
You Can Do It
by Marcus Rashford
with Carl Anka.
Just as Marcus uses the power of his voice to shine a light on the injustices that he cares passionately about, now he wants to help kids find the power in theirs. From surrounding themselves with the right team, to showing kindness to others, to celebrating and championing difference,You Can Do It shows kids that their voice really does matter and that they can do anything they put their mind to.
Packed with more inspiring stories from Marcus's own life, brilliant advice, and top tips from social justice educator Shannon Weber, this book will show kids how to use their voice and make a difference in this world.
You Are a Champion
by Marcus Rashford
‘I want to show you how you can be a champion in almost anything you put your mind to.’
Written with journalist Carl Anka, You Are a Champion is packed full of stories from Marcus’s own life, brilliant advice and top tips from performance psychologist Katie Warriner. It will show kids how to be the very BEST that they can be, how to be comfortable with who they are, get out of their comfort zone and find their own voice. The perfect book to inspire reluctant readers and bookworms alike, this positive guide for life will help children achieve their dreams.
The Marcus Rashford You Are a Champion Action Planner
by Marcus Rashford
An interactive guide, packed full of fun and engaging activities and challenges as well as brilliant advice, The Marcus Rashford You Are a Champion Action Planner is the perfect way to get kids reading and empower them to achieve their dreams. Having already inspired millions of children around the world with his guide for life, You Are a Champion, this new book cements Marcus Rashford's place as the ultimate role model for young readers.
‘Believe in YOU and success will happen. Trust me. Live the dream. ’
Marcus Rashford
Find out more about the Marcus Rashford Book Club
In June 2021, Marcus launched The Marcus Rashford Book Club in collaboration with Macmillan Children's Books. With MCB, Marcus chooses and recommends books he thinks children will enjoy, with the aim of encouraging and nurturing an early love of reading.
At the heart of the book club is the ambition to get books into the hands of the children who need them most, particularly those from underprivileged backgrounds and in vulnerable environments. A survey by the National Literacy Trust in 2019 showed that 383,775 children do not own a single book.
In 2021, The Marcus Rashford Book Club, in partnership with children's food charity, Magic Breakfast, gifted 50,000 copies of A Dinosaur Ate My Sister, written by Pooja Puri and illustrated by Allen Fatimaharan, to children via their partner schools. Last October, 50,000 copies of Silas and the Marvellous Misfits by Tom Percival were gifted in partnership with Magic Breakfast, and sponsored by BT.
‘There were times where the escapism of reading could have really helped me. I want this escapism for all children. Not just those that can afford it. We know there are over 380,000 children across the UK today that have never owned a book, children that are in vulnerable environments. That has to change.’
Marcus Rashford
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You Have the Power
by Leah Williamson
Leah Williamson, captain of the England women's football team, encourages us to be leaders and follow our dreams in You Have the Power. In 2022, Leah led the Lionesses to victory in the European Championships. Now, she shares her positive guide for life to show you really can achieve anything you put your mind to – both on and off the pitch. Filled with stories from Leah's own life as well as practical and helpful advice, this is the perfect read for any child looking to be empowered by a brilliant female role model.