Tom’s visit was the fourth such opportunity for students at the school to engage with a professional author, with previous visits from Phil Earle, Rob Lloyd Jones and Annabel Pitcher also helping to inspire the next generation of authors and creative writers.

As a self-confessed late bloomer when it came to his appreciation of reading, Tom struggled at a young age and didn’t have the stamina to read long books. A love of sport would eventually provide the gateway to reading for pleasure, with Tom’s mum helping to make reading more accessible for him through encouragement to read football-related magazines, books and newspaper articles.

Tom gradually grew to love books and developed a passion for reading. This led to a renewed vigour to continue his education – first through the study of A-Levels at night school, before going on to complete a degree in European Literature.     

Fast forward to 2023 and in the years since becoming a professional writer, Tom Palmer is now the author of 57 books which, collectively, have sold well over half a million copies. On a local level, his books are consistently among some of the most popular reads in the Withernsea High School library.

During his visit to the school, Tom delivered an interactive and engaging talk that encouraged Year 7 and 8 students to share their experiences of reading to discover what types of books they enjoy and what they think of reading in general.

Key themes of Tom’s books include War, History, Football and Rugby – topics which lend themselves to engagement from reluctant readers in a conscious effort by the author himself to introduce reading to those who are often hard to reach. 

Keen to learn more about the impact of his writing, particularly on the subject of war, one Year 7 student asked him whether writing such emotional stories and doing so much research into the war emotionally scars him. Impressed by the question, Tom revealed that he’d never been asked to think about that before and recognised what an important question it was. It was a revealing insight from a student, demonstrating engagement and sensitivity that clearly impressed the author, and came on the back of the tutor time reading programme where Tom’s book ‘After the War’ has featured.

Combining his love of reading and sport, Tom introduced a physical element to his talk by staging a Rugby challenge. This saw students answering questions based on books, or topical news events, in order to have the chance of kicking a ball to score a goal in front of their peers. The cheers from the crowd were deafening as students collectively celebrated their friends’ general knowledge and athletic successes. 

Laura Aldridge, Lead for Whole School Reading and Literacy, said: “Tom’s visit delivered an inspiring message to our ambitious young readers about resilience and perseverance - important qualities which powered him through a 20 year journey from discovering his love for reading, to having his first book published. They are also important messages about life in general and qualities we want to instil in our students as they navigate their way through life's difficulties.

Through his love of sport, and the Rugby kick challenge that our students so enthusiastically embraced, he demonstrated that passions for sport and reading need not be mutually exclusive – they can go hand-in-hand to create a better reader and better all-round person.

Another important message Tom helped to deliver was that geographical location, or a person’s social background, should not create barriers to success. Coming from West Yorkshire, Tom shared with our students that, in his younger years, he didn’t ever think that people like him were destined to be authors – assuming, instead, that success came to people from affluent backgrounds.

However, after reading Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, a well-known resident of West Yorkshire, Tom realised that it doesn’t matter where you’re from, if you’ve got a passion for something – there’s no reason why you can’t turn it into a success.”

Reflecting on his visit to Withernsea High School, Tom added: “Part of my job as an author is to go into schools and chat with children about reading for pleasure and how meaningful writing can be. At Withernsea I really enjoyed the conversation and enthusiasm for both. But I also enjoyed talking with the teachers too. There’s a lot of love for reading at the school and I would like to thank them for having me.”

Tom’s visit followed hot on the heels of this year’s World Book Day – an annual celebration of authors, illustrators, books and reading that aims to inspire young people to pick up a book and discover a different world through the imaginations of writers past and present.

This year’s activities saw every lesson start with students being read an extract from a different book, which they then had to rate and review for the chance of winning a prize. In addition, teachers were encouraged to share the books that made an impact on them as young people – shining a light on choices which have gone on to inform their later careers.

In addition, over 250 books were distributed to Year 7 and 8 students who benefited from a variety of titles from surplus library stocks and leftover books from previous book giveaways.

However, a particular highlight of the day was a Magical and Mythical Creatures quiz to mark twenty years since the publication of the first of Cressida Cowell’s best-selling book series ‘How to train your dragon’. This saw students answering questions from a variety of texts including Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

ABOVE: Tom Palmer shared his love of books with students at Withernsea High School.

ABOVE: Combining his love of sport and books, Tom hosted a Rugby kick challenge as part of his interactive talk.