Footballer Marcus Rashford has announced the second book selected in his book club which aims to foster a love of reading in disadvantaged children.
Fifty thousand copies of Silas and the Marvellous Misfits will be gifted to youngsters in disadvantaged areas who may not have books at home.
The illustrated adventure by Tom Percival is said to help show kids how to love their differences and discover the joy of being themselves.
The footballer said: “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.”
The Marcus Rashford Book Club is a reader-recommends programme created by the England International footballer and child food poverty campaigner with Macmillan Children's Books.
His own debut children's book, co-written with Carl Anka, You Are A Champion, was number one in the children’s book charts for four weeks.
Macmillan has partnered with BT who will provide sponsorship to support getting 50,000 free copies to over 850 primary schools in disadvantaged areas of England and Scotland in the autumn via children’s food charity partner, Magic Breakfast.
The 50,000 books will be divided between the primary schools Magic Breakfast currently supports, including mainstream schools, Pupil Referral Units (PRU) and Special Educational Needs (SEN) schools and given to children to own and take home.
Belinda Ioni Rasmussen, of Macmillan Children's Books, said: “Research from the National Literacy Trust tells us that nearly 400,000 children do not own a book in the UK and our ambition with the Book Club is to reach as many of these children as possible.”
