Marcus Rashford Book Club gives Manchester Utd star’s first fiction book to 50,000 children

Marcus Rashford’s debut children’s fiction book will be gifted to 50,000 children this summer as part of the Marcus Rashford Book Club.

The Breakfast Club Adventures: The Beast Beyond the Fence , co-authored by Alex Falase-Koya and illustrated by Marta Kissi (Macmillan Children’s Books), will be given to primary school-aged children in the most economically deprived areas of the UK through the club – a literacy programme run in partnership with Macmillan Children’s Books, KPMG and The National Literacy Trust.

Rashford, whose book You Are A Champion (Macmillan Children’s Books) won Book of the Year at this year’s British Book Awards, said: “The Marcus Rashford Book Club was designed to get the right books in the hands of children who have very limited access to them. To offer them an escape from environments that can be quite challenging and to find the joy in reading. 

“Books that are representative of not only skin colour and religion, but socio-economic backgrounds too. Books are a great source of inspiration and motivation, and much needed for children who struggle to see beyond what is on their doorstep. It’s been brilliant to see the response from the children to the book deliveries and I’m proud to be continuing this valuable work alongside The National Literacy Trust and KPMG this summer.” 

Falase-Koya added: “When I was growing up books were always a refuge to me and a place where my imagination could be ignited. The ability to give that to more children is amazing, and this is why I think the Marcus Rashford Book Club is such a great project. 

“The Breakfast Club Adventures: The Beast Beyond the Fence is a diverse book full of excitement and I hope that it really catches the imagination of all the children. I’m so glad that I got to work with Marcus on this, he’s an amazing role model." 

So far, the club has given150,000 books to children across the country and a further 25,000 copies of a fourth book will reach children in the autumn. 

Rachel Hopcroft, partner and head of corporate affairs at KPMG in the UK, said: “Literacy is one of the key building blocks of social mobility and ensuring that every young child in society has equal opportunity to thrive is essential if we are to build a fairer and more prosperous society for all. We are thrilled to have joined forces with The National Literacy Trust and the Marcus Rashford Book Club. It’s just one of the tangible ways we can support local communities, improving literacy and along with it, social mobility.” 

Inspired by Rashford’ own experiences growing up, The Breakfast Club Adventures: The Beast Beyond the Fence kicks off when 12-year-old – fictional – Marcus kicks his favourite football over the school fence, the publisher synopsis reads. He knows he’s never getting it back – nothing that goes over that wall ever comes back. But when Marcus gets a mysterious note inviting him to join the Breakfast Club Investigators, he is soon pulled into an exciting adventure with his new mates to solve the mystery and get his football back.

The Breakfast Club Adventures: The Beast Beyond the Fence is published on 26th May 2022.

Belinda Ioni Rasmussen, m.d. of Macmillan Children’s Books, said: "Since we started working with Marcus to promote reading for pleasure in 2021, 170,000 children and young people in the UK have received a free MCB book and 100,000 books have been gifted specifically through the official Book Club initiative, which is designed to actively support children on their reading journey. We are very pleased to welcome KPMG as a new partner for this next stage and we thank them for their commitment to this campaign. With them on board, and with us all working closely with the team at the National Literacy Trust, we know that together we can continue to have a strong impact and bring positive change to children’s lives.” 

Illustrator Kissi commented: “The Breakfast Club Adventures was a really enjoyable project to work on. My favourite thing about it was designing the diverse cast of characters and illustrating their mystery-filled adventure. I got to play around with lots of spooky lighting effects and a misty atmosphere, which is always great fun.”