A strong hook for reluctant readers
Footy gives students instant context. They do not have to work out whether the book is for them. The subject is familiar, the covers are inviting and the stories get moving quickly.
For primary school librarians and literacy coordinators
Readers they'll actually ask to borrow.
Fantastic Footy Books are high-interest readers built around the game so many primary students already love. For children who are reluctant to choose a book, particularly boys who may not yet see themselves as readers, footy can be the invitation that gets them through the library door and into a story.
School library set
10 readers · $149.50
Free shipping
High-interest reading for the students who need the right hook
Sometimes the best reader is the one a child chooses for themselves.
You know the students. They wander the shelves, reject three books in a row, or tell you they simply do not like reading. Fantastic Footy Books give librarians and literacy teams a familiar, low-pressure way in: short, lively stories, colourful illustrations, recognisable footy culture and characters that make picking up the next book feel easy.
Especially effective with many boys
For boys who are difficult to engage with conventional classroom readers, sport can turn reading into a choice rather than an assignment. The goal is simple: get the book into their hands and keep them reading.
Readers with genuine shelf appeal
The ten-book set gives students enough variety to browse, borrow, return and reach for another. They work equally well in the library, a classroom reading corner or a targeted literacy collection.
A high-interest reader can be the difference between 'I have to read' and 'Can I borrow this one?'
For the students who say they are not readers
Meet them at an interest they already have.
Literacy engagement often starts before the first sentence. It starts with a student noticing a cover, recognising a theme and deciding that a book might be worth opening.
Fantastic Footy Books were made for exactly that moment. The stories are approachable, visual and paced to keep students moving forward. There is enough text to provide a meaningful reading experience without making the book feel intimidating to a child who has already decided that reading is difficult or boring.
For librarians and literacy coordinators, that makes the collection useful as more than a novelty. It is a practical set of readers you can place directly in front of students who need a high-interest entry point.
- High-interest readers for primary-aged students
- Useful for reluctant and less confident readers
- Particularly appealing to many sport-focused boys
- Ten titles to support repeat borrowing and reading momentum
20+
years after the first edition, we are still hearing from school librarians that these are some of their most-borrowed books.
A reader with staying power
The best proof is what keeps leaving the shelf.
Trends in children's publishing come and go. What has stayed remarkably consistent is the appeal of a good footy story to a child who might otherwise walk straight past the fiction shelves.
More than twenty years after the original Fantastic Footy Books first appeared, librarians still tell us that the books are borrowed again and again. That long history matters because library engagement is not measured by how impressive a book looks in a catalogue. It is measured by whether students choose it.
For literacy teams trying to broaden reading participation, especially among boys and reluctant readers, the collection offers something very practical: familiar subject matter, manageable reading, humour and enough variety to encourage the next borrow after the first.
The complete school reader set
Ten readers. One easy library order.
Order the complete set of ten Fantastic Footy Books for $149.50 with free shipping. It is a simple way to add a full high-interest reader collection in one purchase, with enough titles for students to browse, compare and keep coming back to.
Submit the school order form and we will organise the set for your school and provide an invoice.
Order the school reader set
10 readers
The complete current Fantastic Footy Books collection for your school library.
$149.50
Simple pricing for the full ten-reader set.
Free shipping
Delivered to your school at no additional shipping cost.
School invoice
Submit your order request and we will send the order with an invoice.
For your library, literacy room or classroom collection
Put the books students ask to borrow on your shelves.
Give reluctant readers a familiar reason to start, then give them nine more books to come back for.