Marcus Rashford has inspired the nation with his campaign for free school meals to make sure no child goes hungry. Now, the Manchester United footballer has expanded his portfolio by becoming an author with his new motivational book for children, ‘You Are A Champion: Unlock Your Potential, Find Your Voice and Be the BEST You Can Be‘, written with Carl Anka.

Expected to be released on May 27th (2021), the book includes stories from Rashford’s own life, illustrations and tips from psychologist Katie Warriner to help children grow their confidence, dream big and discover the power of their own voice. 

In a statement, he said: “It’s hard to know what is possible until you start. You have to be able to dream big and be prepared to work towards your dreams. Good things take time. I’ve achieved a lot, but it didn’t come in one go. Big things rarely happen overnight, and good things rarely happen as if by magic.”

In November of 2020, Rashford MBE created his book club and is now following this with his inspirational children’s book. His aim is to make sure that children of all backgrounds are encouraged to enjoy literacy and reading.

I really wanted every child (11-16) to open this book and feel like it was written for them regardless of their background, their home environment, the colour of their skin, their gender, their religion. This was the absolute priority and I’m really proud of what we’ve achieved https://t.co/LY2xgNjJOc

— Marcus Rashford MBE (@MarcusRashford) March 24, 2021

The 23-year-old also shared that he hopes his book club and new book will allow children to feel the benefits that reading can have on mental health. 

“I just really 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. There were times where the escapism of reading could have really helped me,” he said.

In 2020, Rashford was awarded an MBE for his campaign to end child hunger. Marcus’s motivation for his campaign followed his own experiences as a child and the struggles that families continue to experience in making sure all their children have access to food. During the pandemic, this cause was particularly highlighted when children weren’t able to go into schools and didn’t have access to the meals they would normally be provided. This campaign lead to the government providing a £120 million Covid fund for meals, along with spreading awareness of child poverty in the UK. 

You can preorder ‘You Are A Champion’ here.