A new kind of thriller for John O’Shea and Joey O’Brien

Getting booked isn’t usually a good thing in football, but a number of top soccer players, including John O’Shea and Joey O’Brien, have taken one for the team in a bid to encourage literacy in schools.

The Premier League Reading Stars is a partnership between the Premier League and Britain's National Literacy Trust aimed at improving literacy levels in primary and secondary school children. Focussing on pupils who are struggling to reach required reading standards and are in danger of falling behind, the programme, now in its third year, is used as a toolkit to support the national curriculum.

An online challenge run in tandem with the initiative is available to children everywhere, free of charge. It consists of 20 high-profile Premier League players who set reading comprehension challenges in a range of videos that can be accessed through the National Literacy Trust website.

Players from all the top-flight clubs have taken part, with West Ham's Joey O'Brien and Sunderland's John O'Shea flying the flag for Ireland. Everton's Steven Naismith is videoed reading from Irish author Derek Landy's fantasy series Skulduggery Pleasant. Children are encouraged to complete the challenges by a series of online rewards. These challenges and exercises can also be used as literacy aids in schools.

"Reading is one of my favourite hobbies," says O'Brien, who cites Melvin Burgess's The Cry of the Wolf as a book that left a lasting impression from his schooldays. "It's a great form of education. I've learnt a lot from books."

John O'Shea's favourite childhood book was Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr Fox. "I loved the story about a young fox protecting his family from the three evil farmers Bean, Boggis and Bunce." O'Shea says he's still a big reader now, using it to switch off when travelling to games or to get to sleep when staying in hotels for away matches.

For teachers based in Britain, a resource pack of 10 curriculum-supporting sessions has been put together, written by literacy experts including a high-profile football author. Reading sessions mirror the trainings regimes of footballers, starting with a warm-up and ending with a cool down, linking the sport with reading for the pupils. Other incentives include colourful reading journals, badges, certificates, wrist bands and pens, all aimed at making readers feel part of a team. More information can be found at literacytrust.org.uk/plrs_2014_home.

Watch the videos here

[ http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/plrs_2014/everton/legendary ]

[ http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/plrs_2014/sunderland ]

[ http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/plrs_2014/west_ham_united ]