This year's list throws up some interesting milestones. For the first time ever in the six years of the scheme, a Premier League player has been involved in the writing of one of the books as Middlesbrough goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer co-wrote his choice, the children's book Megs and the Vootball Kids.

And England keeper David James appears as a Reading Champion for the sixth consecutive season. Other big name internationals such as Matthew Upson, Dirk Kuyt and Jermaine Jenas are among the 20 players who have chosen their favourite books.

Their choices range from classic novels such as John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men; sports biographies like Joe Lovejoy's chronicle of the life of George Best, Bestie: A Portrait of a Legend; and children's favourites like Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach.

Premier League Reading Stars has a simple central premise. Each of the 20 Barclays Premier League clubs nominates a player as their 'Reading Champion' and they select their favourite children or adult's book to create a 20-strong book list. All clubs have adopted at least one library, who receive free copies of all the recommended titles.

role models

Families who take part in sessions at the library have the chance to meet their Reading Champion, a local author and get involved in a series of football-based literacy games throughout the initiative.

Results from last year's project indicate that Premier League Reading Stars is working, with 97 per cent of children who took part saying that they will read more regularly as a result and 90 per cent of parents said they would go to a library more often.

The scheme has been developed as part of a partnership between the National Literacy Trust, Arts Council England, the Football Foundation and the Premier League, and will be supported by a series of family reading groups at libraries across the country.

Sir Dave Richards, Chairman of the Premier League and the Football Foundation, said: "With Premier League Reading Stars, we hope to be able to use footballers' favourite book choices as a way of inspiring families to read together. It gives players the opportunity to act as positive role models and shows that by using the power of football we can successfully change people's attitudes to reading."

Jonathan Douglas, Director of the National Literacy Trust, said: "Parental involvement in reading has more of an influence on children's achievement than many other factors - including how rich or well educated their parents are. Football has the power to capture the imagination of parents and children alike, so it's fantastic to see such great support for reading from players and clubs."

reading champions' book selections

Click on players' names to view their book selections

Manuel Almunia (Arsenal)

Scott Carson (Aston Villa)

Stephen Kelly (Birmingham City)

Brad Friedel (Blackburn Rovers)

Jussi Jasskelainen (Bolton Wanderers)

Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea)

Andy Todd (Derby County)

Leon Osman (Everton)

Elliot Omozusi (Fulham)

Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool)

Michael Ball (Manchester City)

Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United)

Mark Schwarzer (Middlesbrough)

Steven Taylor (Newcastle United)

David James (Portsmouth)

Marcus Hahnemann (Reading)

Darren Ward (Sunderland)

Jermaine Jenas (Tottenham Hotspur)

Matthew Upson (West Ham United)

Kevin Kilbane (Wigan Athletic)