Joe Wicks, aka The Body Coach, kept the nation moving through lockdown. In this episode of The Joy of Books from the National Literacy Trust, he tells Gaby Huddart about the books that helped him through a difficult childhood and the ones that have shaped the dad he is today.

Joe talks openly about growing up with a mum who struggled with OCD and anxiety and a dad who was addicted to heroin. School was his safe place, but he wasn't a reader. Even so, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory got his imagination going, and Of Mice and Men was the first book to move him to tears. Later, Anthony Kiedis's Scar Tissue gave him hope about addiction and recovery. Kate Silverton's There's No Such Thing as Naughty taught him to be "the wise owl" rather than shout, and he says it changed his life.

Joe has read 15 books in the past year. He talks about Empire of Pain, Careless People, Supremacy and Ultra-Processed People, the book that led to his Channel 4 documentary. He also explains the daily 6pm "phone-free dad" alarm that makes time for bedtime stories. Along the way, he reads from Roald Dahl, shares two poems tied to his dad's recovery, Footprints in the Sand and The Serenity Prayer, and reads out a shark-filled story by his six-year-old son Marley.

Joe is an ambassador for the National Literacy Trust's Go All In campaign for the National Year of Reading 2026. He talks about rediscovering his local library, his Burpee Bears children's books and his new family cookbook, Healthy Start. It's a warm, funny and honest conversation about how reading can change a life at any age.

The Joy of Books with Gaby Huddart is a Pixiu Podcast for The National Literacy Trust.

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