Children Reading

[Paul Whybrow]

In a week that’s seen a report from the National Literacy Trust state that only 26% of children under the age of 18 spent some time during the day reading, here are three good news stories about youngsters enjoying books.

How I managed to raise a little bookworm in the age of smartphones and tablets

New reading group allows kids to read to dogs

Boy bullied over his love of books gains 150,000 Instagram followers

Praise be!

Books are the only friends who’ll never let you down.

 

[RK Wallis]

and dogs and cats...

 

[KateESal]

Yes!!

My kids give me a fair amount of grief in some areas (they're both on the autistic spectrum, which makes for some challenging moments!) but I'm immeasurably glad that both of them adore books and reading and voluntarily spend significant chunks of time every day with their noses in a story.

And as a school librarian, it always gladdens my heart to meet a committed young reader.

But yes, there are fewer nowadays, I don't doubt it. We are fighting for the attention of a dwindling pool, I fear.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

When I'm on lunch duty, I make a point of giving plenty of attention to the students who take a book to lunch with them. Not only does it encourage them to keep on reading (once I stop talking to them ), but it sends a message to their peers that reading = positive feedback from adults. Every class at the school I work at has a 30-minute DEAR (drop everything and read) time after lunch too, which is great. It's 'mandatory' reading, but I have yet to see a kid who doesn't participate fully in it.