Promoting book reading and encouraging children and young people to read for pleasure is crucial as teachers and parents navigate schools’ closures once again. While the benefits of books for developing reading and language skills are well documented, books offer so much more for children and young people during these challenging times.
Books introduce us to new concepts and ideas, they immerse us in fictional worlds, and can evoke a whole range of emotions. Book also have the potential to develop and challenge our thinking, improve our empathy skills, perspective taking, social abilities, and nurture our imagination. In our own research with children and young people we have found that books offer pupils an opportunity to relax, feel calm, laugh, and experience escapism.
They allow opportunities for pupils to pursue their interests, learn new things, and spend time with fictional friends. Each book offers children and young people a new and unique experience, therefore finding ways to promote and encourage more book reading among children and young people is essential.
A recent guide for teachers on promoting reading for pleasure, which I wrote along with edtech provider Renaissance Learning, drew upon research from the National Literacy Trust (NLT, 2020). In its research NLT found that only one in four (25.8%) children and young people reported daily reading outside of class.
This is despite the fact that over half (53%) reported they enjoy reading (Clark & Teravainen-Goff, 2020). During school closures in 2021, perhaps we have an opportunity to change pupils’ reading habits and encourage more children and young people to read for pleasure at home.