The Independent reports that the days of children reading traditional books are numbered, claims the man spearheading a campaign to improve literacy in schools.
Publishers must adapt titles to the demands of modern young readers who spend more time on the internet if they are to succeed in persuading the next generation to read, says Jonathan Douglas, the director of the National Literacy Trust.
He made his remarks as researchers prepared to tell a conference starting today that children’s reading habits slump dramatically after they start at secondary school. The typical eight-year-old reads nearly 16 books a year but, by the time they reach 15 or 16, this has dwindled to just over three books per year. The big drop-off starts after the first year of secondary school, when the number of books read falls from nearly 12 a year to just six.
A story has to be good enough to capture children’s attention and imagination. Too many gritty urban tension filled depressing books are bound to discourage young readers. Aquila by Andrew Norriss won the Whitbread Children’s Award. Norriss’s books are loved by all who find them – children, parents, grandparents because they are funny, adventurous, with a subtle message about Life, but most of all they are GOOD stories.
Thanks for this. I haven’t read Andrew Norriss but shall look out for him.