Category Literacy

Auto Added by WPeMatico

Books, Culture, Literacy, Sách & Tri thức

‘Relentless’ focus on literacy undermines reading for pleasure, says report

New HarperCollins study finds that daily reading for pleasure among five- to 17-year-olds fell from 39% in 2012 to 25% in 2025

The “relentless” focus on measuring literacy progress in schools has “pushed reading for pleasure to the margins”, according to a new report.

“Parents and schools both recognise that reading for pleasure matters, but their understandable focus on literacy skills is actively undermining it,” found the study, which analysed survey data on reading trends among UK children, drawing on data from HarperCollins, NielsenIQ and The Reading Agency.

thanhtoong0
April 28, 2026

Books, Culture, Fiction, Literacy, Sách & Tri thức, Social media, Society books

‘Last year I read 137 books’: could setting targets help you put down your phone and pick up a book?

BookTok influencer Jack Edwards motivates himself with reading goals – and he’s not alone. Authors and avid readers discuss the rise of metrics, and reveal how many books they finished last year

Every January, thousands of readers log on to Goodreads, Instagram or TikTok and make the same declaration: this is the year I read 50 books. Or 75. Or 100. Screenshots of spreadsheets circulate, templates for tracking pages and percentages are downloaded, friends publicly pledge to “do better” than they did last year. What was once a private pastime is announced, quantified and, in some corners of the internet, judged.

The appeal is obvious: in a distracted age, reading can easily become crowded out by work, screens and fatigue. Literacy rates in the UK are stagnating: in 2024, around 50% of UK adults read regularly for pleasure, down from 58% in 2015.

thanhtoong0
February 21, 2026

Books, Bridget Phillipson, Cressida Cowell, Culture, George the Poet, Julia Donaldson, Leah Williamson, Literacy, Michael Morpurgo, Paterson Joseph, Richard Osman, Sách & Tri thức

Leah Williamson and Richard Osman back National Year of Reading

The footballer and author are supporting a nationwide campaign, Go All In, which aims to reverse the ‘worrying decline’ in reading for pleasure among children in the UK

Leah Williamson, Michael Morpurgo, Julia Donaldson and Richard Osman are among those who have thrown their weight behind a new nationwide push to get people reading for pleasure, as the government and the National Literacy Trust launch the National Year of Reading.

The year-long campaign, called Go All In, aims to reverse what organisers describe as a “worrying decline” in reading enjoyment among children and young people. Just one in three 8- to 18-year-olds now say they enjoy reading in their spare time. Only 26% of boys read for pleasure, compared to 39% of girls. More than a quarter of children are leaving primary school having not reached the reading age of an 11-year-old.

thanhtoong0
January 13, 2026

Books, Culture, Literacy, Sách & Tri thức

Richard Osman among authors backing call to issue library card to all UK babies

The proposal, supported by Kate Mosse and Philip Pullman, aims to make public library membership a national birthright

Richard Osman, Kate Mosse and Sir Philip Pullman are among authors calling for all babies to automatically receive a library card at birth. The proposal, put forward by the thinktank Cultural Policy Unit (CPU), aims to make public library membership a national birthright and encourage a culture of reading and learning in the early stages of childhood through a National Library Card.

“The idea behind a National Library Card is very simple,” Alison Cole, director at the CPU, said. “Access to knowledge and culture should be a birthright, not a postcode lottery. By giving every child an automatic library card from birth, together with a programme of activities and engagement, we make libraries part of the fabric of everyday life.”

thanhtoong0
December 16, 2025

Awards and prizes, Booker prize, Books, Children and teenagers, Children's Booker prize, Children's books: 7 and under, Children's books: 8-12 years, Comics and graphic novels (children and teens), Culture, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Literacy, Sách & Tri thức, Teen books

The Children’s Booker prize will tell kids that they matter

As the number of children reading for pleasure hits a record low, the new award highlights its importance for wellbeing, and will give away thousands of books

Booker prize launches £50,000 children’s award

At the end of the movie Ratatouille, the food reviewer Anton Ego, voiced by Peter O’Toole, makes this beautiful defence of the art of the critic: “There are times when a critic truly risks something. That is in the discovery and defence of the new. The world is often unkind to new talent, new creations. The new needs friends.” The Booker prize has been a friend to the new – new voices, new names, new ways of telling a story – for 56 years. It has made household names of writers whose work might otherwise only have been enjoyed by a few. More importantly – especially since the launch of the International Booker in 2005 – it has helped broaden the horizons of readers.

Now there’s going to be a Booker prize for children’s books aimed at readers aged eight to 12, and I am going to be the first chair of judges. Despite my vast vocabulary, I can’t begin to tell you how hopeful this makes me. Because if the Children’s Booker brings the same energy and boldness to the world of children’s books, it’s going to make a real difference to the lives of thousands of children. It comes at a crucial moment. Everyone knows that children who read for pleasure do better educationally and emotionally. Yet – as we approach the government’s Year of Reading – we find ourselves in a situation where the number of children who read daily has dropped to a 20-year low. We risk losing a whole generation.

thanhtoong0
October 24, 2025