Just how many books does it take to instil a life-long love of reading into a child?
The answer might be hundreds or even thousands, but might also be just one.
I suspect I’m preaching to the converted by sending this to my email list, but recently I’ve been thinking more deeply about reading for pleasure.
I did some research. Here are some of the benefits of reading for pleasure, ranked from the bleeding obvious to the downright mystical: advanced vocabulary; better reasoning skills; enhanced school performance; better social connection; more likely to be involved in the arts and sports; better mental health (including being less likely to suffer from anxiety or depression); better able to cope with difficult things in life; more likely to make better choices around eating and smoking; more likely to volunteer; more likely to vote. Reading for pleasure has even been connected to a longer lifespan.
If there’s a better way to help humans live happy, healthy lives, I don’t know what it is. Books should be prescribed like medicines.
Some lucky kids are read to from the day they’re born. Others… not so much. But the stats don’t lie; reading for pleasure is on the decline.
Recent research out of the UK suggests it’s in real peril. There, only 32% of five to ten-year-olds now choose to read for pleasure, down from 55% in 2012. It also found that just 41% of zero to four-year-olds are read to by their parents.
According to NZ research, we’re not yet close to that. Read NZ puts the percentage of children under six that are read to by their parents at 78%, and increasing to 86% for children aged 6-9 (a grain of salt might be needed here; parents are unlikely to want to admit they don’t read to their children). Read NZ has not asked the question of 5-10-year-olds (they way they did in the UK) as to whether or not they choose to read for pleasure. That might be more revealing.
I believe that enjoyment of reading is first kindled when a young child is read to, but truly ingrained when they independently read a book that turns out to be life-changing. This happens mostly in the middle-grade years (eight to 12 years old). It’s the first book that blows your mind. It’s the one that creates an ever-expanding universe in your head, the one you read over and over.
For most schools, term two is Book Week term in New Zealand. The buzz during the week is palpable. Libraries are mobbed with children dressed as Harry Potter, Matilda, or The Gruffalo. Things 1 and 2 always seem to be sprinting madly everywhere. Sometimes – what a thrill – I see a character from one of my own books among the throng of the Book Week parade.
Schools will often organise an author visit for the children. The goal is simple: to get children excited about reading, and to inspire them to read for pleasure. Kiwi children’s authors are in hot demand, fanning out across the motu and spreading the good news that reading rules.
It’s a beautiful thing, but there’s a break in the loop. The kids are inspired to read the books from the author they’ve just seen, in the flesh, up there at the front of their school hall. But then the momentum is often lost. There’s a single copy of that author’s book in the school library and twelve people are now on the wait list. The Scholastic Book Fair might be on at that school, but the author isn’t published by Scholastic so the book isn’t available. The school rarely thinks about having the author’s books available for purchase. The author is often shy about asking.
Here’s where, as a parent, you need to act fast. Go and buy the book.
I know how it sounds. I’m trying to drum up sales for myself. And I can’t deny that book sales are nice and all – they’re how I pay the bills. In my defence, I’m saying to buy any author’s book; not just mine. Don’t delay. When your child gets into the car in the afternoon and excitedly tells you about the author they heard that day, strike while the iron is still hot. Head to the book store and buy it immediately. Don’t wait until the weekend; you’ll lose momentum, and it probably won’t happen.
A book is a treat, yes, but it’s also education, medication, therapy, elixir, tonic. It’s a miracle between cardboard covers. The right book, in the right child’s hands, at the right time, is worth so much more than the twenty-odd dollars you’ll pay for it.
PS. The government seems intent on taking the pleasure out of reading, instead relegating it to a skill that must be acquired, rather than something pleasurable. In the 2023 curriculum, reading for pleasure was one of the four central activities for students studying English in years 1-13. David Taylor, head of English at Northcote School, and writing in The Spinoff, has refused to teach the National Party’s 2025 updated curriculum, saying that “reading for pleasure has been seriously demoted.” He explains that in the new curriculum proposed by the government reading for pleasure for years 9-13 is no longer a core part of learning; rather just a ‘nice-to-have’, which should be “supported” and “encouraged” by teachers. Taylor writes that there is no mention of reading for pleasure for students in years 7-8 at all.
I’d love to know your thoughts, and also the books that blew your minds. Just click on 'contact' and drop me a line and I'll compile a list for the next newsletter.
