World Book Day – why reading really does matter.

Today, March the 6th 2025 is ‘World Book Day’ and this year the theme is “Read your way”. Did you know that World Book Day takes place in the Uk and Ireland on the first Thursday in March each year? Their website has a wealth of ideas and suggestions; including a link to some incredible FREE audio stories. https://www.worldbookday.com/

As we enjoy dressing up, as our favourite characters there has never been a better time to reflect on how we help children to develop a life-long love of reading. With research showing that reading for pleasure is at an all time low with just 1 in 3 (34.6%) children and young people aged 8 to 18 saying that they enjoy reading in their free time in 2024. Reading enjoyment levels have decreased by 8.8 percentage points over the past year alone.

We also know that reading and being read to has a significant impact of children’s achievements in school and beyond into adult life. Children's vocabulary skills are closely linked to their background and by the age of three research shows that there is a 30 million word ‘gap’ between children from language rich and language poor homes; the vocabulary gap is evident in children as young as toddlers. Before we consider independent reading for pleasure, we need to give children the opportunities to hear spoken words, have stories read to them and told, listen to poems and rhymes and hear a wealth of spoken language that they can use in storytelling and play.

Let’s take a minute to explore what a reluctant reader is.

A reluctant reader is, quite simply, a person who does not show an interest in reading. This might be because they struggle with reading and mask this with reluctance or it may be as simple as they find other activities more interesting so are not engaged in reading. We often assume that it is boys who are less engaged in reading but a report by the National Literacy Trust in December 2021 (Forgotten girls: The reluctant girl readers) highlights that it’s equally likely that girls will become reluctant readers with 2 in 5 girls aged 8-18 indicating that they did not enjoy reading – evidence indicates that this group is sizeable and potentially growing.

We recently delivered training on ‘Reading for Life’ which made us look closely at how we support reluctant readers at every stage of their life. We began by asking the group about their reading habits. Take a moment to think about your own reading habits. As an adult do you read regularly? Do you read on a device or do you read a paper book? Do children in you setting (or your own children) see you reading for pleasure? This led us to think about how we can help children to see reading as a pleasurable experience rather than something that is purely related to school or learning.

The 2024 ITTECF Framework talks about reading and its importance.

“To access the curriculum, early literacy provides fundamental knowledge; reading comprises two elements: word reading and language comprehension; systematic synthetic phonics is the most effective approach for teaching pupils to decode.” “Every teacher can improve pupils’ communication and literacy, including by explicitly teaching reading, writing and oral language skills specific to individual disciplines.”

There is a huge focus on reading in schools and early reading in Early Years settings and we know that although reading is vital for children to be able to access the curriculum in later years; most importantly in their formative years it allows children to hear and explore vocabulary. You may have heard the James Britten quote “Writing floats on a sea of talk.” In Reality everything floats on a sea of talk and hearing stories, telling stories and reading are vital for this.

Research shows that the quality and quantity of language that young children hear can help them to become highly engaged readers and it has the potential to allow a child to overcome their background. Results from the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) showed that: “while the degree of engagement in reading varies considerably from country to country, 15-year-olds whose parents have the lowest occupational status but who are highly engaged in reading obtain higher average reading scores in PISA than students whose parents have high or medium occupational status but who report to be poorly engaged in reading. This suggests that finding ways to engage students in reading may be one of the most effective ways to leverage social change.”

Did you know that in 2019, the year before Covid 28% of pupils finished their Reception year without achieving the expected level of development? And although the 2024 data shows a slight improvement there are still nearly a quarter of children leaving the foundation stage not meeting the expected levels for reading. (23.8% did not achieve the GLD for reading).

· 2024 Early Years Foundation Stage Profile Results

Children who have poor vocabulary at the age of five are twice as likely to be unemployed at the age of 34. So, it must be the responsibility of everyone – parents/ carers and educationalists to support Reading and Literacy – because children with poor literacy skills face significant challenges in their education and beyond.

So; What can we do to support reluctant readers and help them to develop a life-long love of reading?

In England, over the last decade, there has been an increasing drive to support pupils to read for pleasure. This is because the research shows that there is a strong link between reading for pleasure and academic outcomes. The Education Endowment Foundation concluded that “Ensuring every child has the necessary skills they need to read is an essential component of literacy education. It enables children to not only learn across the curriculum but also to access numerous aspects of daily life, influencing the opportunities that they have available to them in the future.”

In addition to improving academic outcomes, research shows that reading for pleasure results in:

• Increased empathy

• Improved relationships

• Reductions in depression

• General knowledge and a wider breadth of vocabulary

• Better understanding of cultures and the world around them

• Improved wellbeing

• Reduction in likelihood of dementia in later life

At all stages of education it’s the responsibility of all adults; whether that’s the teacher, the office manager or the lunchtime assistant; to promote reading for pleasure, learning in the early years lays the foundation of a love of storytelling and reading. Getting excited about stories and books is an important aspect of engaging pupils in reading and this must continue throughout education as well as on World Book Day!

In Primary schools it’s important to have consistent approaches to reading and ensure that children are immersed in Literacy. But it’s essential that we think outside of the box when we are finding strategies to engage reluctant readers.

Stories should be read aloud to children throughout Primary (and in Secondary Schools) to allow them to hear vocabulary, listen to someone using expression and differentiating their voice, to listen to story language, develop their understanding of narrative and settings and develop joy in books. Children need good language, comprehension and word reading skills to become fluent readers. Encouraging children to visualise the story – maybe closing their eyes or drawing as the story is read helps reluctant readers to become more engaged in the plot and connect with the characters. Audio books are another way of helping children hear stories and relate to books whilst gaining their own thoughts and ideas about the story. The return of story sacks is helping to improve language and vocabulary through play, engagement and emersion of stories.

There are a never-ending range of strategies to promote reading for pleasure in school. Book corners are a brilliant place to start – whether it’s an actual corner, a nook, a reading shed, a book boat or a book bus; children who have a place to read that is exciting, engaging and has a range of books will be more enthusiastic about reading for pleasure. Alongside this it’s important that books are available everywhere – whether that is books about building near the construction area, books about internet safety near the laptops or magazines and catalogues in the home corner.

As children become more confident and independent readers schools can develop a cornucopia of strategies to engage readers. From free reading Fridays and early morning book cafes to extreme reads and DEAR time. We have seen in some school staff reading in different places around the school at the start or end of the day and during class transition times, as well as book recommendations on newsletters.

Giving children choices about books is also very important – not all children will like the same books, genres or authors. Ensuring that there is a range of different age-appropriate genre that readers of all abilities can access is essential in maintaining children interest and enthusiasm in reading. As a year 6 pupil with a reading age of a year 3 you do not what to be reading books deems year 3, so books that are age appropriate but support reading skills should be an essential investment for schools.

Giving children the opportunity to select the end of day story, for classes to vote on a story and for children to choose a story without seeing the cover are ways to support this. I love the little brown bag read and do this regularly with my class. We have 2 brown paper bags with books in – the children are not able to see the front cover, I add a couple post it notes with some key words but apart from that they choose a book without a visual based on the size, shape and thickness of the book. It’s amazing how this creates opportunities for talk, for sharing of ideas and it allows children to make their own predictions about a story. With older children this could take the form of book tasting or book speed dating – a selection of books around the tables, children have a drink and a snack and can spend 5 minutes reading part of a book before moving on and sampling another.

In Key Stage One and Two having recommended read slips for children to complete when they finish a book to share with friends encourages children to choose a wider range of books, they can share what they like about the book and why they think their friend will like it. Having sticky notes where children can write a few words about the book and leave on the front cover helps other children can have a sneak preview into the book.

In all settings, whether its pre-schools or upper primary, it’s important that children see books and are constantly exposed to fiction and non-fiction texts. Leaving books in prominent places, taking time to talk about books at different points in the day – when lining up for lunch, during PE, at snack time as all important because every moment is a learning opportunity.

Engaging children with a particular author is another way to support all children and give them a change to explore a range of books. Authors are a great resource and many offer free book sessions for schools and then sell their books as part of their package. The use of digital technology has widened the opportunities for authors to ‘visit’ schools and read to children. This opens their mind to new authors and books they may never have read before. Most authors also have some sort of social media – why not write to them or tweet them – see if they reply and get some genuine interaction with a real author to raise the engagement in a book or a specific author.

Just before half term we were fortunate in a school we work with to have a visit from Nick Butterworth, author of the Percy and Park keeper books and ‘Wonderful Earth’. He spoke to parents and then each key stage about the importance of reading. He explained to parents that when his own children were young he accidentally made an investment in their future; this was through sharing bedtime stories every night together. Any this was not just when they were 4 or 5 but as they grew up too. He explained how through listening to and reading books children are unconsciously developing a broad depth of vocabulary and acquiring language skills as well as the infectious desire to read for themselves!

In this safe environment, conversations easily turn to any and every subject under the sun leading to high quality conversation and books can be an invaluable in the way to promote a sense of identity and security in children.

A Year 6 child explained that he inspired reading by telling then that they need to think beyond their limitation and explained how he has told them that “you may think your everyday life is boring but if you look around you will see and hear so much more!

He demonstrated this same thing with a cohort of EYFS children playing the ‘squiggle game’ he asked a child to draw a squiggle on the board and he then turned this into something amazing and developed a story around it – and so the ‘Badgehog’ was born!

As adults in a school or parents at home we can support older readers by sharing our own reading diet. Do children see us read – whether in school or at home? Is there a shelf or book case in your school library where staff can choose a book while their class are doing the same thing? Does your school have a little library, a library bus or a book swap where staff and parents can choose books alongside pupils? As a parent or teacher of older children do you tell your children about trips to a book shop or library, do you share new authors you have read books by?

We must also remember that it is paramount to work with families to support reading for pleasure at home. Not all children have access to books at home and since the pandemic this has got worse. In 2023 the National Literacy Trust reported that 1 in 12 children and young people aged 5 to 18 did not have a book of their own and 1 in 8 children who receive free school meals did not have a book of their own. Research indicates that 1 in 5 parents say they are buying fewer books for their children due to the cost-of-living crisis.

So, let’s consider how we can support families, in schools we can consider running parent workshops and reading cafes as a great ways of engaging family members in reading for pleasure. Inviting parents or grandparents in to read to the class or read with their children also supports families. Perhaps a ‘little library’ for both children and another for adults on the school grounds could offer access to books and inspiration? When thinking about reading for pleasure we must remember that not all the parents in our school community will have grown up reading for pleasure so we must also consider how we raise up their barriers in conjunction with their children?

As we draw to a close and the excitement of World Book Day 2025 is upon us we must remember that Literacy is the responsibility of all adults. We must all do everything we can to help children to develop a love of reading and thus give them the best opportunities to access all areas of learning throughout their school life and beyond.

And finally, always remember the words of Dr Seuss: