Over the past few weeks, my three children have been overtaken by a sudden desire to write. Specifically, they’ve been writing lists — Christmas lists. Yet there must be growing unease in the North Pole, because those wondrous portals that can carry a child to the Moon or Mars, or back in time, are conspicuously absent from my sons’ wishlists. Only my 10-year-old daughter wants a book.
It’s a small sample, but my findings tally with the more rigorous annual survey by the UK’s National Literacy Trust (NLT): this year it found that just one in three young people aged five to 18 enjoy reading in their free time — the lowest level in 20 years.
There has been much hand-wringing about the NLT data, with screens, social media and Silicon Valley blamed as distractions that deny children the developmental benefits of literature. Some in the publishing industry, rarely slow to fret, are calling it a crisis. Yet look beyond the headlines and the decline has not been steady. Nor does it mirror the rise of smartphones. The high point was in 2016 when 58.6 per cent of children read for pleasure. It is only since 2022 that a downward trend has emerged, offering hope that it is reversible.