770,000 children don’t own a book

THE decline of reading for pleasure among children has long been a worry for traditionalists.

Now it seems their fears are confirmed with research finding that more than three- quarters of a million youngsters do not own even a single book.

The striking figure will fuel concern that an era of smartphones and myriad other electronic temptations is having a devastating effect on education.

The National Literacy Trust surveyed 42,406 children aged eight to 18 and found that almost one in ten (9.4 per cent) do not own a book. When the figures are extrapolated across the UK, it estimates that out of about 9.5million school-age children, 770,129 are in this situation.

Jonathan Douglas, director of the National Literacy Trust, said: ‘Books have the power to transform children’s lives, which is why it is so alarming to discover that more than three-quarters of a million children in the UK don’t have a single book to call their own.’

The charity’s report, Book Ownership And Reading Outcomes, found children with books at home are 15 times more likely to read above the level expected of their age than peers who do not have any (28.8 per cent to 1.9 per cent).

Bestselling children’s author Cressida Cowell insisted ‘just one book can make a huge difference’. She added: ‘By sparking imaginations, stimulating critical thinking, and helping develop empathy, reading gives children the very literacy skills they need to succeed at school, at work and in life.

‘Yet far too many children are missing out on the chance to reach their potential for one simple reason – they don’t have a single book of their own at home.’

The National Literacy Trust has teamed up with EasyJet to encourage children to read more books over the summer holidays. Parents can download fun activities,

‘Gives children the skills to succeed’

while the airline is distributing 17,500 children’s books across 300 aircraft for youngsters to begin reading in-flight, including Peter Pan, Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, The Jungle Book and The Secret Garden.

The airline carried out its own survey of 2,000 British parents with children aged between six and 12. Almost all respondents (94 per cent) agreed that electronic devices had ‘led to the decline in children reading for pleasure’, while 92 per cent said they ‘reduced the attention span of children, making it more difficult for them to get stuck into a book’.