A study by the National Literacy Trust has revealed that more than 380,000 children in the UK do not own a single book. The charity conducted a survey of more than 56,000 children aged between nine and 18, and just over 6% said that they didn’t have any books at home.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds were found to be less likely to own a book. However, in the past six years, the gap in book ownership between disadvantaged children and more-advantaged children has halved.
This PDF resource includes this article, as well as accompanying activity ideas:
- Is it essential for children to own books? No one is doubting that reading books is extremely important and becoming a confident reader is a valuable life skill. But is it really necessary to own them? After all, you can borrow books from libraries or read them on electronic devices, both of which save trees by reducing the amount of paper we use. Or do you think that it is important to have books in your house because sometimes you can’t get to a library? What’s more, some people don’t have electronic devices. What do you think?
- Write a review of a good book you have read recently. Remember to say what it is and who wrote it and give a brief summary of the plot before explaining what you thought of it
- Write a letter to your favourite author, telling them how much you enjoy their books. Try to add two or three interesting questions to ask the author about either themselves or the characters in their books
- What are the UK’s all-time top ten favourite children’s books? Find some research that has looked into this question and write down the titles and authors of those books. Indicate which ones you have actually read or had read to you
Find the entire series of Topical Tuesday resources to download here.
What is The Week Junior?
The Week Junior magazine is looks at current affairs and helps children make sense of the world, provides context and clarity to complex issues, improves general knowledge and encourages discussion and debate.
To find out more about The Week Junior and to download its free resources, please go to schools.theweekjunior.co.uk.