Survey on children and reading
The results of a survey organised by Edizioni Piemme – Il Battello a Vapore for their 30th anniversary together with BVA Doxa Kids were presented during the Salone del Libro bookfair in Turin. The survey, designed to identify engagement factors that can trigger a love of reading among young people, involved 500 children aged between 8 and 11 who had read at least 3 books in the last year, and their parents (an equal number of mothers and fathers), and produced interesting findings on the development of a passion for books among boys and girls.
The basic points to emerge were as follows:
● If children develop good independent reading skills by the age of 7, reading may become a pleasant free-time activity for boys and girls. 66% of the youngsters in the survey said they greatly enjoyed reading. Reading does not seem to be a ‘duty’, it is
not described as such, but as something that piques curiosity (57%), stimulates the imagination (54%), and is associated with adventure (47%) and discovery (46%).
● The ‘right’ book is what leads to a love of reading, a book that the youngster particularly enjoyed is the trigger (36%). Equally important is the role played by the family in suggesting or giving books as gifts (34%). A more limited but nevertheless crucial role is played in this by teachers (24%). For half of the youngsters, that ‘first enthralling book’ was the spur that led them to read other books (47%).
● Yesterday’s keen readers are the parents of today’s keen readers: more than half of the parents in the survey read frequently and 46% said reading was a hobby. Many similarities between past and present emerged in the experiences of parents and their children.
● The choice of books for children is shared and negotiated with parents: 1 out of 3 said they chose books themselves, while 2 out of 3 said sometimes they chose, sometimes their parents chose. Books can be a topic of conversation with friends: 62% said sometimes and 1 out of 3 said often.
● Introducing kids to reading is due to a large extent to the oversight of parents: 61% read books with their children when they were small, 57% bought books they thought they would like, 55% talked about the books they were reading and 51% about the
love of reading in general. Mothers are more strongly engaged in all reading activities (average involvement mothers 71%, fathers 29%), with suggestions, actual purchases and conversations about books read or suggested.
● The importance of the role played by parents is strengthened by the fact that they themselves recognise the objective benefits of reading: the most important include building vocabulary (63%) and development of language skills (55%), both mentioned by mothers. In addition the development of the imagination and creativity (62%), which is particularly strong among parents with daughters (66%). Values that reading should convey include curiosity (48%) and respect (43%).
● What do the youngsters expect from a book? First, that it lets them use their imagination and go off into imaginary worlds (56%), a stronger trait among girls. It could also help them ‘learn new things’ (47%), cited more frequently by boys, and so
identify themselves with the characters (46%). Parents too express the same perception in recalling their approach to reading during their childhood, but a sense of greater engagement emerges from their memories.
● The parents’ development from children to adult readers reflects the importance of stimulating and cultivating a love of reading in small children. Perceptions change in part among adults, when reading becomes an opportunity to relax (58%) rather than a source of curiosity (48%), a desire for discovery (48%) and a pastime (46%), although love of reading is confirmed!