
The UK children’s laureate, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, certainly thinks so. He believes that a decline in children’s happiness in the UK is linked to a decline in reading for pleasure. He also believes screen time plays a part in this decline, with some children not encountering a book before they start school and then trying to swipe a book to turn the page in the same way that they would use a screen.
Today, at The Reading Rights Summit in Liverpool, organised by Mr Cottrell-Boyce along with UK charity, BookTrust, he is to address the issue of children and reading for pleasure, appealing to UK politicians “to make sure every single child has access to books, reading and the transformative ways in which they improve long-term life chances.”
When you are read to as a young child, it makes books a part of your normal, everyday life. As well as normalising books and reading, the act of reading together is also a bonding experience between the caregiver and child, which promotes many things including security and mental health as well as it being a fun activity. However, Frank Cottrell-Boyce calls being read to as a child an ‘invisible privilege’ as it doesn’t happen for every child. A 2022 survey conducted of over 2,000 low-income families by the UK charity BookTrust found that over half of children under the age of seven are not read to at bedtime.
In many ways the joy of reading is so simple and, if you are a member of your local library, it is also free. However, with all the technology available today as well as the fact people seem to be busier than ever, it is very easy for the simple act of reading to get lost within modern life. Frank Cottrell-Boyce is hoping that by addressing UK politicians to ensure every child has access to books and reading, the balance will start to be redressed.
So, do you think reading has a bearing on happiness? There are certainly many studies that seem to prove that this is the case. After all, by engaging in an activity that has the potential to be fun, open up our minds, allow us to experience all manner of things and meet all sorts of people in a way that is safe, there’s little to suggest that it doesn’t make people happy. Just ask the millions of people who love to spend time in bookshops and libraries, surrounded by books.
But it is vital to promote reading right from the very beginning of a child’s life. And it is great that there are those out there like Frank Cottrell-Boyce who see the huge value in reading for pleasure and are prepared to try and do something so that every child has the opportunity to experience the joy and happiness reading for pleasure can bring.