Reading is fun. 

Whilst this is a statement I am certain resonates with anyone enthusiastic about the publishing industry, or is simply a keen reader themselves, it is also a statement which perhaps is becoming steadily more difficult for children to believe. 

This year’s speakers at The Bookseller Children’s Conference, communicated an overwhelming enthusiasm and motivation to get children reading, and more importantly to get children enjoying the act of reading. This is partly because, as the data reported by The Bookseller shows, the number of children reading regularly and for pleasure in their free time is ‘at its lowest record in almost two decades’. With the rise in time spent on electronic devices and social media platforms now competing for children’s attention, it is easy to understand how children are becoming less interested in the act of reading. 

One of the speakers at the conference was Joseph Coelho, who for me, epitomised what it means to be passionate about sharing a love for literature. Joseph is the current children’s poetry laureate, and with his dedication to enriching children’s lives through reading and writing, he has launched multiple programmes to get children not just interested, but invested, in the act of reading and writing. Examples include: ‘Summer Reading Challenge’, ‘The Library Marathon’, and ‘Bookmaker like you’. 

The Lego Foundation have researched that children, especially younger ones, benefit from tangible and engaging activities and it seems this is something Joseph has harnessed. He says in his experience, ‘kids that write read’. If children are becoming engaged with literature through the more proactive lens of actually being writers themselves, this not only opens up to them a whole range of opportunities as to what they might do in the future as writers themselves, but means they understand literature from a new and personal perspective. Joseph highlighted how children are largely introduced to poetry through analysis of it, rather than the simple and entertaining act of reading it aloud. By writing their own poetry, they are involved and therefore connected to literature in a way which simply cannot always be achieved by sitting a child down with a book and asking them to read it. 

Yes, writing is not the same as reading, however Joseph shows the connection between the two which often seems to become lost. At the end of Joseph’s talk, he gave an example of one of the exercises he uses in his poetry workshops with children. He gets the whole audience of adults involved, and the way in which the fun still translates to the older audience is a testament to its effects. He asks for people to create their own poem, just one line, and then a single word in relation to it. As simple as this exercise might seem, it shows how easily literature can create fun. It takes away any sort of pretentiousness as to what great poetry is and turns it into an activity which fosters joy and positivity toward literature. It is this subconscious sense of fun which carries through to allow children writers to become children readers, and eventually, adult readers for life.

Bibliography:

Quotes from Joseph Coelho taken from The Bookseller Children’s Conference:

Coelho, J (2023). The Bookseller Children’s Conference: Publishing with Purpose 2nd October. [Keynote] 2023 County Hall, Waterloo.

Statistics on children’s reading for pleasure via The Bookseller: 

Brown, L. (2023) National Literacy Trust calls for urgent action as children’s reading enjoyment at record low [Online] Available at: https://www.thebookseller.com/news/national-literacy-trust-calls-for-urgent-action-as-childrens-reading-enjoyment-at-record-low (10/10/23).

Joseph Coelho articles on finding fun:

Coelho, J (2023) I set out to find the happiness I felt as a child and it worked- let me tell you how I did it. [Online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/commentisfree/2023/apr/23/happiness-child-music-photography-lego (10/10/2023)

Coelho J (2023) Poetry can move souls and thrum hearts: why wouldn’t we teach our children about it? [Online] Available at:  https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/mar/16/poetry-children-survey-poems-classroom (10/10/2023)

Summer Reading Challenge website available at: https://summerreadingchallenge.org.uk

The Library Marathon available at: https://www.thepoetryofjosephcoelho.com/library-marathon/

The Lego Foundation report: The Lego Foundation (2019) Learning Through Play. [Online] Available at: https://www.unicef.org/sites/default/files/2018-12/UNICEF-Lego-Foundation-Learning-through-Play.pdf (10/10/23)

Cover Image available at: https://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/article/author-and-performance-poet-joseph-coelho-is-the-new-children-s-laureate