Attending your first conference is a daunting expectation, much like when a child first learns to read, it can be weighted with the pressure of needing to be knowledgeable. We were all prepared to process the statistics, the talks on how our industry runs, how a market is made and maintained around the sale of fiction for children. Yet, what surprised me the most was the quality of passion from our leading speakers and the care taken for the maintenance in the audience we create for. It is evident that this industry would not thrive if it weren’t for the ingenuity of all that take part. That much was clear in the very theme of this year’s event, ‘Publishing with purpose’.

In this age of screens, it’s no wonder that fewer kids are drawn to books, yet according to IBIS world, the e-book format still makes up for less sales in children’s reading than in adults. This is due to being unable to fully transfer the interactive formats that are so attractive in children’s fiction. So, where are we falling short?

The opening note by Cally Poplak, representing Harper Collins, was an eloquent call for change as she immediately acknowledged the lowering standards in the approach to children’s reading. Learning to read and the material we as an industry make available to children and parents is so important in the encouragement of freedom of thought and skills key to the development of an independent and intelligent next generation.  She then addresses the decline in daily reading within the ages of 5-7 years, which goes hand in hand with the overwhelming statistic that 54% read perhaps a couple times a week and 21% read rarely or not at all, this constitutes of the inordinate amount of 2.6 million children.

HarperCollins is one of many leading publishers investing in the future of children’s fiction and along with the other houses and companies represented at the conference this year, our industry is showing a clear determination to apply modern methodologies to appeal to the future generations of our market and their families. In a report by the Edinburgh University Press it was suggested that Children’s fiction research follows a pattern of being,

“…predominantly inspired by cultural theory, viewing the child and childhood as a social construction”. Nikolajeva, M. (2016)

Reports like this show exactly why our industry is calling for a more current approach to a modern raised generation.

The impact learning has on a child is immeasurable, it sets us up for the rest of our life in so many ways, our industry has an impact on so many but hugely on the young. We are so lucky to have a platform such as the bookseller Children’s conference that allows us to divulge our beliefs, faults and motivations as a community as well as an industry.

Image by RDNE Stock project via Pexels. Available at: https://www.pexels.com/photo/boy-sitting-on-floor-reading-a-book-8499496/

References :

IBISWorld (2023) Children’s Book Publishing in the UK.  Available at: https://www.ibisworld.com/united-kingdom/market-research-reports/childrens-book-publishing-industry/ 

Poplak, Cally .(2023) Publishing with Purpose. [Lecture] The Bookseller Children’s Conference. Available at: https://www.thebookseller.com/broadcast/event-streams/watch-the-childrens-conference-live-stream-here-2023 

Nikolajeva, M. (2016) ‘Recent trends in children’s literature research: Return to the body’, International Research in Children’s Literature, 9(2), pp. 132–145. Edinburgh University Press Available at: https://search.nls.uk/permalink/f/mp49cm/44NLS_NPLD_ART_OAIDCQ/81055/