The Bookseller - Comment - Crisis of confidence

It is heartening to witness the collective efforts of current and past children's laureates urging the government to prioritise early years reading. The impassioned plea from these literary leaders underscores the critical role of reading in a child's development. However, it is equally heart-breaking that such a call is necessary at all.

Growing up, I was fortunate enough to have a parent who cherished reading and made it a nightly ritual to read to me. This early exposure instilled in me a love for books that has endured throughout my life.

As a parent myself, I extended the tradition of reading to my own children during their formative years. While one of my children embraced the world of books with enthusiasm, the other displayed a reluctance to engage in conventional reading activities. This divergence in response underscores a vital point - the act of merely having a library in schools or allocating funds for books, though undoubtedly crucial, may not be sufficient to address the multifaceted challenges hindering the promotion of early childhood reading.