CMIS Evaluation Fiction Focus

Scholastic US has released its latest ‘Kids and Family Reading Report’ - the result of a national survey of children aged between 5 and 17 and their parents. This report follows on from a similar one commissioned in 2006.

And the good news? Most kids are saying that they will always want to read books-as-we-know-them, not their technological counterparts, although they do see a complementary role for computers and hand-held devices. Far from doomsayers’ predictions that participation in online activities has led to a decline in reading, nearly two-thirds aged between 9 and 17 say that they have extended their reading experience via the Internet.

But the report does confirm what we know anecdotally - reading for pleasure falls off in the teenage years.

Although a US study, the findings are of interest to all who care about children and reading.

Publisher’s Weekly has a useful summary of the report.

The full report is in four parts:

• Kids and Reading
• Technology and the Printed Book
• The Internet : An Extension of Reading
• Parents’ Role in Kids’ Reading

The report and a video summary can be downloaded here.

Gen X and Gen Y we know about, but a long article in Newsweek magazine this week is talking about Gen R. And it’s good news for readers.

Generation R (R is for Reader) talks about the boom in YA publishing, and how it’s not all about Harry Potter. David Levithan is quoted as saying we are in a ’second golden age’ for young adult books - ‘the most exciting time for young-adult literature since the late 1960s and 1970s when ‘The Chocolate War’ [by Robert Cormier] and ‘Forever’ [by Judy Blume] were published.’

We knew that, but it’s great that Newsweek is spreading the word.

Anne Frank is still speaking to British teens, more than fifty years after her diary was first published. A survey published today by Britain’s Guardian newspaper puts Anne sixth on a list of most loved reads (just after Harry Potter). And there are only five books-as-we-know-them on the list. Top of the pops are two magazines, Heat and Bliss, with online cheat-sheets for games, film scripts and blogs all coming in ahead of conventional novels. Anthony Horowitz, C.S. Lewis and Louise Rennison all make the cut.

And what do they loathe? Well, Shakespeare is up there, as are books over 100 pages, assigned reading and … Harry Potter. Yes, although Harry came in fifth on the loved reads, he also came in eighth on the loathed, so as they say, you either love him or hate him. Surprisingly, Facebook is also on the loathed list.

I wonder what an Australian survey would reveal? Any guesses?

The literacy debate rages, certainly throughout the English-speaking world. Here in Australia, a new title by Monash University’s Associate Professor Ilana Snyder has made front-page news in The Australian newspaper. The Literacy Wars : why teaching children to read and write is a battleground in Australia took up many column inches on the weekend of 2-3 February. A CMIS review will appear in the Resource Bank soon.

In Britain, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has launched the National Year of Reading - an initiative designed to put reading high on the national agenda. And that’s reading for everybody, not just people at school.

Now in the US, a school librarian has put his spin on what he feels are the reasons teens are reading less. We are all reading less, he argues. ‘How long is it?’ has replaced ‘Will I like it?’ in school libraries because the information overload tipping point has been reached. These days we all skim in order to survive. We have become a culture of searchers, not readers. It’s a thoughtful piece, well worth reading. But if he is right, does it mean that reading for pleasure will soon be the preserve of those with the leisure time to ‘indulge’? Hooking kids into books is one of the most satisfying aspects of the teacher-student relationship. Making sure that keeps happening is more important than ever.