Editorial 278
The reading paradox
Hello and welcome to this issue of Books for Keeps. There has been both good and less good news in the children’s book world since our last.
April saw publication of another gloomy report into children’s reading. NielsenIQ BookData’s 2025 Understanding the Children’s Book Consumer survey, undertaken in December 2025 with 1,530 parents of children aged nought to 13, and 470 14 to 17-year-olds, and including proprietary questions commissioned by HarperCollins Children’s Books and Farshore to provide further insights, found that daily reading for pleasure ‘collapsed to a 14 year low’ in 2025. Just 25% five to 17-year-olds are reading for pleasure, compared to 39% in 2012, with the proportion of those who rarely or never read tripling to 15%.
A ‘reading paradox’ was identified, ‘with literacy attainment and reading for pleasure in direct conflict with each other’: 41% of parents said reading for pleasure is more important than ever, but 58% of parents did not cite enjoyment as a reason for reading to their child, with developing reading skills and improving vocabulary becoming the primary motivators, suggesting “a focus on literacy skills is actively undermining [reading for pleasure]”.
The research points towards a ‘disconnect between parents and teachers, with 28% of parents of five to 13-year-olds thinking school strongly encourages reading for pleasure, and only 32% of parents saying that their child’s teacher talks to them about the importance of reading books to their child. Charlotte Hacking responds to the report in an article in this issue, and identifies what is the real paradox at the heart of the report.
Laureate news
Just after this issue goes to press, Children’s Laureate, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, will host the inaugural Laureate Lecture at The Royal Institution in London. Titled ‘The Kids Are Not Alright’, it will set out the challenges facing children today and include demands for national action on the reading crisis. We will report on the speech on our news pages and look forward to interviewing Frank again as he comes to the end of his tenure as Children’s Laureate. The new Children’s Laureate takes over in July, with six months of the National Year of Reading still to run, and will no doubt have to carry on making demands for national action.
In other Cottrell-Boyce news, this month saw the announcement of the judges for the inaugural Children’s Booker Prize. Sanchita Basu de Sarkar of the Children’s Bookshop Muswell and actor Lolly Adefope (best known for her role in BBC comedy drama Ghosts) will be joining Frank on the panel. The search is on too to find three child judges who will help select the winner from the adult judges’ shortlist of eight. Entries for the first round close on 2 June so if you know a young reader confident enough to argue their case against a panel of grown-ups, encourage them to apply. Meanwhile, the winner of the Children’s Book Award, administered by the Federation of Children’s Book Groups and chosen entirely by children, will be announced on 13 June. Good luck to all the authors on the shortlist and congratulations to all the young people who have voted.
Congratulations
Are also due to Michael Rosen, who is celebrating his 80th birthday this year and was also announced as recipient of the Hans Christian Andersen Award, Presented every other year by IBBY, the International Board on Books for Young People, the Hans Christian Andersen Award is the highest international distinction given to authors and illustrators of children’s books and recognizes lifelong achievement and a lasting contribution to children’s literature. Congratulations too to Quentin Blake whose new Centre for Illustration opens on Friday 5 June 2026 with three exhibitions, a cafe, shop, gardens and free spaces including a Library and Creative Studio.
