How to get Children Reading Again Financial Review 18th July 2025

“Reading holds the keys to so much of children’s education.”

Reading with children also helps cultivate good (reading) habits.

You might like to begin with this blog post from my friend at Kinderbookswitheverything - she alerted me to this article in the Financial Review.

Here are some quotes from the piece that resonated with me:

Nicki Duckett, the teacher who oversees reading at the school (Silverdale Primary Academy UK) ... has an ambition to marry the “skill” and the “will” to read. In the 20 years she has worked in education, she has observed how the proliferation of gaming and smartphones, a busy school day, plus extracurricular clubs and activities create “more demands on children’s time”.

“Without adult reading role models in homes, schools and wider society, it is likely children will find it harder to develop the reading habit.”

Immersion in new worlds, the delight in good writing and the discovery of information are goals in themselves. But the decline in reading has broader implications for employability, participation in democracy, and literacy, including critical thinking, particularly important in the age of digital misinformation.

Another study found “significant evidence that reading is linked to important developmental factors in children, improving their cognition, mental health, and brain structure, which are cornerstones for future learning and wellbeing”.

Tech is also a problem for parents, says Douglas. “They are not modelling great reading habits because they’re always on their phones. They are also more likely to put kids on a device. There is a decline in parents reading to children.”

Check out my recent post which explores many of these important issues. 

This article also touches other issues such as giving readers choice to select the books they want to read; the availability of books in libraries and shops and classrooms; books for boys aged 11 and 12; and the pesky issue of celebrity authors (I call these Fairy Floss books). 

The statistics in the Financial Review piece are from the UK. Here is a snap shot of the situation in Australia:

Anna Burkey Reading Australia - ABC News 14th July

"We're not just seeing people not reading for themselves … we're seeing people not reading to their children as much and that they are less likely to read to boys than to girls," she said. 

Ms Burkey said she would like to see more dads reading to their children to set a positive example.

"Reading for pleasure as a child is one of the biggest indicators of future success as an adult, and spending time reading increases empathy, while helping us feel less anxious,"

"Reading brings down your blood pressure, it slows your heart rate, it calms you down and it allows focus and concentration in a world where our attention spans are getting ever more fragmented.

"Reading allows us to have more focus and concentration and, if you read regularly, you're more likely to sleep better at night."

"[Not reading] means that we don't see the patterns in things, we don't see the human behaviours that keep repeating in politics and public life because we're not doing the deep, slow thinking and books are vital to the deep, slow thinking."

"Reading is proven to help you understand your place in the world, 
to walk in other people's shoes," she said. 

The Final Chapter SMH Good Weekend Magazine opinion piece by Greg Callaghan

Sydney Morning Herald 

(Subscriber link)

"By far the most troubling thing I learnt while researching this story is the decline of school libraries in public schools, both in their number and standard of facilities. ... 

The decline of school libraries sends a huge message to kids that reading isn't valued ... Yet time and time again school libraries have been shown to play an important role in notching up literacy. If we care about literacy and student wellbeing, a simple first step is to ensure that every child, no matter their postcode, 

has access to a well-resourced school library."

I sincerely wish I could print this quote as a huge banner and post it to so many school Principals who, in recent times, have completely downgraded their school library, the library budget, staffing and position of the Teacher-Librarian.

My friend from Kinderbookswitheverything has made some very thoughtful and important comments after reading this article from our Sydney Morning Herald Newspaper today (5th July 2025) but I felt moved to comment too.

The article was entitled The Final Chapter? and is written by Greg Callaghan a senior writer and the Acting editor with Good Weekend. His heading is 

"Stubbornly low literacy. A steep fall in recreational reading. A rise in numbers of students unable to finish whole texts. ... The decline in reading poses a risk to us all."

Here are some parts of the newspaper article that resonated with me:

I love the use of the term 'longform reading'. This goes back to one of my constant topics - TIME. Kids can only build their reading stamina to tackle longer books when they practice, and practice takes time! Reading for Pleasure is a new buzz term but really that should have always been our goal in schools. We teach children to read but they also need to discover that this activity is wonderful and magical and joyful and insightful and filled with riches. 

Greg also mentions 'the quality of our reading habits' and this echoes another topic I have talked about previously. Hundreds of books are now published every year (for adults and for children). Our children deserve the BEST books we can offer them. The person who can source these books and gather them all together in one place for very easy access by all readers is the Teacher-Librarian. By the best books I once again want to rage against 'celebrity authors'.  As an aside I was utterly dismayed this week to see a ridiculous 'celebrity' title has been short listed for the Speech Pathology awards here in Australia. Take a look at my second post about this. 

I spoke recently at a conference and my topic was 'Building field knowledge'. My aim was to inspire the group of Teacher-Librarians to build and expand their own field knowledge. We are so lucky here in Australia to have access to the best books not just our Australian titles but the best of the UK, US, Canada and New Zealand. The person best placed to put wonderful books into the hands of students and teachers and parents too, is the Teacher-Librarian.

Another quote from Greg Callaghan: "Compounding the malaise has been a decline in recreational reading across all ages. ... This is of special concern because of the example it sets for kids."  Years ago my school library had an event for our Grade 6 boys and their dads. One purpose of this was to encourage the dads to read with their son and also to be seen reading. Role models are powerful. Your child probably follows your football team or enjoys the sports you once played - that is because you are their role model. This also harks back to another 'hobby horse' of mine - READ TO YOUR BABY (sorry to shout).

And this leads me to another quote from this article: 

"Reading early as a child is a key predictor of success as an adult and both teachers and parents play a role in this. ... Parents exert the single most powerful influence on their kids' reading habits ... if children see adults around them reading for their own enjoyment, they'll learn that reading is valued" 

and I would add your child will see reading as a fun activity and  also more importantly just a natural part of life not some extra separate thing that is only for school. I penned a series of posts about this topic here. 

Check out my post about needing a "reading revolution"

Thanks to Greg Callaghan for his interesting opinion piece. I do hope it is read widely and I desperately hope he is wrong to say this is the final chapter - thank goodness for his question mark - so no it is not the final chapter but there is no need for more debating about this topic it is time to act for our children and as Greg suggests also for our world. 

Raising an Active Reader by Samantha Cleaver

A ask questions

B build vocabulary

C connect to the child's world

There are many ways to read a book to and with a young or even an older child. Above all the experience, should be an enjoyable one. In the school setting books are sometimes "killed" by over analysis and through dreaded worksheets which are often meaningless or busy work or simply require no deep thinking. There is a wonderful movement in some schools now, especially in the US, to simply read a picture book every day.  No complex discussion questions and no worksheets. Just reading a wonderful picture book, and there are tens of thousands of these, for the sheer joy of a shared reading experience. One aspect of this program that I really like is that the book covers of all the books that are read over a year are put up for display in the classroom. This is a wonderful way for children to make connections between books, between authors, between book themes and between the books they read and their own lives. 

In my school library I read thousands of picture books - every day of every week - for over 30 years. I also watched colleagues attempting to read my favourites with our library groups as my library qualified for extra staffing. Sadly I often despaired listening to others sharing books with classes when I had also read these same books many many times. The extra teacher either didn't scaffold the text prior to reading, or they spent way to long dissecting the book and then had to rush the reading, or they launched into a book without having read it for themselves first and then stumbled over the pace needed for reading. With picture books, even the way you turn pages can be important. 

We talk about teaching for success and one of the things I liked to do with a picture book to assist the students to enjoy the story - to achieve success perhaps - was to scaffold the story briefly prior to reading. Not to dissect it or give to much away but just help the children, again briefly, to develop a field of knowledge if needed, to help with unfamiliar words/vocabulary or signpost things to notice in the story. Some of this comes very naturally through exploring, prior to reading, the features of a book such as the cover, title, end papers, title page and sometimes the blurb (not always because sometimes the blurb can spoil a story). 

Raising an Active Reader: The case for reading aloud to engage elementary school youngsters is the full title of this book and I will pull out one word from this title - active. Synonyms for active might be words engaged through actively participation by making the reading a shared experience. 

Here are a few text quotes from this book:

"It should always be an enjoyable experience to share a book with your child."

" .. kids today need to understand and relate to lots of different issues that they may never experience firsthand ... One solution to a lack of empathy is reading, and meeting many different characters and experiencing lots of different situations in books."

"Reading aloud for fifteen minutes a few times a week is a way to take small steps toward the big goal of raising children who are critical thinkers, strong readers, and who love books."

"There is an emotional quality to reading; we read a story and we feel the sadness of a scene. We ache for a character's loss. We are sickened by the description of an injustice. We feel happy when a character succeeds. In this way, books build empathy by teaching children about the world they live in; that includes experiences that are like their own and experiences that are far from anything they will ever experience."

"When kids are able to think critically as they read, when they ask questions, think about and learn new words, and make connections they are becoming strong readers."

"When your child starts interrupting you to ask about new words, that's great. It means that they're developing word consciousness, or an awareness of and interest in words."  (I would add to this it also means they are following the story, they are interested in what is happening - and yes - your child is engaged).

Here in Australia this is a very expensive book costing over $42 but if you can find a copy in a library or perhaps access an ebook version from a library I do recommend reading Chapter 4 "Ask Questions"and Chapter 5 "Build Vocabulary".  These two chapters have some excellent practical advice relevant to parents and teachers. 

Here is the publisher blurb from Rowman and Littlefield: Parents and teachers know that reading aloud to children is important, and many parents of young children read aloud to them daily. However, when children start to read on their own, parents often stop reading aloud. But, the early elementary school years, when children are learning how to read on their own, is a perfect time to build vocabulary and comprehension skills through read aloud and Active Reading. Raising an Active Reader makes clear the process of learning to read, how Active Reading fits into raising strong readers, and the behaviours that adults can do to encourage strong language, comprehension, and vocabulary in children in grades K-3. This book extends on the ABCs of Active Reading (Ask Questions, Build Vocabulary, and make Connections) as they apply to older children and picture books, chapter books, and novels. Raising an Active Reader provides parents and teachers with the knowledge and skills to engage elementary school-aged children (grades K-3) in Active Reading with examples, clear explanations, and ideas for making one-on-one or small group read aloud sessions a powerful way to build children’s early literacy and language skills, all while creating a lifelong love of reading. 

One final thing - I was excited to read that one of the author's favourite books to read with her own children is Strictly No Elephants.

I would like to be able to wholeheartedly recommend Raising an Active Reader. The author of this book makes some really good points and gives practical examples of active reading but sadly this book is not very accessible. It is printed with a small font and with very text dense pages. I found the format made it hard to read. If intended audience is parents, this book looks a little too much like an academic text.

Here is Samantha Cleaver's previous book which is part one of her discussion. In this first book the focus is children aged 2-5 while her second book, as discussed in this post, focuses on children from Grade 3 and up.