'Boy books' won't solve the reading crisis - young people need the chance to explore reading without limits |
By Louis Provis
There's a crisis in reading among children.
The Bookmark Reading Charity claims a quarter leave primary school unable to read well.
There are many reasons for this, but one factor worth paying particular attention to is the stark contrast between boys and girls. Separate figures from the National Literacy Trust found only 25.7 per cent of boys enjoy reading in their free time, compared to 39.1 per cent of girls.
The explanation given is often that boys do not enjoy reading because they're being pushed towards the wrong books. We're told that to solve the problem, books need to be louder, more exciting, and ideally blood-soaked.........