Speaking at the Reading Rights Summit in Liverpool yesterday (22 January), hosted by BookTrust, he said that he wants to address the ‘invisible privilege and inequality’ of ‘more and more children’ falling further behind from lack of early years reading.
‘Put simply, shared reading is an effective, economic health intervention that should be available to all,’ he told delegates.
‘We need your Government, Sir Keir Starmer, to stand up and give a visible sign that this country values its children….to make sure the transformative gift of reading is shared with every single child.’
Working with BookTrust in the first six months of his tenure, author Cottrell-Boyce said that he has visited ‘lots of early years settings and seen astonishingly brilliant practice’.
‘In Sheffield I visited a community nursery that was doing amazing work in drawing families and kinship groups into reading sessions that lead to play and craft and ... fun.’
But he said that children who do not have early reading experiences will have 'not just a smaller vocabulary, or less cultural capital, but less chance of being happy'.
'That our children seem to be experiencing some kind of happiness recession at the moment is not surprising. They’ve borne the brunt of a series of crises. Austerity, the pandemic, Brexit–these all hit children first and hardest. I believe that the decline in reading too has played its part in this,’ he added.
The ‘good news’ is that the problem can be fixed quite simply, he said, despite having reached crisis point.
He added, ‘We need to re-set the conversation about reading. Let’s – to use a Government phrase – de-silo reading. It’s important for educational attainment. Yes, DCMS (Department for Culture, Media and Sport), it’s the most crucial – and most democratic – part of our cultural heritage.... it’s absolute essential, Wes Streeting (health secretary), to mental health, to bonding, to attachment, to creating a situation where parents and carers can give the best, the most joyous start in life to our children.’
According to research from BookTrust, six in 10 parents and carers of children from birth to seven wish they had known earlier how important it is to read and share stories regularly with their children.
‘Our children are near the top of the global leagues when it comes to the mechanical skill of reading but near the bottom when it comes to reading for pleasure,’ explained Cottrell-Boyce, whose books include ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again’, ‘The Great Rocket Robbery’ and ‘The Astounding Broccoli Boy’. ‘We’ve taught them all the steps and the names of all the tunes. But they’re not dancing,’ he added.
The summit brought together experts from across the political, education, literacy, early years, arts and health sectors to recommend action to ensure the ‘life-changing benefits of children’s reading are taken seriously’.
