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| SAVE THE LIBRARIES |
· One in six children will have difficulty learning to speak
· One in six 11-year-olds have the literacy levels of a seven-year-old
· One in six children in the UK will not have read a book in the last month
· One in six adults is functionally illiterate, which means they have the literacy skills expected at age 11 or below.
Literacy is a right.
The statistics in the UK are shocking: 63 per cent of white working class boys, and just over half of black Caribbean boys at the age of 14 have a reading age of seven or below.
Illiteracy is a life sentence.
‘literacy skills are fundamental to informed decision-making, personal empowerment, active and passive participation in local and global social community’ (Stromquist, 2005, p. 12)
Apart from having six brothers, there are reasons why all my MG books are written for boys. I have asked an awful lot of boys ;) why they don’t read and what they would read if they found it on the shelf of their local library. You could say, I write to order.
The truth is if boys, who've had the benefit of regular attendance at school, haven’t been enthused, inspired and taught to read and write by the age of 10 – pretty much – they never will.
WHAT DO YOU THINK BOYS NEED IF THEY ARE TO LEARN TO READ WITH ENJOYMENT?
