World Book Day 2023: Reading plea to Torbay parents, carers and teachers

To mark today's World Book Day 2023, the charity is calling on teachers, carers and parents across Torbay and South Devon to ensure that reading for pleasure is encouraged as much as reading attainment, in and outside of schools.

Designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, World Book Day is marked in more than 100 countries around the globe.

The charity World Book Day aims to change lives through a love of books and shared reading, with a mission to promote reading for pleasure, offering every child and young person the opportunity to have a book of their own.

But while reading was the only core subject which saw attainment levels improve in 2022, the National Literacy Trust’s annual literacy survey shows that the number of children who say they enjoy it is in serious decline.

And 500,000 youngsters aged eight to 18 in England say they do not own a single book.

Every year, World Book Day creates bespoke £1 books for children and young adults, to promote the power of imagination and the importance of reading. Through World Book Day, every child in Torbay is given a £1 book token, which they can take to a bookshop or supermarket to get their free World Book Day book.

Reading for pleasure is not just a ‘nice to have’, it is the single biggest indicator of a child’s future success – more than their family circumstances, their parents’ educational background or their income, says the charity.

However, reading for pleasure is at its lowest levels in 18 years - fewer than one in two of children aged eight to 18 said they enjoyed reading in 2022, the lowest level since 2005.

A spokesperson for the World Book Day charity said this is even lower for children growing up in poverty; fewer children and young people who receive free school meals said they enjoyed reading compared with their peers who do not receive free school meals.

He said: "The cost of living is putting the biggest squeeze on family budgets in years and creating further barriers to reading for pleasure, with almost two thirds of parents saying they currently have less money to spend on books for their children than before.

"And 500,000 - 6.5 per cent - of children in England aged eight to 18 say they don’t own a single book, which rises to 9.7 per cent for those eligible for free school meals.

"Over one in five - 22.4 per cent - of pupils receiving free school meals said that the book they ‘bought’ with their World Book Day book token was the first book of their own."

Torbay MP Kevin Foster joined a Parliamentary drop-in this week to champion reading for pleasure in Torbay. He said: “It is a pleasure to support World Book Day. It is so important that every child and young adult in Torbay has the opportunity to have a book of their own that they have chosen for themselves – and I am delighted to celebrate my own love of reading through the World Book Day campaign.”

This year, the charity World Book Day has focused on a large number of initiatives and provided guidance to ensure anyone can take part and experience the joy and inspiration of reading, regardless of household income. This includes ideas for no or low-cost costumes or costume swaps, book swaps or other free activities in school or community groups.

There is also advice on how to fundraise more inclusively, focusing more on reading over other aspects such as dressing up.

Fewer boys than girls said they enjoyed reading and fewer than three in ten children and young people aged eight to 18 said they read daily - the second-lowest level since the National Literacy Trust survey began.

Parents surveyed by the charity said that 50 per cent of children find reading more fun because of World Book Day, 48 per cent make more time to read and 49 per cent feel they have more choice in what they read because of it.

In its 25th year in 2022, World Book Day distributed 50million £1 book tokens through schools, nurseries, magazines and partnerships, to enable children to get a book of their own, for free.

Cassie Chadderton, chief executive of World Book Day, said: “World Book Day exists to encourage more children, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, to benefit from a life-long habit of reading for pleasure. Many families are facing financial challenges so we want all children, families, schools and communities to feel welcome to celebrate the joy of reading in ways that work for them.

"There are lots of affordable, inclusive and of course, enjoyable ways to create joy and excitement around reading. Dressing up is a great way to encourage children to read, and we’ve shared ideas for other fun activities and resources to help schools, nurseries and families to work together to create a World Book Day where everyone feels included.

"The joy of reading cannot be underestimated in terms of improved wellbeing and the improved life chances it can lead to.”

Jonathan Douglas, chief executive of the National Literacy Trust, said: “World Book Day is an important moment to inspire and delight children with the wonder of books and a powerful platform to reinforce the importance of building literacy skills for life – this is even more essential during times of economic hardship.

“Economic studies have shown that reading for pleasure can result in children getting better GCSEs, in turn boosting their lifetime earnings and raising the UK’s GDP. In the future, my hope is that more children will grow up to be adults who read and that reading and books are part of their world.”

Are your children celebrating World Book Day? Send us your pictures! Email them to torbayweekly@clearskypublishing.co.uk