[Sunday Salon] – Restoring my faith that children DO still read

With video games, mobile phones and social networking vying for their time, our youngsters today seem more than ever, inclined to ignore the ‘basic’ task of book reading. We hear all the time, how literacy levels in our children are dropping, and consequently, as ‘txt spk’ replaces basic written longhand, one can only wonder if the formative discipline of book reading is slowly ‘phasing out’ in our next generation(s), very much to their own detriment.

Sure there are glimpses of hope, little sparkles of light in the literary darkness, but these are usually intermittent, and more often than not driven by marketing moguls, as the latest ‘must-read blockbuster’ is released from the stables of authors such as J K Rowling and Stephanie Meyer. In reality, outside of these ‘golden times’ when do we really see any of our youngsters with their heads buried in a book? In my experience, not very often.

It’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, and it’s disheartened me greatly – that the pastime of reading books is not as it once was. This all makes me sound old and a bit of a stalwart, but neither am I old (I’m only 41) or the kind of person who obstinately denies technological progression. I just feel that reading is such an important process in a child’s development (by child I mean right up to adult age), and it saddens me that the onus on book reading is declining at such a rapid rate.

Thankfully a couple of days ago though I got a sign of hope, that all may not be quite as bleak as I think it is with regards to youngsters and book reading. It may only have been a small sign, but it was one that lifted my spirits no end. I was returning home on a train from Edinburgh, and a couple of stops into the journey a couple got on the train with their two young grandsons (around 8 and 4 years of age). As I watched them walk down the aisle towards their seat, I noticed the older child covering the entire distance with his head firmly buried in a book (I presume his peripheral, together with his grandparent’s guiding hands, were keeping him on course to his seat), and a smile spread across my face (my wife will tell you that that’s something that doesn’t happen very often )).

Anyway, the family group sat opposite us so I was able to steal an occasional glance at my little reader ‘friend’, and in all of the time I was watching he never once took his eyes from his book. Even when the train passes over the world famous Forth Rail Bridge, a landmark which everyone, even daily commuters, pauses to take in, the little reader showed absolutely no interest in anything other his book.

Now, I’m not sure whether this boy had just found a really good bit in his book, whether this intensity of reading was a one-off, or whether he just had a rare affinity towards books, but he was certainly an inspirational role-model for the young reader. Some may comment that the boy comes across as being a bit rude, or that he lacks in social skills, but that’s not how I saw it. What I saw was a polite, intelligent and articulate young man who was displaying an inspiring passion for reading; a display that delighted me. Oh the title of the book he was reading? Philip Pullman’s The Amber Spyglass.

Now I’ve probably painted a picture of ‘reading apocalypse’ here; that seeing a book in the hands of a child is soon going to be as rare as finding hen’s teeth. That’s the kind of the view I’m leaning towards (albeit in a less exaggerated form), but you may see things differently; that book reading in children is as lively and vibrant as it’s always been. Am I right? Am I wrong? I’d love to hear your views on this.

In Other News

• I want to apolgise for the veritable flood of 31 Tales of Terror posts over the past few days. I joined Memory’s 31 Tales of Terror challenge (at Stella Matutina) late, and have had to push myself over the past few days in order to catch up before the challenge ends next week. This has resulted in me reading 2-4 short stories a day (something which I would not normally do) which of course has led to the flood of ‘afterthoughts’ being published. Great if you’re into ghost stories, but a bit repetitive if you’re not.
• As Memory’s excellent 31 Tales of Terror reading challenge draws to a close, and I find myself with a gap in my challenges (not really but I look for any excuse), I’m definitely launching another new challenge next week. I haven’t quite finished setting it up yet so hush-hush for now, but watch this space closely.
• As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I’m currently reading War On The Margins, the debut novel of Libby Cone, for review purposes. That’s still progressing nicely and I’m looking forward to sharing my thoughts on the novel, before returning to my current 50 Novels reading challenge choice – Fraction of the Whole.
• Talking of sharing thoughts, I’ve yet to post my afterthoughts on my previous 50 Novel read – Water for Elephants, or any of the three titles I completed in last week’s 24-Hour Read-a-Thon. Not good I know but expect to these posted over the coming week.
• In the following week you should also see me finally getting around to tidying up my ‘links’ sections and making them a bit more colourful and appealing. Apologies for the lacklustre presentation of these (especially if yours is one of the links) but expect a marked improvement over the coming days.

So, thanks to all who have visited in the past week and even bigger thanks to those who have shared their knowledge and passion with me. Please continue to do so, because you are all inspiring me to levels you could never imagine. Have a great reading week everyone.

**This post has been specifically written for Sunday Salon participation**