Children's Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce has called on Keir Starmer's government to “stand up and show tangible signs that this country cares about its children”.
The author will hold a summit on children's reading in Liverpool on Wednesday, where Rachel de Sousa, Children's Commissioner for England, and former Children's Laureates Michael Rosen and Cressida Cowell will also speak. .
The Reading Rights Summit is part of Cottrell Boyce's wider campaign to tackle the 'invisible privilege and inequality' in children's reading.
The event will feature talks and panel discussions featuring experts in education, science, medicine, and politics to share best practices and provide recommendations to policymakers.
Cottrell-Boyce, who was announced as the winner of the Children's Prize last July, wants to “change the direction” in the conversation about reading. “People always argue it in terms of educational background or cultural capital, but these things are really important. But I also want to highlight the health benefits and mental health benefits. Masu.”
He wants to “move the conversation from schools to homes and daycare centers for now.” His speech at the summit revealed that 6 in 10 parents and caregivers of children aged 0 to 7 wish they had known sooner how important reading with their children is. This emphasizes the BookTrust survey which shows that people feel this way.
“We know that if you arrive at school without ever having been read a book, you are at such a huge disadvantage. It's like, “You're at a huge disadvantage compared to kids who are cuddling up on the couch and reading a book for the first time.''
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In her speech, Cottrell-Boyce will also warn children who “swipe their fingers or try to enlarge pictures instead of turning the page.”
Cottrell-Boyce said children were facing a “well-being recession” and were “really confused and worried”. He said children were “bearing the brunt of a series of crises” including austerity, the pandemic and Brexit. “All of this hits children first and hardest.”
Alex McCormick, who raised more than £250,000 for the Spero Hub Library, which was torched by a mob last summer, will also speak at the summit. “My award career began in the horrific light of the library fire,” Cottrell-Boyce said. “The people who did that didn't know how to understand the world.”
Cottrell-Boyce said an early focus on literacy required “brave action” by the government. This is because the results will be visible within 20 years, rather than in the short term. But “it's very easy to do.” “Many of the problems we face seem intractable, but I think this is completely fixable.”
“We join with Wes Streeting, Bridget Phillipson, Lisa Nandy and others to create transformative ways to ensure all children have access to books and reading, improving their long-term life chances. We need people to help us make sure we deliver,” Cottrell said. -voice. “Simply put, shared reading is an effective and economical health intervention that should be available to everyone.”
