Young People’s Reading in 2005: The Second Study of Young People’s Reading Habits
NCRCL, Roehampton University and LISU, Loughborough University, (2007) London and
Loughborough
N.B. AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE SURVEY FOLLOWS THIS REPORT.
The joint study by Sally Maynard, Sophie Mackay, Fiona Smyth and Kimberley Reynolds,
published by Roehampton University and funded by the Arts Council, looks into what children like
to read, rather than their reading ability, covering issues such as how children come into contact
with all kinds of reading matter, from comics and magazines to fiction and non-fiction books, to
their preferences for favourite books and authors, and their satisfaction with the kinds of
publications available. Also included is data on the kinds of people influencing young people’s
choice of reading matter, how young readers select what to read, where children buy what they
read and the place of reading in relation to other out of school/leisure activities. The survey
enjoyed the participation of 22 primary and 24 secondary schools and drew some intriguing and
varied conclusions, including:

magazines are important as reading material for pleasure and as a source of information to
both boys and girls.

A noteworthy proportion of the respondents enjoyed reading non-fiction for pleasure as well
as for school work, however, this kind of reading material was of more significance to the
boys than to the girls, particularly for the purposes of pleasure.

Series books are currently relatively popular, with respondents of all ages; this popularity
increased with the age of participants, reflecting the success of series such as the Harry
Potter books, Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events and Anthony Horowitz’s books
about Alex Rider.
Researchers said it was disappointing to learn that the proportion of children rating themselves
as ‘enthusiastic’ readers (reading a lot, with pleasure) decreased as the children got older.
ore encouraging, however, was the fact that the proportion rating themselves as ‘average’
(reading an ordinary amount) did in fact increase with age. An overwhelming finding of the survey
is that reading is clearly one of many activities enjoyed by the children responding to this survey.
It is perhaps fighting for its place amongst these other activities, and in some cases it is being
usurped by the more visual technologies, particularly for the boys.
This joint project was instigated by Professor Kim Reynolds, now Professor of Children’s
Literature at Newcastle University, and completed by Dr. Sally Maynard of LISU, Loughborough
University. Dr. Gillian Lathey, Director of the National Centre for Research in Children’s Literature
and the NCRCL team are pleased to announce a significant contribution to the research into all
aspects of children’s literature which is at the heart of the Centre’s work.
Young People’s Reading in 2005: The Second Study of Young People’s Reading Habits
An Executive Summary
By Sally Maynard, Sophie MacKay, Fiona Smyth and Kimberley Reynolds
LISU, Loughborough University and National Centre for Research in Children’s
Literature, University of Roehampton February 2008
The Study
This is a summary of the report relating to the second of what were intended to be five-yearly
surveys of what young people in England are reading, and what they say their reading means to
them. The aim of the project is to provide regular ‘snapshots’ of young people’s reading which
can be used both to provide information about the particular years covered by each survey, and,
perhaps more importantly, by repeating the exercise, to make it possible to identify and monitor
trends in juvenile reading habits.
The project is not concerned with evaluating reading ability, but with finding out what children
read; how they come into contact with all kinds of reading matter (from comics and magazines to
more ‘traditional’ books, both fiction and non-fiction); what their preferences are; whether they
are satisfied with the kinds of publications available to them; what kinds of people influence their
choice of reading matter; how they select what to read; where they buy what they read; reading
in relation to other out of school/leisure activities, and so on. In addition, a longer questionnaire
for older readers (11 – 16 years) provides a great deal of information beyond the core areas
about what is being read and why. For instance, young people in this age-group are asked to
explore what part reading plays in their understanding of matters relating to their health, their
attitudes to social issues, and their ability to resolve problems and evaluate risks.
Rationale for the Project
Since the National Centre for Research in Children’s Literature (NCRCL) conducted its first major
survey: Young People’s Reading at the End of the Century (1996) and a follow-up pilot survey in
2001, there have been a number of high-profile, government-funded initiatives to promote
reading and to improve literacy. Always intended to be a cyclical series of studies, rather than a
one-off exercise, the NCRCL reading survey project is now uniquely placed to look objectively at
the effect of, for example, the Year of Reading and the establishment of the Literacy Hour. An
evaluation of the impact of these initiatives will be of interest to all those – parents and carers,
teachers, librarians, publishers and many others – concerned with children and reading.
The 1996 Survey
In 1996 the NCRCL at the University of Surrey Roehampton (formerly the Children’s Literature
Research Centre at the Roehampton Institute) reported on the first of its surveys of young
people’s reading; a survey in which a total of 8,834 pupils from schools all over England took
part. The report was entitled Young People’s Reading at the End of the Century (Children’s
Literature Research Centre, 1996).
The 2005 Survey
The questionnaire
All responses were completed online and received in electronic format. There were three
separate questionnaires – one each for Key Stages 1 and 2 and one for Key Stages 3 and 4
combined, which was a much longer questionnaire than the other two. Copies of all three of the
questionnaires can be found in the full report (Maynard et al, 2007). Not all questions were asked
of all three age groups.
The sample
A total of 46 schools agreed to participate in the survey (22 primary and 24 secondary). The
survey was carried out during the months of April and May, 2005.
Questionnaire response
There was an initial total of 4,182 usable responses
English National Curriculum Key Stages
Key Stage 1: pupils aged between 4 & 7 years
Usable responses 502
Key Stage 2: pupils aged between 7 & 11 years
Usable responses 1.909
Key Stage 3 and 4: pupils aged between 11 & 16 years
Usable responses 1,771
Total number of responses 4,182
Analysis
Where appropriate, each question has been analysed by gender; formal statistical comparisons
have been made between gender groups, using the c2 test. Analysis by age has also been
carried out using the c2 test: for Key Stage 1 (KS1), the respondents aged four and five years
were combined into a single group because there were too few responses from those aged four
years to permit formal comparison. In each case, any statistically significant differences at the
1% level have been noted.
General findings
Enthusiastic and reluctant readers
• When asked about the sort of reader they consider themselves to be – not how good at reading
they are, but how much they enjoy reading, the Key Stage 3 & 4 (KS3&4) children were most
likely to rate themselves as being ‘reluctant (you only read when you have to)’ (26.1%). Key
Stage 2 (KS2) were the least likely to do so (16.8%). As for ‘enthusiastic (you read a lot, with
pleasure)’ readers, these were most likely to be found amongst the KS1 children (43.1%) and
least likely amongst the KS3&4 children (22.7%).In total, 43.1% of KS1 respondents rated
themselves as ‘enthusiastic’, 33.5% as ‘average (you read an ordinary amount)’ and 23.4% as
‘reluctant’. This is particularly concerning when investigating the boys and girls separately – there
was a noticeable difference to be found, with 18.5% of the girls considering themselves to be
reluctant readers, compared to 28.1% of the boys. In addition, 49.7% of the girls felt they were
enthusiastic readers, while 37.3% of the boys rated themselves in the same way.
• 12.6% of the KS2 girls and 20.9% of the boys saw themselves as ‘reluctant’ readers – the total
across both groups was 16.8%. The girls were significantly more likely to regard themselves as
‘enthusiastic’ readers than the boys, at 31.7%. The younger children were also significantly
keener readers than the older respondents.
• It is encouraging that over 70% of the KS3&4 participants rate themselves at least ‘average’,
with around a quarter thinking they are ‘reluctant’. This breaks down into 23.8% of the girls and
28.2% of the boys being reluctant readers.
Factors affecting book choice
• The majority of the KS1 children said that they ‘often’ choose books on the basis of largely
visual features. The top choice was ‘you like the pictures inside’ (66.8% of the girls and 55.3% of
the boys); the four and five year old group was significantly more likely than the six and seven
year olds to select this option. A relatively large proportion of respondents gave having seen the
book on TV or video (31.5% of the girls and 28.9% of the boys) as a reason for often choosing
books.
• Once the children reached KS2, there was a movement away from choosing books on the
basis of the pictures inside. At this age, increased numbers of both the girls and the boys are
likely to select a book on the basis of written rather than visual features, looking at the ‘blurb’
(significantly more likely as respondents increase in age), checking out the title and searching for
books by writers whose names they know (significantly more likely at age nine years and over
than at the age of seven or eight). In addition, the girls are significantly more likely to choose
books on the basis of the ‘blurb’ and because they know the name of the writer, whilst the boys
are significantly more likely to choose books because they have seen a film version.
• For the KS3&4 children, the ‘blurb’ or write-up inside or on the cover is a very popular aid to
choosing books for this age group; the girls were significantly more likely to select this option and
the likelihood of doing so increased with age. The girls were more likely to choose on the basis of
knowing the name of the author, this increased with age as well. Written rather than visual
features are generally more popular with these respondents – this is as would be expected with
comparatively older children, although the boys were more likely to choose on the basis of liking
the illustrations inside the book.
Choosing a book by its cover
• The cover was important to the majority of the KS2 children, with only 14% overall saying that it
‘hardly ever or never’ influences their choice of books. The proportions across the two gender
groups were very similar, but there was a significant difference by age, with pupils choosing a
book by its cover less often as they get older.
• In the older group (KS3&4), 23.0% of the girls ‘often or very often’ choose a book on the basis
of the appearance or design of the cover. Amongst the boys it was 16.8%; the difference
between the gender groups was statistically significant.
Reading recommendations
• Nearly all the KS2 girls (86.1%) ‘very often or often’ choose books on the basis of personal
recommendation, saying that these are most often recommendations made by friends.The
proportion of boys using recommendations from friends is almost as high as that for the girls – at
84.4%.Each group is more likely to rely on recommendations from someone of the same gender
as themselves – the differences between the boys and the girls were significant in each case.
That is, girls are more likely to rely on recommendations from their sister or mother and boys are
more likely to be guided by their brother or father.
• The responses from the KS3&4 children show that friends are also significant to them in book
recommendations – this was the most popular choice for both girls and boys, although the girls
were significantly more likely to select this option. Once again sisters and mothers are
statistically significantly more important for the girls than for the boys. Brothers and fathers are
similarly more significant for the boys than for the girls.
Series books
• The majority of the children questioned in each age range say that they choose books because
they are part of a series at least ‘sometimes’. With regard to those saying that they ‘often or very
often’ do this, the proportions were similar across both genders in the case of the younger two
age groups: KS1 – girls 25.8%; boys 24.7% and KS2 – girls 27.8%; boys 29.9%. In contrast, the
KS3&4 boys were significantly more likely often to choose series books than the girls.
Methods of choosing books of fiction, poetry and information books
• There are some differences between the ways respondents choose fiction and non-fiction. For
fiction, the most popular option for both the boys and girls was the ‘blurb’, followed by the title
and the appearance/design of the cover. The title was more important generally for non-fiction
choices, and the ‘blurb’ less so.
Getting help choosing books
• Just over half of the KS2 children claimed that no-one ever helps them to choose books. The
more detailed analysis showed that 57.9% of the boys stated that they receive no help with their
book choices, compared to 48.5% of the girls in the same position. Fewer students in the KS3&4
age group say that they have help with choosing books than at KS2. Significantly fewer boys
(30.6%) than girls (37.5%) say they have help, which is similar to the results for KS2. The KS3&4
respondents were more likely not to have help as their age increases – this is not surprising,
because children tend to be become more independent as they get older.
• All three groups were asked about who often helps them to choose the books they read. For
KS1, the majority of respondents opted for ‘someone in a shop’, followed by ‘I choose by myself’.
Furthermore, choosing by yourself is significantly more likely as the respondents get older. Of
members of the family, mothers (or other women in the family) were the most important for these
children.
• The KS1 results were reinforced by the responses from the KS2 children – the importance to
many respondents of mothers in making book choices was very visible here, although the
younger children were more likely to indicate this situation. Fathers in this role are relatively less
important to the respondents, although a higher proportion of the boys (23.2%) rely on their
fathers than of the girls (16.1%); this difference was statistically significant. Friends were more
likely to be chosen as the respondent age increased; and girls were statistically more likely to
choose friends in this context. The girls were also statistically more likely to choose their sister, or
other girl in the family. Teachers are relatively unpopular in the role of helping with book choices;
school and local librarians were rated quite low for this question.
• The replies of the KS3&4 children showed similar findings: the influence of friends, sisters and
mothers is particularly clear in the girls’ responses; they were significantly more likely to choose
these here. However, the influence of friends and mothers is also evident in the replies provided
by the boys. Many of the boys also have help from their fathers when choosing which books to
read; they are significantly more likely to receive help from this source (and from bothers and
other males in the family) than the girls. Local librarians are clearly not a major source of advice
in this area, which perhaps reflects this older age group’s reliance on those they know best.
Buying Books
• The highest proportion of children questioned saying that they ‘often or very often’ buy books or
have books bought for them were in the KS1 group. However, a relatively high proportion of the
KS1 children questioned (20.5%) also say that they ‘hardly ever or never’ have books bought for
them. Of the girls, 23.5% ‘hardly ever or never’ have books bought for them, as do 18.0% of the
boys.
• Just 9.9% of the KS2 girls noted ‘hardly ever or never’ buying books or having them bought for
them. A slightly higher proportion of the boys – 16.3% – were in the same position. Similar
proportions of the two groups noted book buying happening ‘often or very often’ (25.4% of the
girls and 24.1% of the boys), although the girls were statistically significantly more likely to buy
books or have them bought.
• As at KS2, the majority of the KS3&4 students report that they buy books at least ‘sometimes’.
Unlike the situation in the younger age-group, where nearly twice as many girls reported that
they bought books ‘often or very often’, there is less of a difference between the girls’ and boys’
responses in KS3&4. However, the girls were significantly more likely to buy books or have them
bought for them.
People who pay for books
• For both the KS2 and KS3&4 age groups, mothers and other women in the family are most
likely to be the person who most often buys books for the respondents. This is true for both the
boys and the girls and may demonstrate that mothers are particularly aware of the importance of
reading.
Borrowing Books
• The most popular place from which respondents in all three age groups often borrow books
was the school classroom or library, followed in all cases by the local library. These results
demonstrate that libraries are the prime candidate for book borrowing.
• 47.1% of the KS2 girls and 43.0% of the boys noted that they ‘often’ borrow books from the
local library. The boys were statistically more likely to hardly ever or never borrow books. In
addition, a significantly higher proportion of girls borrow from other females in their family, and a
higher proportion of boys borrow from other males in the family.
• It is encouraging for public libraries that, for the KS3&4 boys and girls, they were the most
popular place from which to borrow books. However, they were significantly less likely to be
noted as the age of the respondent increased. Friends were more likely to be a borrowing source
as respondents grew older. It is also noticeable that the girls were significantly more likely to
borrow from friends than were the boys. The same was true for borrowing from school and from
other females in the family (both sisters and mothers). Perhaps unsurprising in the light of this
finding was that the boys were more likely to borrow books from their father or other man in the
family. Only 0.1% of the girls and 0.5% of the boys claim never to borrow books.
Comics
• Similar proportions of the KS1 (71.0%) and KS2 children (70.3%) read comics, whilst a lower
percentage of the older children do so (48.9%). In all three age groups, comics are more popular
with the boys than with the girls. At KS2 and KS3&4, the difference between genders was
significant. Reflecting the decreasing interest in comics with increasing maturity, the KS3&4
children were significantly less likely to look at comics as their age increased.
• ‘Cartoon-style funny comics’ were the most popular kind with all three age groups. In all of the
age groups, taking the genders separately, the most popular kind of comic amongst the boys
was ‘cartoon-style funny’ and amongst the girls it was ‘comics specially for girls’. The boys,
particularly the older ones, also showed a preference for ‘adventure, super-hero’ comics and
‘comics related to TV shows – the latter being a preference largely shared with the girls.
• The favourite comics noted by respondents reflected these findings. For KS1 children, the top
three choices were Spiderman (24 respondents), Scooby Doo (16 respondents) and The Beano
(11 respondents). Apart from the top three, a total of 90 other comics were named, including
titles as diverse as Angelina Ballerina and Thunderbirds; Big Cook Little Cook and The Magic
Key. For the KS2 children, The Beano was the most nominated comic. The Simpsons comics
were also popular, with 152 respondents naming these as their favourite. The Simpsons comic
was the most popular with the KS3&4 children, with 160 nominations, closely followed by The
Beano (128 responses). The popularity of The Beano seems to span all age-groups – in this
survey it is the title most often nominated for ‘favourite comic’ by respondents at KS2, third for
KS1and second for KS3&4.
Magazines
• Over three quarters of respondents in each of the three age groups read magazines – the
proportion increases with age. Amongst the KS1 children, similar proportions of girls and boys
responding read magazines: the results were 75.6% of the girls compared to 73.1% of the boys.
Amongst the KS2 and KS3&4 students, a very high proportion of the girls (86.9% and 95.5%
respectively) say that they read magazines; the difference between the two gender groups was
statistically significant in each case. Around two-thirds of the KS2 boys (67.4%) and 83.5% of the
KS3&4 boys also noted reading magazines.
Newspapers
• A higher proportion of the KS3&4 children (69.7%) claim to read newspapers than those in KS2
(51.7%). It was not surprising, therefore, that amongst the KS2 children there was more
likelihood of replying ‘yes’ as age increased. It was equally unsurprising that this was also true for
the KS3&4 respondents.
• In both of the age groups questioned, a higher proportion of the boys say that they read
newspapers than of the girls; the difference was statistically significant in the KS3&4 group.
Preferences for reading matter in newspapers
• When reading newspapers, the majority of both age groups questioned like to read the sports
pages. However, it is also clear that tastes change as the students mature, and there is less
agreement between the two age groups thereafter.
• Over 70% of the KS2 boys said that they like to read the sports pages. Although the sports
pages were also the most popular choice for the girls, the difference between the two genders
was significant here. The girls were significantly more likely to opt for ‘the section for children and
young people’, ‘articles on music or fashion’, ‘horoscopes’ and ‘articles on food or cooking’.
24.8% of the boys said that they like reading articles on TV programmes.
• Amongst the KS3&4 students, the boys were more avid readers of newspapers than girls. A
significantly high proportion of boys like to read the sports pages (69.0%); whilst amongst the
girls the general news is the section of the newspaper most widely read (51.1%), closely followed
by articles on music or fashion (49.6%). General news is enjoyed by 42.4% of the boys.
Frequency of reading fiction
• The proportion of children saying that they read fiction ‘often or very often’ decreases as the
age of the groups increases. When looking at the total number of respondents in KS1, nearly all
of the children (92.0%) say they read fiction at least ‘sometimes’, although a higher proportion of
the girls make this claim. In fact, only 3.8% of responding girls claimed that they ‘hardly ever or
never’ did so. Of the boys, 12.0% were in the same position. There is a statistically significant
difference between the two gender groups so that the girls were more likely to choose ‘often or
very often’ than the boys.
• An impressive 93.8% of the KS2 girls and 86.0% of the KS2 boys say that they read fiction at
least ‘sometimes’. Just over 50% of the girls do this ‘often or very often’, compared to 35.5% of
the boys. Amongst the KS3&4 participants, around three-quarters say that they read fiction at
least ‘sometimes’. The girls are significantly more likely to read fiction ‘often or very often’ than
the boys.
Favourite story book/fictional character
• For all three age groups, ‘Harry Potter’ was the character most mentioned as the favourite. For
the KS1 children, however, there was no real consensus after Harry Potter, with characters as
wide-ranging as Action Man and Dennis the Menace,Legolas and Mr Wonka all receiving single
mentions.For the KS2 and the KS3&4 children, close behind Potterwas Tracy Beaker, from the
book entitled The Story of Tracy Beaker (by Jacqueline Wilson). A similarly wide range of
responses were offered by the older age groups.
Favourite books of fiction
• The clear favourite books of fiction for all three age groups were the Harry Potter books; many
respondents named the whole series. Amongst the KS2 children, titles by Jacqueline Wilson
were named frequently, particularly Tracy Beaker. Roald Dahl titles were also generally very
popular. For the KS3&4 participants, there was a wide range of choices of favourite fictional
book, from The Thirty-Nine Steps (John Buchan) to Scooby Doo Adventures; and from The
Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold) to James and the Giant Peach (Roald Dahl). A total of 1,007
respondents gave a favourite title; 390 individual titles were named. The choices reflect the
expected reading interests of older children (teenagers), with the inclusion of books aimed at the
teen market as well as books which might be considered primarily for adults. The popularity of
series is reflected in the choices made, as is the increasing dominance of books by Jacqueline
Wilson (the Children’s Laureate and most borrowed author from public libraries for the third year
running in 2005-06).
Preferences for main characters in fiction
• When asked about their preference for the main character in their stories, the majority of the
girls like to read about other girls and the majority of the boys like to read about other boys. The
gender difference was statistically significant at all three key stages.
• 22.1% of the KS1 girls were happy to have a boy as the main character, whereas only 4.7% of
the boys would choose a girl in this role. The results were significant in each case; that is, the
girls were more likely than the boys often to like the main character to be a girl and the boys were
more like than the girls often to like the main character to be a boy. In addition, the boys were
significantly more likely than the girls to prefer the main character to be a robot and to prefer it to
be a monster.
• The situation was similar for the KS2 respondents, with a higher proportion of girls liking to read
about boys than boys who like reading about girls. In common with the KS1 group, the girls were
significantly more likely than the boys often to like the main character to be a girl and the boys
were more like than the girls often to like the main character to be a boy. Amongst the KS3&4
respondents, the girls overwhelmingly like to read about ‘a girl’ (80.0%). Interestingly, the girls’
second choice is ‘a boy’ – this may be due to a liking for Harry Potter, an idea which is backed up
by 29.3% of the girls also noting a preference for reading about ‘someone who uses magic or
special powers’. The highest proportion of the boys prefers reading about ‘a boy’ (54.1%),
followed by 36.5% who like to read about ‘someone who uses magic or special powers’. Indeed,
the popularity of characters as ‘someone who uses magic or special powers’ in both of the other
two key stage groups is likely to reflect the current craze for ‘Harry Potter’.
• Just under a third of the KS3&4 boys like reading about cartoon characters, perhaps a link with
their continuing enjoyment of comics. The KS3&4 boys were significantly more likely to like
reading about ‘a machine’, ‘a cartoon character’, ‘someone from outer space’, ‘someone who
uses magic or special powers’ and ‘a monster’. Not surprisingly, respondents were significantly
more likely to prefer reading about ‘an adult’ as their age increased.
• The investigation of participants’ dislikes for main characters in their fiction showed that their
likes were in many cases reflected by these. That is, where a statistically significant proportion of
boys disliked reading about a certain type of character (for example, ‘a girl’), a statistically
significant proportion of the girls liked reading about the same character.
Favourite authors
• When asked to provide details of their favourite story book author, the KS2 children chose
Jacqueline Wilson, followed by Roald Dahl and J K Rowling. For the KS3&4 children, the top
three choices were Jacqueline Wilson, J K Rowling and Roald Dahl.
Favourite illustrators
• The older two key stage groups were asked to provide details of their favourite illustrators. At
KS2, the top two choices were Quentin Blake and Nick Sharratt. For KS3&4 students, the top two
were the same as for KS2, but appeared in the opposite order, so that Nick Sharratt received a
greater number of mentions. The connection of Blake with Dahl and Sharratt with Wilson is
evident here.
Reading books of facts and information
• 63.4% of the KS1 girls and 73.2% of the boys at least ‘sometimes’ read information/non-fiction
books. This supports the widely held belief that boys tend to like reading non-fiction more than
girls and the difference was found to be statistically significant.
• Over a third of the KS2 girls questioned say that they ‘hardly ever or never’ read non-fiction, reaffirming the disparity between the sexes evident in this area in the KS1 group. In contrast,
16.2% of the boys ‘often or very often’ and 31.5% of them ‘hardly ever or never’ choose to read
information or other non-fiction books; the difference between the two gender groups is
statistically significant.
• Amongst the KS3&4 students, only 8.1% of the girls and 8.0% of the boys report that they ‘often
or very often’ choose to read information books or other non-fiction. Given that this group is
encountering formal examinations (SATs and GCSEs), this suggests that few participants
choose to read information books, but they are likely to be required to do so in order to succeed
in these endeavours.
Looking for information
• The most popular types of sources in which KS2 respondents often like to look for information
are magazines, followed by the internet. The same two options were popular with the KS3&4
students, but appeared the other way round.
• For the KS2 respondents, humorous approaches to non-fiction, such as the ‘Horrible Histories’,
seem to be popular with both boys and girls. The boys were significantly more likely than the girls
to choose this option, however. These were also significantly more popular with the eight to 11year-olds. Magazines are particularly popular sources of information for the girls; they are
significantly more likely than the boys to make use of these. The preference for magazines also
increases significantly with age.
Key Stage 3 and 4 Questions
A series of questions was asked only of the KS3&4 children, relating in particular to the role of
reading in health and social issues, and in sex and related subjects. They were also asked to
provide further details relating to their opinions about reading about pregnancy and
contraception, reading fiction and their knowledge and information gathering related to substance
abuse. The responses are analysed and discussed in greater detail in the full report (Maynard et
al, 2007).
Conclusions
The intriguing and varied conclusions drawn from the analysis of the survey included:
There was a good response to the survey, with approaching 2,000 respondents from each of the
older two key stage groups. This allows for a reasonably high level of certainty about the
responses as analysed. Although the survey was successful in receiving a total of 488 responses
from the KS1 children, it would nevertheless have been helpful to have achieved a higher
number of responses from this group.
The responses from all three key stage groups demonstrated the clear importance of magazines
as reading material for pleasure in addition to making use of them as valuable sources of
information. This was particularly true for the girls, although there was evidence that the boys
also enjoyed reading magazines. It is therefore clear that magazines should be taken seriously
as a significant form of reading for children of all ages.
Non-fiction is relatively important to both the boys and the girls, which may be due, at least in
part, to its connection with schoolwork. However, there were also indications that a noteworthy
proportion of the respondents enjoy reading non-fiction for pleasure as well. There were
indications that, as might be expected, this kind of reading material was of more significance to
the boys than to the girls, particularly for the purposes of pleasure.
The evident popularity of series books reflects the success of series such as the Harry Potter
books, Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events and Anthony Horowitz’s books about Alex
Rider. Series books were relatively popular with respondents of all ages, and they increased in
popularity as these participants got older.
The importance of mothers and other women in the family in the reading choices of the girls was
not surprising. It is perhaps obvious that young people will like to receive recommendations from
someone of the same gender as themselves, so the preference of girls for reading tips from their
mothers and sisters is easy to accept. However, relatively high proportions of boys were happy to
receive such recommendations from their mothers, as well as from their fathers and brothers. In
addition, the study also revealed that mothers and other adult females were significant in issues
related to the purchase of books, and were likely to be involved with the girls and the boys in this
way.
An overwhelming finding of the survey is that reading is clearly one of many activities enjoyed by
the participants. It is perhaps fighting for its place amongst these other activities, and in some
cases it is being usurped by the more visual technologies, particularly for the boys.
References
Children’s Literature Research Centre (1996), Young People’s Reading at the End of the
Century, London: Roehampton Institute.
Maynard, Sally; Sophie Mackay; Fiona Smyth and Kimberley Reynolds (2007) Young People’s
Reading in 2005: The Second Study of Young People’s Reading Habits, London: National Centre
for Research in Children’s Literature.
Through Eastern Eyes: The Art of the Japanese Picture Book
National Centre for Research in Children's Literature, (2001) London, UK
Catalogue from the 2001 Touring Exhibition which featured original work from 11 of the most
celebrated contemporary Japanese picture book artists. Includes notes on the featured artists:
Ryoji Arai, Noboru Baba, Shinta Cho, Shuhei Hasegawa, Akiko Hayashi, Satoshi Kitamura,
Daihachi Ohta, Yoko Sano, Susumi Shingu, Kota Taniuchi and Seizo Tashima. The catalogue
also includes essays by Jane Doonan, Professor Okiko Miyake and Dr Tomoko Masaki, as well
as forewords from Mitsumasa Anno, Quentin Blake and Michael Foreman.
Young People Reading at the End of the Century
National Centre for Research in Children's Literature, (1996) London, UK
PLEASE NOTE: THIS TITLE IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT
This reading survey was conducted by the NCRCL in 1995, and the report published in 1996. It
provides a wide-ranging study of more than 8,000 children and young adults, selected to provide
a demographically representative cross-section of the English school population. The facts
collected, and the more open responses to questions, create a fascinating profile of what young
people read, and for those 11 years and older, what they think about the world in which they live.
The specific interest of those conducting the survey was in learning what gets young people to
read and the relationship between what they read and the attitudes they have to topical issues
such as substance abuse, violence, health and sexuality, but in the process a very broad body of
data was collected.