Children in Scotland read more last year – and we can reveal their favourite authors.
In an annual study of children’s reading habits pupils said this year they read 11% more books than they did the previous year.
Diary of a Wimpy author Jeff Kinney, David Walliams and Roald Dahl are among their top writers – with JK Rowling making a reappearance in the top five.
Children’s favourite authors 2022
- Jeff Kinney
- David Walliams
- Roald Dahl
- JK Rowling
- Julia Donaldson
- Roderick Hunt
- RJ Palacio
- Francesca Simon
- John Steinbeck
- Louis Sachar
Also making a top 10 specifically for secondary school readers were Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four author George Orwell, and John Steinbeck, whose work includes Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath.
Judith Kerr, creator of the Mog series and The Tiger Who Came to Tea, was in the top 10 for primary school readers.
The findings in the What Kids are Reading report were based on analysis by Renaissance Learning of the reading habits of over 39,500 schoolchildren in Scotland and one million across UK and Ireland
For younger readers in Scotland, Wonder by RJ Palacio stood out as catching their attention, and for older readers Michael Morpugo’s Shadow.
Time spent reading books is crucial to improved reading skill, an essential transferable skill for the future.”
Professor Keith Topping, Dundee University
The study found primary school children read harder books as they get older, but the progression stops in secondary school, with pupils reading the same difficulty then as upper primary school children.
Principal report author Professor Keith Topping, of Dundee University, said: “We see clearly from the evidence that time spent reading books is crucial to improved reading skill, an essential transferable skill for the future.
“Children with high quality comprehension of real books also perform better on tests of reading skill.
“This is excellent, but more attention to communicating favourite books between peers would increase it even further.”
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