We've all been there. Reading the same material over and over to obsessed children. And it's always the book that bores, us, or has rubbish illustrations, or in some way drives you up the wall. When they are young, we tolerate it but as they age there seems to be a collective disgust at children 'not moving on'.
A current report into what kids are reading suggests that children are consistently reading below their reading age when they reach senior school. This is not because they are incapable, but because they like to return to old and familiar favourites. So the boy in senior school who excelled at primary is often found to be reading books he loved back then. Instead of moving on to the classics as encouraged by his English teachers, he's rereading Kinney and Walliams.
This kind of thing encourages panic in well meaning parents and educators. We could all do with a healthy dose of chill-axing. We spend years encouraging children to read for pleasure and for relaxation, and when they finally do - they are given a hard time about it!
The time to worry is when children stop reading. Rereading is good for children and induces a sense of security. Instead of telling them off we should praise them. They've chosen to read in their down-time. They've all the time in the world to read difficult literature (a whole adult lifetime) but childhood is short, and the pleasure to be found in escaping into worlds created by greats like Roald Dahl, all too brief.
If you want to see the full report follow this link new report .
(The title picture from this blog is the one my four year old is currently demanding nightly. It's great, but don't read it after a heavy dinner, as it may make you queasy.)
I love Sue Hendra's illustrations. We can recommend the Supertato books and I Need a Wee!
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