Is the rise in kids reading rates thanks to comics?

I read so many Tintin and Asterix comic books in the 90s, and my friend gave me his dad's collection of old Beanos and Dandys that I read over and over until they fell to pieces. I did buy a new Beano once but it was quite dull compared to the older ones so maybe that's why they weren't so popular.

As much as I hate the endless parade of Wimpy Kid, Dogman, Bunny Monkey books, I must concede that they do seem to get kids reading and seem particularly appealing to reluctant boys. My tomboy stepdaughter would not read anything except Wimpy Kid and then Dogman and we were just relieved she was enjoying reading something. Now she's finished her English GCSE I doubt she'll ever read a book again.

Meanwhile my 6 yo really likes what you'd consider more classic literature or "proper books" and I take immense joy in sharing books with her.

The difference is that SD can read, which is the most important thing, and DD loves to read, which is a nice to have. Despite my snobbishness, I am glad that kids who aren't born to love reading have books designed to engage them.

I think some credit (and I am preparing my hard hat for this!) must go to screens, maligned as they are. From really young ages now, kids are navigating screens by themselves and often have to read the cues to know what to do next, or type a phrase into a search bar to find what they want.

We absolutely are! I dont understand why a library wouldn't..We need people to use us to survive!

The only thing I will say is my 7 yo DS loves to read and has read (from memory) everything ever written by Dav Pilkey, Jamie Smart, Sheena Dempsey (who we met at Lincoln lit fest), Liz Pichon, Neil Cameron, John Patrick Green and Jeff Kinney. He also gets the Phoenix comic and The Week magazines delivered.

The downside is he doesn’t enjoy books without constant illustrations and finds them boring. I don’t know how to feel about this. For example, I have tried and failed to get him to read Jacqueline Wilson, Roald Dahl, Enid Blyton and Harry Potter but he won’t because they don’t have pictures.

I work in a Library and Graphic novels are the biggest "growth area"

DS loves graphic novels and now manga. I spend a lot of money on books! He reads / has read Dogman, captain underpants, diary of a wimpy kid, bunny v monkey and lots of Manga like Demon Slayer, Solo Levelling, Jujutsu Kaison, One Piece, etc. I have to force him to read chapter books! Hes 11.

Interesting that a PP has said their child developed an interest in drawing from these books as DS is ALWAYS drawing graphic novels and creating stories. That’s definitely come from comics / graphic novels.

I strongly the suspect the rise is meaningless, and that they should wait to see if it's a continuing trend. I note the drop that coincides roughly with covid.

If comics were a factor, we would have seen statistics dating back decades. I don't think it's at all related. If I were forced to invent something off the top of my head, I'd say that reading declined of schooling lapses due to covid, but kids are now getting a better grip on reading skills.

I agree, very disturbing.

From the report "Two-thirds (65.8%) were urged to pick up a book by teachers and more than half (54.8%) by their parents."

He will read on his own things like cat in the hat etc and he enjoys it but mainly we read to him. Hard for us to gage because my eldest was reading independently by 3 which I know it not usual! The eldest has always taken his own books into school for reading because by the time he was reception he was reading year 4/5 level books!! Wish I could say it’s encouraged me to read more but it has not 🙈🙈🙈

My eldest son (10) is a massive reader but not really comics, my younger son (6). He’s started reading the x-man books; he can’t quite grasp the comics yet but they do a more easy read version - hasn’t really encouraged him to want to read but has encourage him to draw. And now instead of sitting on screens he draws all the time and has just won a completion through school were they were they were read a story and asked to draw what they thought the character would look Like and now his drawing is going to be in the book! Which I am hoping will encourage him to read it

Sorry to burst everyone's bubbles but think it's the rise in anime and manga.

Thank you. As they said nothing about comics, I'm sticking to my conviction that they're not a factor.
That bar graph is horrifying, though!

Well I went in to switch off my 6 year olds light half an hour ago and he was still awake reading his new Bunny vs Monkey, eyes half closed but loves them so much he forces himself awake to keep reading! So it definitely works for him, I'm thinking of getting a subscription to The Phoenix for his birthday.

My seven year old has a reading age of ten but we hardly ever read his school books (not really a good excuse apart from we work full time and really tired by bedtime!) I'm pretty sure he taught himself to read from Jamie Smart and Roblox 🤔

I think there’s some confirmation bias going on here OP. Your kids are into comics and it feels like you may have unlocked some secret. I don’t agree it’s especially significant although I know that Manga is a bigger deal. My own DD was exposed to all types of literature and taken to the library and read to a lot and was never interested in reading. The turning point for her as a teenager was the influence of a friend who’s a big reader and trending titles on Social media eg Booktok. Turns out she’s very into Romantasy so I’m now happy to provide any titles she wants.