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Original poster

Kids living in houses without books?

153 replies

ButterfliesAreWeird · 13/12/2017 20:31

My son just received another of those books we get given by the government (funded by them atleast). My Mother said that they started this scheme because around 1 in 4 children were starting school without a single book in their household. Is this right? That sounds like a lot, but then again it would need to be for them to start handing out books I guess.

OP posts:
FruitCider · 13/12/2017 21:13

16% of adults have literacy levels that are level 1 or below.

So the news that some household don’t have reading material is not that surprising to me.

readingagency.org.uk/about/impact/002-reading-facts-1/

PerspicaciaTick · 13/12/2017 21:13

The National literacy Trust say that 1 in 11 children don't own a book of their own, rising to 1 in 8 disadvantaged children.

literacytrust.org.uk/research-services/research-reports/book-ownership-and-reading-outcomes/

They also have figures on adult literacy which are even more shocking.

ThisIsNotARealAvo · 13/12/2017 21:21

Doing nursery home visits I came across dozens of families where there were no books or even proper toys. Some families were very poor, some just didn't have any books. Very few had lots of books. Of course it varies from area to area and school to school but in most of the schools I've worked in (SE London) the majority of children don't have books at home.

Clayhead · 13/12/2017 21:23

We've got no books on display except cook books. We have kindles, use the library, get books passed on by family, then pass them on in turn. If I buy a book I give it away once I've read it. We read loads. Newspapers are digital subscriptions.

So anyone visiting would put us in the no books category, if they cared to judge.

PerspicaciaTick · 13/12/2017 21:25

A random visitor would probably assume we don't have any books too. Only when you went upstairs would you see the books we have.

BertieBotts · 13/12/2017 21:29

The government DO give free books to families with young children, that's what the OP was talking about! :) They change them every year as well so you don't get hundreds of the same book in every charity shop. Really nice books too, not crap ones.

Actually I'm pleasantly surprised this is still going, I think it's a brilliant scheme.

As for not having books, I agree it can happen when the parents don't read so it doesn't occur to them to read to DC. Or they can't read or really struggle with reading themselves and so prefer other activities. Or perhaps they are ESL and only have books in their own language at home - we live in Germany and DS only has a handful of German books.

PringlesSmoothie · 13/12/2017 21:31

Yes lots of children I work with have no books at home.

Mindhunter · 13/12/2017 21:31

I don't own any books I don't read books for pleasure as I'm such a slow reader I get bored but do listen to audio books. My children have loads though and my oldest is always reading. I grew up in a house with no books so have made a point of getting them for my children.

TryToRelax · 13/12/2017 21:33

Are you saying you don't think that free books should be given out? Or that it is a good scheme?

museumum · 13/12/2017 21:33

If you live in short term rental accommodation or are overcrowded or even legally homeless (b&b/hostel/refuge) then boxing up and carrying about books will be very low in your priorities.

Unihorn · 13/12/2017 21:36

My DSD is 7 and used to tell me she didn't have books at her mum's. I come from a family of readers so have always had hundreds of books around for her and always read her a bedtime story. I couldn't imagine bedtime without a story as a child!

GoJohnnyGoGoGoGo · 13/12/2017 21:36

I remember when we had DS2 the midwife commented on our bookcases. According to her it's very rare to see books in a family home. I always thought that was very sad.

Original poster
ButterfliesAreWeird · 13/12/2017 21:39

I was talking about in the 90s causing them to give out books to end that. Hearing that there are still alot of children in bookless homes makes me so sad. I honestly can't imagine how that's possible?

OP posts:
MrsSifB · 13/12/2017 21:41

Gintresting do you still have the 100 book toreador in year 1 list? Would love to get some ideas for my daughter.

Navegante · 13/12/2017 21:43

Growing up we had very few books but I regularly went to the library (my siblings weren't too interested). If someone visited my house we'd probably get a few eyebrows raised. Dd has about 10 books and dp and I have one shelf of books. Re pp, we rent and move a lot, so only keep books that we love as it's just more clutter as far as I'm concerned. We mostly hire from the library or buy second hand and then return to the charity shops when finished. Dd books also get thrown when damaged and in the future will go to charity shops when she's out grown them.

ImminentDisaster · 13/12/2017 21:43

About 12yrs ago when I was still teaching, the council collected information from the gifted and talented children's parents about how many books / bookcases were in the house. Not sure what became of that data.

Anecdotally, my pgce tutor told me about a boy who suddenly made a great leap in reading ability and they found it was because he'd found the subtitles setting on the tv. He had nothing much in the way of books in the house, but proved resourceful.

Access to books is only going to get worse the rate the government are closing down libraries. Angry

Navegante · 13/12/2017 21:45

Also, similar with toys. We only have around 10 toys available at one time for dd to play with plus craft stuff. I rotate her toys on a regular basis, but, a one time visitor to our house might think dd barely has any toys when actually that isn't true.

ginteresting · 13/12/2017 21:45

The free books they give out aren't great though. They're fine, but they aren't the type of books that make a child love books and want to read more, and they are the children that need them most.
mrssif- yes somewhere, il dig it out and post. It's from a teacher resources type thing called twinkle (or something like that).

Orangepear · 13/12/2017 21:50

My living room has a wall full of books, but it's the little one from Book Start that DD2 loves most! 'I talk to you, you talk to me. ..'

VanGoghsLeftEar · 13/12/2017 21:55

My friend is on benefits, has a very tight budget for everything, and doesn't have many books at home. But she and her DD live half a mile from a large library and are down there weekly to borrow books and use the internet too. Both are very literate.

We have too many books at home, which takes up too much room, usually gifts from a great uncle of my daughter, whose own flat is wall to ceiling with them. My DD also goes to the library, because we live in a tiny place so if we bought every book we wanted we'd be swamped. We give books to my friend, who reads them and passes them on, or we give them to charity. My DD 's great uncle is an epic reader who knows many penguin classics well, and tries to encourage his great niece to read more and more challenging books for her age. Her step-nan is also a reader.

We have graphic novels, cook books, books about science, feminism, art, archeology, reference, biographies, tv tie-ins, family sagas, epics and fantasy, all collected over nearly 20 years. It helps with homework, certainly!

Bolshybookworm · 13/12/2017 22:10

I disagree on the free books- Kitchen Disco is awesome! Also been given some free books from a Scottish relative who's kids had grown out of them, there's some real gems. My kids particularly love "the day Louis got eaten".

StringyPotatoes · 13/12/2017 22:16

The books that Bookstart give out for free may not be the most inspiring and engaging but they have to cover every reason someone might need them. And that includes those parents who can’t read. That’s why they’re simple and short. The ones that read “I talk to you, you talk to me” etc are also there to encourage general interaction and dialogue with the baby/child.

Giving a Julia Donaldson or something would be lovely but could be hard going for a parent who is really struggling with dyslexia and doesn’t offer the same openings for discussion and interaction as a book that just says “I tickle you. You smile at me” etc.

LBOCS2 · 13/12/2017 22:22

Looking around I've realised that we would probably fall into the category of 'dual professional couple, no books' if someone came to our home and was only here on the 'surface' of our life.

I've, for the first time in 25+ years, managed to cull my book collection to fit onto ONE Billy bookcase which is in the spare room. The DC's books (of which there are an abundance) are in their room or rotated into one of the Kallax cubbies in a drawer. We just don't have books laying about any more. Not when I can fit my whole book collection into my handbag on my Kindle 😁.

ginteresting · 13/12/2017 22:23

Bookworm, il give you that, kitchen disco is pretty cool. But, How many Julia Donaldsons, Jolly postmans, Roald Dahls, Dr Seuss, Or That's not my... made your children love booktime.

SheepyFun · 13/12/2017 22:43

Sometimes HV's are having a bad day, or simply unobservant. We were having additional visits because DD was slow to walk. During one such visit, the HV also asked if we read to DD. She was sitting opposite our fireplace, which has two alcoves on either side of it, each about a metre wide, filled with, yes you guessed it, books (and they aren't the only ones in the room either). Tempted as I was to say 'oh, it never occurred to me', I decided that might not be wise...

I've never understood the popularity of Billy bookcases - the shelves are too wide for most books. Our shelves vary in depth (DH fitted them straight onto the walls), but none of them are double stacked - then you can't see half your books.