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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:
Evelynismyspyname · 16/12/2017 08:47

Ragwort my DH had never read a book he hadn't had to read from primary age until he was in his late 20s - then he suddenly started reading quite high volumes for several years. Think it can go in quite long phases! Your son might yet come back to it.

Evelynismyspyname · 16/12/2017 08:53

Not having books because they're untidy sounds quite a drastic commitment to minimalism! Presumably they are not the only thing that something so commited to tidyness would go without and there are no mugs that don't match, no kids' art on display, no personal choices of decor/ bedding by kids but only things that match, toys limited to a few artistically arranged asthetically pleasing wooden ones and electronics... If books are too untidy all sorts of other things must be too!

SleepingStandingUp · 16/12/2017 17:02

BrizzleDrizzle my bad, I missed the DSIS bit on my broken phone

GrrrHotdogs · 23/12/2017 23:35

Our house has few books on display but we are all huge readers. Apart from a few special books we don't keep books. I think keeping books around the house is a little old fashioned. They don't last forever - I'd rather give them away or swap them than have to dust them.

Norestformrz · 24/12/2017 05:20

In 2011 a survey by the National Literacy Trust revealed that 3/10 children didn't own a single book (slightly different from don't have access to books but of course library services are being cut nationally...) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/8934429/4m-children-in-UK-do-not-own-a-single-book-study-finds.html
a new survey suggests that 1/10 children still don't own a book
https://www.tes.com/news/school-news/breaking-news/more-770000-uk-children-dont-have-any-books-their-own

The books you mentioned are provided by a charity not the government https://www.booktrust.org.uk/who-we-are/ and has given free books to children since the early 90s.

As a teacher I buy every child in my class a book three times a year as do many teachers. I've had parents put the books straight into the bin and children report that their dad/mum said they don't need books 'cos they've got a phone/Xbox/ telly ..

EveryoneTalkAboutPopMusic · 24/12/2017 05:32

I can believe it too. Most people that I meet through work have either very little literacy or none at all. I think the average reading age in the city where I work is 7.

DianaT1969 · 24/12/2017 05:52

Plus books are like 20p in charity shops

Another example of rip-off London. Paperbacks are £1-2 in charity shops here.

EveryoneTalkAboutPopMusic · 24/12/2017 08:05

They’re not 20p here either and I’m pretty far from London.

donajimena · 24/12/2017 08:14

I love reading. All my family do. I've got cases of books for children and adults. But my children won't read. I do wonder if the rise of tv/youtube but they didn't read before!

wonkylegs · 24/12/2017 09:08

I find it so sad when I read things like this but I know from experience that it's true.
DS1 goes to a school in a nearby town with a rather 'mixed' intake group which has real issues with poverty, lack of opportunities and lack of educational background for families.
Access to books and children reading is a real issue.
They have a big drive to get kids to read regularly and part of this is to publish in the newsletter how many kids in each class have read at least twice a week, it breaks my heart that DS's class usually hovers around only 2-3 kids out of 28 that manage this. As DS reads everyday (his choice he loves it) he is always one of these but that leaves only a handful who read regularly.
The school has opened their library out of hours to increase access but the town library (the only one) is fighting closure due to cuts.
Aspiration and education are low in the town and I recently read a report that showed we are in an area with the lowest likelihood of going onto higher education. I have volunteered at the school on careers day and it breaks my heart to know that these kids - bright and wonderful as they are now are fighting against a tide of issues (access, opportunity, historical precinct and apathy) that will mean that very few of them will get the bright futures they all deserve.
Sorry have gone off on a bit of a tangent there but I think that they are linked and I find it so very sad.

Ta1kinPeace · 24/12/2017 14:36

Not a tangent all.
You have hit the nail on the head.

gwondle · 24/12/2017 18:06

My ds has recently started secondary.

Some of the other kids have taken the piss because he has 'so many books at home'!!! Shock

So I can well believe the 1 in 4 figure.

SleepingStandingUp · 26/12/2017 01:21

It isn't just the poor areas though. The gift of books I gave last Christmas that the mother commented "oh you brought him an ^educational^ present with a sneer - and they weren't, they were fun toddler books - is also someone who splashed 12k on a birthday party. Who works in the family business and whose son is spoiled materially. Just not with books :(

Baby niece and nephew got booms this Christmas, son got numerous off us and a re off fellow toddler moms . any duplicates we get will go to one of our hospitals.

If I win the lottery I'm gonna start a book charity Grin

PrincessoftheSea · 26/12/2017 01:30

A house with no books is like a house with no cat. Not a real home.

Just my opinion

SleepingStandingUp · 26/12/2017 01:57

Nice to know my allergy to fur means my child has a house but not a home Hmm

RedBlackberries · 26/12/2017 02:06

Ha! I'd love a cat! Landlord not so keen though Grin

Dh was brought up by a mum who was never taught to read herself and a dad that could but wouldn't be seen dead doing bedtime stories etc whereas I've always had books around as a child. I have passed on my love of reading to dd and we've always done a bedtime story since she was a baby. Dh couldn't believe I was read to daily when I was little which is sad but we both read to dd now. He's only read one book for fun himself though.

annandale · 26/12/2017 02:30

Too busy reading to look after a cat, sorry.

I agree that having books in the house is no guarantee of anything but having no reading material at all is just grim.

ridinghighinapril · 27/12/2017 15:08

If nothing else, books make the best ornaments - a shelf full of books is a beautiful thing and never date IMO.

AManWalksIntoABarOuch · 27/12/2017 15:28

People can be very snobby about books as if having piles of them makes them better than people who don't or shows how intelligent they are or something. Having lots of books on shelves doesn't mean anything.

I understand that reading is so important for children but having hundreds of books doesn't mean you've read them or that you are reading now. For instance someone said their shelves are double deep but all that means is the the hidden layer doesn't get read or even looked at so what is the point?

As for bookstart and the like, they don't actively promote it around here and you have to either notice a poster or already know about it to get the packs.

I don't understand why people feel they can't get rid of books. If you didn't like the book and/or have no intention of ever reading it again and it means nothing to you, then why keep it?

For the record, I don't read books. I just don't have time. In the evening when I can sit down with one I am just too tired. I used to. I don't really watch TV either. The DC however devours them and always has. We read a bedtime story every single night since was a baby when it would relax dc. The teachers all say they can tell.

Medeci · 27/12/2017 15:54

Anyone visiting us might think we didn't have any books.
We don't have any on display downstairs as the rooms are cluttered enough with dogs, kids and toys. I'd prefer a bit of blank wall space rather than shelves full of books covered in dog hair.

So our books are kept upstairs in the spare room.

Norestformrz · 27/12/2017 16:00

When they talk about homes without books they aren't talking about books on display. These are children who don't get a bedtime story or share a book with an adult or visit the library to borrow books.

stargirl1701 · 27/12/2017 16:10

DD2 got another free book from Bookbug at the library's free Christmas Rhymetime on the 23rd.

ridinghighinapril · 27/12/2017 16:55

My comment was purely in response to someone who said books on display were old fashioned (paraphrasing as I can't remember the exact quote). I am not implying having books on display equates to an avid reader or vice versa or that you can infer a child's exposure to books.

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