What children say about books:
‘I can drain all my emotions out on the book, so if I’ve had a hard day, I can just read’
‘It’s quite nice to sort of feel like you’re sort of letting go from whatever is happening around you, and you can go deep – by yourself – deep in the world of the book’
‘You don’t want to put it down, because every page you read, there’s another cliffhanger; “Oh, what will happen here? What will happen here? Oh, can I just read for two more minutes?”’
Source: McGeown et al. (2020)
This BERA Blog series discusses diverse practices, perspectives and experiences that influence reading engagement among children, young people and adults. It draws upon a number of current research projects from the University of Edinburgh’s Literacy Lab. Within this lab, we collaborate with children, young people, teachers and other professionals to conduct our research seeking to better understand and support literacy experiences and outcomes.
In this collection, we share recent research from the Literacy Lab’s community of early career researchers, both PhD and postdoctoral, who together are making a significant contribution to our understanding of the reading experiences and outcomes of children, young people and adults.
