The Reading Association and the Centre for Children’s Literature:
our shared inspiration.

1. What you learn as a child stays with you.

Research has shown that most adults who enjoy culture encountered it at a very early age: at home, with their families. They later remember books and music from home, as well as the museum visits and the theatre trips they enjoyed. The American sociologist Shirley Brice Heath argues that you become a reader if you grow up with books around you and if you have someone with whom you can talk about books. Because of this, the Reading Association wants to stimulate positive encounters with books at early ages.

2. Children and adults live in the same world.

Many reading promotion programmes focus on children, which seems evident and which is useful. Still, if children never see an adult who enjoys reading, it looks as if reading is something for children, something you grow out of.
The Reading Association is promoting a positive reading environment for children and adults and, together with the Centre for Children’s Literature, wants to get the adults interested in children’s literature.


3. You learn from people you admire.

If you ask children who they admire, they’ll name their parents first of all. Teachers come second. This presents parents and teachers with an excellent opportunity to share their norms, values, and culture with children. As children grow older, other idols enter their world. They, too, can play a part in motivating children to read.

4. The art of seduction.

Seducing means giving it all you’ve got. This is true for love affairs and book affairs. That’s why all of our projects boast a variation of our book suggestions and specialized reading lists. Moreover, it is not that difficult to entice people to read because children and adults simply love stories. You promote reading by using the most attractive stories, highlighting the best books, and reading parts of them aloud. You select the most gripping characters and the most stunning drawings, printed on beautiful paper in an irresistible format.


5. The average child doesn't exist

Everyone is different; no two eight-year-olds are the same; all readers are individuals and we wouldn’t want it any other way. An age indicator on a book is no more than a guideline. One child is fascinated by an atlas and another one loves poetry. An old American library motto says: the right book for the right child at the right time. To give proper reading advice, you not only have to know the person standing in front of you, you also need a wide range of books. The Centre for Children’s Literature promotes the study of children’s literature and fosters expertise in teachers, librarians, and other specialists.