Children's and Youth Books

Why don't children read books anymore?

How often do you hear that people think that young people no longer read books or too little? It is true that young people spend a lot of time behind the computer, but that does not necessarily mean that they do not read or read less.

If you compare it to my childhood and youth, then I agree with the critics. But in my time there was no computer and the television was only turned on after dinner and then there was only " Tita Tovenaar " and " Fabeltjeskrant ".

The school can play an important role

In primary school we went to the library once a week where we had to choose at least 2 books that would be read in 1 week. Our schoolmasters insisted. I have read everything from " Pietje Bel " and " Dik Trom ".

In high school, the Dutch teacher had us read 25 books per school year, the English and French teacher had us read 10 books, and luckily the German teacher didn't say anything about reading books.

And what is the situation now?

When I look at what my 2 sons have read during primary and secondary school, I can confirm that they have read quite a few books. They have also read countless books during their university studies and when I look at their book collection, it appears that they are still reading. Remarkable: they are almost all English-language books.

And when I look at my book sales online, I see that children's books , youth books and young adult books are sold very regularly.

Is there less reading than in the past? Absolutely. Is the situation dramatic for young people in terms of reading books? Certainly not.

As long as there are good children's and young adult writers, young people will continue to read.

children's books, youth books by José Noulez de Miguel