EAT MORE BOOKS
I feel like I need to explain the illustrations in my portfolio commanding that children need to EAT MORE BOOKS. Obviously, not literally…but maybe. A bit? Just a nibble on a corner.
I’ve been really struck by the National Literacy Trust’s recent findings that fewer children than ever are reading for pleasure. It’s really sad, but I can quite easily see how it’s happening. Libraries are closing and books are expensive. Parents are stressed and busy, sometimes not getting home until after their childrens’ bed time. There are other demands on children’s time - after school clubs, sports clubs, dance lessons, swimming lessons, Stage Coach. And homework! My daughter’s been set homework to do since she was six or seven years old.
Not to mention that there’s more temptations to be found on screen; there’s a seemingly bottomless well of content on Disney+, Netflix, and now Youtube Kids. My daughter is no exception - we’ve had K-Pop Demon Hunters on more times than I care to admit, and who can blame her after a busy week at school?
Children don’t see their parents reading books either, and this is the bit that really got me. I’m definitely guilty of a habitual scroll on my phone during a quiet moment. How often does my daughter see me read a book, during the day? (ie, before I fall asleep with the first page stuck to my face when I finally collapse into bed?)
But I remember growing up, I constantly saw my mum reading. Not just at bedtime, but during ALL her (limited) spare time. When we were watching Neighbours, she was sitting on the sofa, her head stuck in a book, usually something by Patricia Cornwell. She took real pleasure in reading, and still does. She says it’s because books were really treasured during her childhood. She’s one of five children and money was tight. Books just weren’t that easy to come by, but her mother took her to the library, and trips to the library were a joyful, exciting experience.
I wanted to make some work that I would appreciate seeing, without guilt or judgement, that even for a few minutes at day, reading is always there, that it’s an option. It doesn’t matter what it is they’re reading, or even if they’re not reading, just looking at, handling and even smelling a book, turning the pages in their hands. I thought maybe these images would be posters for a children’s centre somewhere that says, hey, remember books? Books are for you, for everyone, everywhere, no matter who you are or what’s in your bank balance. There are people to help you find them too, and here’s all the information you need, including how to apply for a library card, or here’s a place that sells children’s books for 50p, or here’s details about a book swap where you can get them for free or a donation. I don’t really know, but I think it takes small things like this to bring books into people’s lives.
