Blogs
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09Jun2011
Transforming Reads
Posted by Jonathan Douglas
In the past few weeks the front page of the London Evening Standard has repeatedly featured a piece of National Literacy Trust research we have just published which identifies that only 66.8%[1] of children say that they own books of their own. This shocking statistic has been used by the Evening Standard as springboard to campaign for literacy in the capital.
Research has demonstrated the strong relationship between book ownership and a child’s attainment.[2] This was reinforced by recent international research which demonstrated that this relationship was particularly strong in the UK.[3]
Books are the weapon of the National Literacy Trust. The creativity of writers, illustrators and poets is the inspiration for our work and the force that creates readers and transforms lives with literacy.
Today we launch an amazing online auction called “Transforming Reads” which celebrates this power in a new and exciting way.
16 celebrities, including some of the nation’s greatest writers and illustrators from Tom Stoppard to Alan Bennett, have donated to us the book which has been most powerful in their reading lives. These books have frequently been plucked from their bookcase and each of them has been inscribed with a personal explanation of the value of literacy and the power of that particular book.
Cressida Cowell has donated “The Adventures of Peter Pan” and explains inside that “the joy of books is that they are like opening the doors to someone else’s Neverland”.
This excitement is echoed again and again by the likes of Malorie Blackman, Antony Beevor and Lauren Child, all of whom have donated and inscribed their favourite books. “Magical and poetical and wise” is how Joanna Trollope explains “The Towers of Trebizond” in her inscription.
The joy of reading is a powerful tool in the promotion of literacy and an invaluable experience in itself. Books build our lives. The shelves of my home with their Barbara Pyms and David Peaces are the scaffolding of my thinking and my imagination.
Following the end of government funding, the National Literacy Trust is facing an immediate financial crisis. Can I urge you to support our fundraising over coming months and to join in the auction of these amazing books? View the auction
Literacy is a national challenge but it also sits at the heart of so much personal pleasure. This auction is a great way of addressing the challenge and celebrating the pleasure.
[1] http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/assets/0000/9502/Book_ownership_2011.pdf, p8
[2] http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/assets/0000/9502/Book_ownership_2011.pdf, p15
[3] PISA 2009 Results: Overcoming Social Background: Equity in Learning Opportunities and Outcomes (Volume II), http://www.pisa.oecd.org/document/24/0,3746,en_32252351_46584327_46609752_1_1_1_1,00.html#how_to_obtain
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