Back in 2013, the children’s author Jacqueline Wilson told the Independent, that among the hundreds of fan letters she received from young people, those sent from fans in Eastern Europe, Spain and Portugal had better spelling and grammar, than the letters received from children in Britain.
Wilson stated; “they’re writing in English, and apologising for their English, yet these letters will be more grammatical and spelt more properly than [those from] our own children. It’s quite extraordinary.”
Growing up, I was fortunate to have a family where reading was encouraged and seen as vital for the development of spelling. Visits to the library were a past time and among the furniture at home, heaped book cases were normal. I remember one family friend laughing at how “posh” we were for having books.
In junior school, the teacher would escort the class down to the school library, where each child had to choose a book and the following week, we had to give a report detailing the characters and plot of the story. This was before facing questions on various chapters, which would often be the tipping point if a book had only been half read.
In high school, it was also a blessing to be taught by an English teacher called Mrs Greenhalgh. What made Mrs Greenhalgh unique, was that she introduced me to an American author called ME Kerr and a young adult book called Gentlehands.
Set in the 1970’s, Gentlehands is the story of working class Buddy Boyle and wealthy Skye Pennington, who discover Buddy’s rich German grandfather had been an officer at the Auschwitz Concentration Camp. The book explores subjects including Buddy and Skye’s relationship, family heritage and their youthful understanding of the world around them.
In Blood on the Forehead: What I know About Writing, M.E Kerr described Gentlehands as having a perspective of placing young people in the position, where they had to directly face real life “what if’?” situations, making Kerr’s other books on teenage Lesbianism and mixed race relationships, more challenging for a young person to read.
Before Harry Potter, there were other books which captured young people’s imaginations and made the purchase of a book, a normal trend across Great Britain. In the 1980’s and 1990’s it was Sweet Valley High, which was popularised in a television show and not forgetting, the dominant read for every young person in the 1990’s, were the now classic Point Horror collections.
Few words can describe Point Horror better, than teenagers in America being stalked by a best friend/killer, dream like sequences in packed out shopping malls and ghostly football players haunting schools. This might sound daft but the popularity of these books was so huge, that in 1997 Publishers Weekly felt that Point Horror legend R.L Stine, built suspense and created an intriguing cast of characters.
What is often obstructive to a young person picking up a book, are adult attitudes towards literature, especially if young people are exposed to comments like; “isn’t that the teachers job?” Worrying are reports of children going to school tired or hungry, where problems at home result in young people being unable to focus in school and as teachers have reported, even falling asleep in class.
In today’s society, obtaining books has never been easier with charity shops, libraries and major shopping outlets. The introduction of the Kindle and other devices has now made the purchase of books a 24 hour pleasure and for those with visual problems, literature is equally accessible through a vast array of audio books.
Emilie Buchwald once stated “Children are made readers on the laps of their parents”, while Jacqueline Kennedy pointed out “There are many little ways to enlarge your child’s world. Love of books is the best”. And while Roald Dahl urged people to “throw your TV set away and install a lovely bookshelf", it was Frederick Douglass who declared; “Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.“
Hussein Al-alak is the editor of Iraq Solidarity News (Al-Thawra)
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