Books are best
Published 22 December 2010
Britain's mums and dads should buy their children books this Christmas to help them escape real-life frustrations and to guide them into in a world of fiction.
That is the advice from Henrietta Dombey, emeritus professor of literacy in primary education at the University of Brighton.
Professor Dombey, conveyor of the UK Literacy Association early literacy task group, said apart from entertaining and helping children deal with frustrations, books presented as gifts can also improve their literacy skills.
She said: "There is a lot of evidence that a book a child owns contributes more to their literacy than books taken out of the library, wonderful though the library is, because they go back to them again and again."
Professor Dombey suggested that parents should buy their children plenty to read, allowing them to 'escape' any real-life frustrations and get lost in a world of fiction all their own.
Recent figures from the Department for Education revealed that nine per cent of boys aged 11 had the reading age of a seven year old upon leaving primary school, prompting the government to introduce literacy checks for six year olds.
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