How do we throw children a lifeline? We hand them a book

Image credit: Charlotte Graham

When Janey Godley died last week, you didn’t have to be her friend to mourn the passing of a woman whose voice-overs created brightness in the darkest days of the COVID lockdown.

Janey grew up in desperate poverty in Glasgow. But she found light in the darkness that led her to forge an award-winning career in comedy, writing and acting. Here’s how she managed it.

‘I remember eating out of bins and being a teenager with dirty clothes. But I was bright and I loved reading, so I had the chance to escape. And I’m not ashamed of it, because it wasn’t my fault.’

But here we are, half a century after Janey was raking through bins for something to eat, and still thousands of children in Scotland are going without. Teachers report kids struggling to concentrate because they’re hungry, or falling asleep at their desks because they don’t actually have a bed to sleep in. And those same teachers quietly bring in charity shop clothes for their pupils so they can spirit their filthy clothes away to a washing machine.

The numbers are horrifying. I could fill this article with statistics that most of us would struggle to get our heads round. The government promises us jam tomorrow with their grand investment plans but that’s meaningless to the families skewered by the cost of living crisis, crippled by debt, bereft of aspiration. Heating or eating, clean clothes or hot food, Christmas or yet another grinding disappointment?

A recent survey of more than 76,000 children and young people revealed that only a third said they enjoyed reading in their free time. It also reported that for those readers, as well as improving their reading skills, it also increases their aptitude for learning, their wellbeing, their empathy and their confidence.

Jonathan Douglas, chief executive of the National Literacy Trust, said, ‘With children and young people’s enjoyment of reading at an all-time low, and high numbers leaving primary and secondary school without the reading skills they need to thrive, the futures of a generation are being put at risk.’

Another voice adding to the argument is Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Waterstones Children’s Laureate. He said, ‘We know that children who read for pleasure, and children who are read to, gain all kinds of benefits. From increased vocabulary to vastly improved mental wellbeing. But today’s survey shows that too often as a nation we are withholding those benefits from our children.

‘These benefits are becoming a kind of invisible privilege. This has gone on long enough. The bad news is that we are at risk of losing a generation. The good news is that the solution is in our hands.’

So what is the solution to prevent those children becoming another lost generation? How do we throw them a lifeline?

We can’t wave a wand like a fairy godmother or offer them three wishes like the genie in a pantomime lamp. But we can offer them something that can make a difference.

We can hand them a book.

A book.

It doesn’t sound much but a book can unlock possibilities in a way nothing else can. A book is uniquely interactive. It’s an invitation to use our imagination. It’s a doorway into worlds of possibility, the proof that if you see it, you can be it.

Reading a school story where one of the characters grew up to be a writer who was paid for her efforts was the lightbulb moment for me, the point where I realised it was possible for a working-class kid like me to make a living with words. Right now, we need to offer genuine possibilities to all our children.

This year, Scottish Book Trust’s Christmas Appeal features The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by the late Eric Carle. The charity plans to give books to families and children visiting food banks for the fourth year in a row. The demand has increased every year, with the growing impact of economic pressures on disadvantaged families.

If you can afford it, put your hand in your pocket. Not just for the sake of the children, but for the sake of the economy. We can’t afford to lose the next generation.

This appeal offers change to those who need it most. Just as The Very Hungry Caterpillar munches its way through a bewildering assortment of food, so a child who discovers the joys of reading will want to devour all they can get their hands on. We owe it to them to make that journey happen.

Donate to our Christmas appeal