Children as Readers

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the individual child reader, and the role of children’s literature in the child’s educational, social, and cultural development. It looks at why children need to read in the twenty-first century; a century which will be increasingly dominated by technology. The values of wide, diverse reading in the educational, emotional, and social development of the child and the joys and pleasures of reading are explored. It also considers how children’s literature can transform the life of the individual child, as well as being a source of both learning and pleasure. The author deliberately explores individual reader responses to the values of reading as a child, making extensive use of quotations from individuals for whom reading was, and remains, a significant influence. This draws heavily on research conducted for Reading and Reader Development: the Pleasure of Reading (Elkin, Train, and Denham 2003) which looks at the theory of reading in the context of current reading initiatives and reader development practice.