Books

[denis567]

Reports in today's papers saying that 4 million children in the UK do not own any books. I find this hard to believe. What do you think?

[boxtops]

I always read before I go to bed, and OH is a voracious reader, he can read five books in a week's holiday. We like to handle books, we're not interested in electronic readers. Our house is lined with hundreds of books - I really must have a sieve out one day.

[paddywak]

I've not read any of the Harry Potter books but I have read most of Dickens, Stevenson, Dumas and a whole bundle of really great books by a load of great authors. I looked at a kindle in the local Tesco the other day as they had one you could hold and try and it just didn't feel "right" compared to a proper book.

[nungate]

It is quite possible that some children don't own any books, I was amazed when I was working that the levels or numeracy and literacy among some of the shool leavers I had to work with were dreadful, it is also frightening that some of the basic facts of history and geography are totally unknown to many of today's youngsters.

[ummmm]

I've never read any Harry Potter books even though my son owns them all...

[boxtops]

when some friends of mine moved house a few years back, I was amazed to see that their entire library was five books (but LOL, now that I think of it, one of them was about Gnomes - how relevant!)

[ummmm]

Ha ha....I have to get rid of some books. I have bookcases full....plus boxes and suitcases...

[nungate]

I'm considering getting a kindle, because I have arthritis in my hands and wrists which makes it difficult to hold onto books, magazines and newspapers these days. It is possible to have kindle books downloaded onto a computer but I find my laptop isn't that convenient for carrying around. I used to read to my daughter all the time when she was little, in fact she still complains that I never finished reading 101 Dalmatians to her - she was around 12 at the time and I thought she ought to finish reading it herself but she still wanted me to read it to her. She always has a book on the go and is currently working her way through a huge pile of books

[tamborine]

I cleared mine out when I downsized but am rapidly filling up again re-buying the books I cleared :(

[paddywak]

I do that tambo, I send a load of books to a charity shop then next week I see one in a book shop think bloody hell I've not read that for ages and before I know it every shelf is full again

[tamborine]

tbh, I now have 3 - 4 copies of some as I forget what I've got & dont want to lose out....its almost a sickness.

[vulcan]

boxtops, that reminded me of a man I met several years ago, he was extremely rich and one day invited me to his house. He insisted on showing me around and on opening one door he announced this is the library. I stepped into the room and for a moment couldn't see any books although he had nice pictures on the wall. I then saw a small book rack sitting on a desk with six books in it. As I walked over to them I thought they will be first editions or suchlike, as I got closer I saw they were all Readers Digest condensed books. I often wondered if his children were readers.

[modeller]

I think it may be true but that is not the same as saying they don't have access to books. As a kid I didn't actually own books but I became an avid reader of library books , comics , magazines etc.
I stopped actually buying hard backs books when they became too expensive and when I realised that most fiction books are rarely read again.
Nowadays I never buy fiction soft backs because the print is too small . Thats why I use a kindle you can adjust the font size and I can sample a book free before buying. My grand daughter was reading at age 4 largely because she was read to every day . It's down to the parents as well as the ability of the child.

[Mosaic]

I'm a bit wary of headlines like this one. Not owning books and not reading are a bit different - in fact to engage well with IT in all its varied forms, you need to read very competently.
Most people in the UK have learned to read adequately for the purposes they face in life, from the 1940s onwards.
Most people have no purpose for extended reading once they leave school. Filling out a form might be the most writing they ever do. Not bewailing anything - just factual.
Now this is compounded by clickable form-filling online, by mobiles and text msg - sorry, messaging.
I personally love the feel and smell of real books as well as their content, but I also love finding info online. I don't like reading extended text online as it hurts my eyes but maybe future laptops will combine kindle-type screen functions that will make text reading more comfortable.
As my eyesight has got worse I realise I am reading less from books - swapping specs, finding the right light etc gets tiresome - so myabe I'll try an e-reader at some stage.
But lets not fall once again into the trap of throwing up our hands and despairing of schools / young people / other people's kids. Times change and move on - that's the only constant.

[China Doll]

Agree with Mosaic, not owning books and not reading books are two different things.

As a child I loved to read, as an adult I still adore it. I was able to read at a very young age as I wanted to read 'by myself' I seem to recall telling my parents. My younger sister has mild dyslexia and it took her a much longer time to learn to read, she credits me with teaching her but I am sure it was a combined effort. She loves to read now but while she was struggling and feeling behind in class and 'stupid' (she was constantly compared to her two older sisters who read at young ages) she did not enjoy reading or anything to do with books, and I don't think you can blame a kid for that. Children need to be encouraged to read at their own pace.

I have never, and would never read a Harry Potter book incidently... but the films are very good fun :c)

[Kromovaracun]

I must say I find the snobbery towards e-readers (see? no advertising) a little strange. And I'm totally unconvinced it'll destroy the book market - it'll change it yes but I find the apocalyptic predictions of the book vanishing very unconvincing.

E-Readers are a terrific way of accessing knowledge. Through places like Project Gutenburg, you can access a collection of pretty much every work ever published in English of literature, philosophy, history and science (on which copyright has expired) going back over 2000 years. Gutenburg alone, I'll wager, has a collection vastly outstripping any local library (except if you happen to live right next to the British Library or something) - and it's free.

To take a personal example, when I moved out of my old accomodation, I had 8 book cartons worth of physical books - a collection easily dwarfed by what's on my laptop and transferable to my unfashionable but trusty e-reader.

Now that's not to say they will (or should) replace actual books - but they've got a useful place that deserves to be encouraged.

Sorry, not really an answer to the question. Just thought I'd rant in defence of e-readers.