- Children’s Laureate delivers Laureate Lecture, setting out the challenges facing children today and demanding national action on reading crisis
- New BookTrust Family Survey shows the decline in young children being read with daily, down to 49% from 60% in 2021
- However, 80% of young children are reported to like or love reading, an increase from 66% in 2021
- Frank unveils new role as a BookTrust Ambassador and calls for people to join national Reading Rights movement
Waterstones Children’s Laureate, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, calls for national action to tackle children’s reading crisis at first Laureate Lecture, ‘The Kids Are Not Alright’
14 May 2026
Frank Cottrell-Boyce delivering first Laureate Lecture ‘The Kids Are Not Alright’ at the Royal Institution (credit: Ross Fairgrieve)
Waterstones Children’s Laureate, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, will use his Laureate Lecture today (Thursday 14 May 2026) to call for urgent national action to tackle the children’s reading crisis, as new research from the UK’s largest children’s reading charity, BookTrust, shows families are increasingly struggling to make reading part of daily life.
The lecture, being delivered at the Royal Institution, London, is hosted by BookTrust, which manages the Laureateship. It takes place during the National Year of Reading and marks the end of Frank’s two-year tenure. Frank will reflect on the progress made through his Reading Rights campaign – which aims to ensure shared reading is a part of childhood and every child has access to books – and call for a renewed push to make shared reading a reality, despite intensifying pressures on family life and childhood.
To coincide with Frank’s speech, BookTrust will share the results of their latest Family Survey, which carries a hopeful message – young children and their parents still love reading, but the conditions that make shared reading possible are under strain [1]. Between 2021 and 2025, daily shared reading among families with children aged 0–8 fell from 60% to 49%, the findings suggest. Yet the proportion of children aged 0–8 reported to like or love reading rose from 66% to 80%. Frank will argue this shows the appetite to read is there among children, particularly in the early years, but families need more support. He warns that inequality will only deepen if nothing changes.
The survey shows how some of these pressures affect reading habits. More than a third (36%) of parents or carers report worrying about their child’s screen use, including more than a quarter (27%) of those with children under one. But nearly half (48%) say that shared reading encourages their child to spend less time on screens, suggesting that it can help families reconnect.
In his lecture, Frank will argue that Britain is facing a serious crisis in children’s development. Frank will connect this to wider pressures including poverty, housing insecurity, isolation, and the erosion of trusted local services such as libraries and youth provision. Part of this challenge is that too many children are starting school without consistently experiencing the warmth of shared stories and books.
Yet all the evidence shows early shared reading supports children’s language and communication, supports attachment and wellbeing and helps build the foundations for empathy and learning. If shared reading continues to fall, more children will miss out on books as a powerful tool to support children’s outcomes and reduce inequalities.
Frank will also reveal his new role as Reading Rights Ambassador for BookTrust and calls for people to join the Reading Rights movement, to further his mission and ensure that reading is a universal right for all children. To join the movement, visit www.booktrust.org.uk/readingrights
Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Waterstones Children’s Laureate 2024–2026, said:
Working with BookTrust over the last two years as Children’s Laureate has been a hugely rewarding experience. Launching The Reading Rights campaign is something very close to my heart, as I’m truly passionate about making sure the transformative gift of reading is shared with every single child. We’ve worked with early learning centres, nurseries, schools and family hubs and the UK government to make sure children have the best start in life with guidance from midwives, health visitors, early years professionals, families and communities. I urge everyone to join our movement to ensure that every child has daily access to books and shared reading in their first seven years of life. It’s so important for their happiness, mental health, empathy, and future opportunity.
Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Waterstones Children’s Laureate 2024–2026
Director of the Institute for the Science of Early Years and Youth in Stratford, Professor Sam Wass, former Children’s Laureate of Wales 2023–2025, Alex Wharton, and author, broadcaster and campaigner Baroness Floella Benjamin are among those speaking alongside Frank at the lecture.
Sam Wass, a leading expert on the effect of reading on babies’ brains, said:
“There’s a huge body of scientific evidence to show how shared reading supports children’s language development, attention and wellbeing. It shows that the act of reading itself, that warm back-and-forth between an adult and a child, can matter as much as the words on the page. That’s why it’s vital we keep working to ensure every child has access to books and stories to give them the very best start of life. I fully support Frank’s Reading Rights movement to make reading a right for every child.”
Annie Crombie, Co-CEO of BookTrust, said:
“Frank has spent the last two years making an extraordinary case for reading as a right, not a privilege. Reading Rights sets out what national action should look like so that every child can access books and shared reading in their earliest years. Our research shows why this matters now. Families value reading and children still love it, but daily shared reading is slipping because life is getting harder. Without support, inequalities will only grow. With Frank as our Reading Rights Ambassador for BookTrust, we’ll continue to bring partners together so that shared reading is built into every childhood. Our children’s futures will only improve if we act collectively and early.”
- The research surveyed 3,508 adults who are parents of children aged 0–8 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland between 16th October and 5th November 2025.
All data comes from BookTrust’s National Family Survey, conducted in three waves (2021, 2022 and 2025), tracking the reading contexts, attitudes and behaviours of families with children age 0–8 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Reports and methods from all waves are available on the BookTrust website.
Copies of the Family Survey report available on request.