Reading Rights: Books Build a Brighter Future
"For too long, the life-changing benefits of children’s reading have not been taken seriously. And now – as our children face an unknown future – we risk losing a generation unless we act."
- Frank Cottrell-Boyce
The Reading Rights campaign is Frank Cottrell-Boyce’s flagship project during his time as Waterstones Children’s Laureate (2024-2026).
Over the next two years, the multi award-winning children’s author and screenwriter Frank Cottrell-Boyce has pledged to amplify the national conversation about the role books and reading for pleasure play in transforming children’s lives.
The campaign will be about calling for national provision so that every child – from their earliest years – has access to books, reading and the transformative ways in which they improve long-term life chances.
"My tenure as Waterstones Children’s Laureate will have happiness at its heart, but it will be about urgency. It will be about addressing invisible privilege and inequality."
With the support of BookTrust, Frank will hear from people working on the frontline to make sharing stories a core part of childcare, education and support for disadvantaged and vulnerable children, showcasing their storytelling expertise and best practice. He will highlight how urgent government investment is needed to address the ‘invisible privilege’ that bypasses families and communities where reading is not part of daily life, and how this perpetuates cycles of inequality.
Frank will also be gathering evidence and powerful stories to present at a national summit, which will bring together expert voices in the political, educational, literary and early years sectors.
This page will tell you everything you need to know about the Reading Rights: Books Build a Brighter Future campaign and Frank Cottrell-Boyce’s call for the government support in getting families reading together as early as possible, giving children the best start in life.
Reading Rights Summit
On January 22 2025, the Waterstones Children's Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce and BookTrust hosted a Reading Rights Summit to address the 'invisible privilege and inequality' within books and reading.
The day-long summit brought together expert voices in the political, education, literacy, early years, arts and health sectors to recommend an urgent course of action to policymakers that will help ensure that the life-changing benefits of children's reading are taken seriously and made accessible to every child.
In collaboration with BookTrust, Frank Cottrell-Boyce visited a school nursery in Liverpool to see why story-sharing interventions during the Early Years are so vital for children and how they are having an impact on families.
In November 2024, Frank Cottrell-Boyce visited Riverside Community Health Project in Benwell, in the West End of Newcastle. He met with 10 specialist health visitors who are involved in collaborative projects that support the health and wellbeing of families in their area – and who use books as an essential tool.
Waterstones Children's Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce met with BookTrust Early Years partners to learn how the Reading Rights campaign can reinforce their vital work to get families reading together.
Frank wanted to learn about the work that's happening on the front line to get children exposed to books and stories from an early age, the challenges the Early Years sector is facing, and what opportunities there are for change.
Frank joined Professor Sam Wass at the Baby Development Lab in Stratford, East London to see what happens to a baby's brain when their parent reads them a story - and why these shared moments are essential to a child's development.