Top Tips for Authors: We Need Diverse Books

  Modern children are struggling to transition to becoming independent readers, by which I mean picking up a book to read instead of  using an electronic device. I don't want to get into a 'boys are harder' debate because I have 3 boys, one who loves reading and one who hates it and one who won't sit still long enough for me to change his nappy, let along read him a story plus a niece who struggles with wanting to read. 

This day and age, all children are getting lost when they become 'too old' to be read to and prefer to do other things at bedtime besides read a book.

The same debate is happening today about children taking Ipads to bed as the debate when I was growing up about kids having televisions in their rooms. How can we get books to compete with the lure of modern technology?



Children no longer separate forms of language. Reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing and illustrating can all be done on one handheld device. Reading is supported by speaking and drawing. They do not occur sequentially. They do not stand alone. Language forms are integrated, not isolated. Language is a dynamic tool for thinking and communicating, not words on a page. Children's literacy is based on family experience with print and technology. They still have an active imagination, but they use it differently. Our kids are critical thinkers who make personal, text and world connections between what they already know and analysis of new information. They are clever cookies.

Bedtime stories will always be important , but the modern child requires the connection of the story events to what has happened in their daily lives.  These connections are different for different children within our community. Modern children give meaning to the text by drawing on what they know from personal experience. The learn language through experience. They connect daily through the use of language, fulfil their basic needs and describe experiences, all in a social format, during the day. What they are struggling to find is a language that speaks directly to them in the books.



Now, more than ever, we should be encouraging publishers to promote new and modern voices in children's literature. We need more diverse books. It's simple. We need books that kids can find a connection with by hearing their own voice echoed in the words. Until that happens, technology will always win.

Talk soon
x Michelle

www.michelleworthington.com