Peter Gibson, MP for Darlington, is championing World Book Day today, to celebrate the importance of reading for pleasure.
Peter was joined by his sidekick Seb, his reading lobster, kindly given to him by Skerne Park Academy to promote awareness about reading in schools.
Every year, World Book Day1 creates bespoke £1 books for children and young adults across the UK and Ireland, to promote the power of imagination and the importance of reading. Through World Book Day, every child in Darlington is given a £1 book token, which they can take to a bookshop or supermarket to get their free World Book Day book3.
Peter Gibson MP joined a Parliamentary drop-in this week to champion reading for pleasure in Darlington. They are calling on teachers, carers, and parents to ensure that reading for pleasure is encouraged as much as reading attainment. While reading was the only core subject which saw attainment levels improve in 2024, the number of children who say they enjoy it is in serious decline.
Reading for pleasure is the single biggest indicator of a child’s future success – more than their family circumstances, their parents’ educational background or their income. However, reading for pleasure is at its lowest levels in 18 years and many children have limited access to books. 500,000 (one in 15) children in England aged 8 – 18 say they don’t own a single book, which rises to one in 10 for those eligible for Free School Meals. One in five pupils receiving Free School Meals said that the book they ‘bought’ with their World Book Day book token was the first book of their own.
Peter Gibson MP said “It is a pleasure to support World Book Day. It is so important that every child and young adult in Darlington has the opportunity to have a book of their own that they have chosen for themselves – and I am delighted to celebrate my own love of reading through the World Book Day campaign.
“Seb and I are keen readers and it is incredibly important that we continue to encourage children to read as part their daily life.”
