About this Talk
It is now a well-known fact that most children don’t read books. In today’s panel we will concentrate specifically on the 8-12 age range.
There are, of course, many reasons for the sharp decline in reading but we would like to focus on the product itself. The books that are currently being offered to children.
I am Philip Kavvadias and, having visited over 90 schools in the last year, I am convinced that children can certainly fall in love with books again, if the right books are created for them. Those books are rare and hard-to-find at the moment.
My view is that the ecosystem of creators/publishers/bookshop chains are struggling to create books that appeal to children because, for a very long time, they’ve been creating books that appeal to adults.
But that’s just me and I am very curious to hear what our panel has to say.
And what a panel! For me, our incredible panellists belong in that small group of authors that, first and foremost, create work for children. It's an honour to speak to them.
