ifferent to previous years where the tradition of children dressing as their favourite literary characters illustrates its importance, its core premise of the creative value in reading continues today. As such, authors, illustrators, books and reading for pleasure will be widely celebrated at home, with biographer StoryTerrace encouraging children in the UK to read the story of the real-life heroes within their own family. On a World Book Day like no other, with parents facing the challenges of home-schooling, biographer StoryTerrace reveals 12% of young people in the UK have grown a strong aspiration to write a book of their own.
Reading is crucial for a child’s development; children who read books more than once a week gain higher results in maths, vocabulary and spelling tests than those who read less regularly. Yet the National Literacy Trust state that only a quarter of children read daily in 2020, this means children are reading less now than ever before. However, with students’ schedules now lacking formal structure due to COVID-19, this statistic is cause for concern, with lockdown and home-schooling providing the perfect opportunity to encourage more young readers, as opposed to less. The trend begs the question, how can we encourage our children to enjoy reading? The answer may be by making it a family affair, with national leading biographer StoryTerrace, who empower and encourage children to discover the historical legacies and heroes within their own family through reading.
Research from national leading biographer StoryTerrace reveals that only 24% of individuals know of the incredible historical legacies and unsung heroes within their family, with a further 29% believing that these legacies will be distant memories in the near future. Therefore, keeping children connected to their past is essential this World Book Day.
Rutger Bruining, CEO of leading biographer StoryTerrace, discusses how children can become regular readers through the storytelling of family history:
“As this week is National Book Week, I think it is important to consider the vital role which reading of books and storytelling play in our children’s lives. Humans have been telling their stories for as long as they have been able to communicate with each other, with lockdown especially highlighting how much joy we find in exchanging stories. The basis of storytelling has been primarily virtual for the past year, but it hasn’t diminished the power behind its craft. And although we all have our favourite authors, illustrators, novels and literary characters, the greatest stories are those which are personal to us.
When I thought of the idea for StoryTerrace, I was inspired by my grandad’s fascinating stories of his time at war – I wanted to find a way to make them more permanent so that they could be read and enjoyed by future generations in my family.”
About StoryTerrace
StoryTerrace helps people to turn their life story into a book. The company takes care of the whole process – matching clients with one of their 600 professional writers, interviews, photo gathering, editing, design and printing. Books are on average 100 pages long, meaning that everyone can have their life story – or the life stories of their loved ones – documented in a professionally curated autobiography, biography, or series of memoirs.