Why So Many Kids Are Turning Away from Books — and What We Can Do About It

Kevin McLeod
Apr 28
5 min read

Something’s happening in homes across the world — and if you’ve got kids, you’ll know what I mean. Children are drifting away from books.

Even the ones who used to love sharing a good picture book with mum or dad find it hard to stay focused as they get older, or even pick up a novel.

They’re too tempted by fast-moving content like YouTube Shorts, TikTok clips, and video games, which reward them instantly and keep dopamine flowing. Reading feels slow, like hard work.

We need to care about this. Some people say, “It’s just the way of the world now,” but when kids stop reading, they lose space for imagination, empathy, focus, and the kind of quiet thinking they don’t get from watching videos.

I write books for kids and about kids, and if fewer of them are reading, I want to understand why. What’s going on? And what can I do to help children discover the joy of getting lost in a good story?

The reluctant reader: understanding what’s happening

A 2024 study by the National Literacy Trust in the UK found that only 34.6% of children aged 5-18 say they enjoy reading in their free time. That’s a sad statistic, and a massive drop from just ten years ago.

Kids are growing up in a world that’s nothing like the one we grew up in. Reading competes with games, apps, videos, and other content specifically designed to keep them hooked.

Books take time. They’ve got to settle in, meet characters, get to know an imaginary world, and then magic starts to happen if it’s a good one. For kids used to getting a dopamine hit in ten seconds or less, a slow build (for fun) is a tough ask.

Middle grade fiction needs to have three crucial things going for it.

It needs to be:

● exciting

● relatable

● and full of momentum.

Kids will give a book with those three elements a chance, but it has to grab their attention quickly.

Today’s kids are brilliant at scanning, sorting and skipping. They’ve developed survival skills for an information-overload world! But if a story doesn’t catch them right away, they’ll move on.

The way they engage with the world has completely changed, and if we want them to connect with books, we’ve got to remember that.

When the right book makes a big difference

I think it’s not necessarily that a child doesn’t like reading. It’s that they haven’t found the right book yet.

Not every story is for every reader. But when you find a book that’s right for them, it can change things. Suddenly, reading is something they want to do.

Books that work for middle grade kids are usually an adventure right from the start. They dive in with action, mystery, emotion. I imagine the child who’s decided books aren’t for them, and I try to write stories that give them a reason to keep reading.

What The Viking’s Apprentice has achieved

When I first published The Viking’s Apprentice in 2013, I didn’t know I would write a book for reluctant readers. I just wanted to tell a good story for my young daughters—something fast, fun, and full of adventure—the kind of thing I loved at their age.

But I got lots of messages from parents and teachers. Telling me that my book, or my series, had been the first one a child had finished.

It’s been used in classrooms across the world with pupils aged 9 to 11. Teachers have told me it’s brought kids back to books when nothing else worked. One teacher said it had “rewired” a boy’s relationship with reading — her words, not mine!

I’ve been lucky to see The Viking’s Apprentice series hit number one on Goodreads in categories like Books for Boys Who Hate Reading and Smart Novels to Read to Your Children. It’s been downloaded over 100,000 times around the world.

These numbers are more than I ever dreamed of and allow me to continue writing. But helping children discover a love for reading is the real reward and keeps me going.

Bringing back a love for reading

The power of a great story lies in certain themes—adventure, loyalty, courage, friendship, good versus evil...things like that. Stories like these have been around for centuries and matter to kids as much now as they ever did.

Books can be just as exciting as anything they see on a screen. Maybe even more so — because in their book, in their head, they get to be the director, the set designer, the entire cast!

You don’t have to be a teacher, a librarian or a huge reader yourself to help your child rediscover books. Small changes can make a big difference.

What parents and educators can do

Please don’t force it. The more pressure you put on them about reading, the more resistance can build. Kids need an invitation and encouragement that reading is fun.

Here are a few ideas…

Read with them, not just to them

Even middle-grade children enjoy being read to — if you read to your kids, can you still do it together? You could take turns reading paragraphs. Try different voices. Talk about what might happen next.

Let them choose

Give them freedom over what they read — a fantasy adventure, a graphic novel, or an audiobook. If they’re engaged, it counts. If they’re laughing, even better.

Make it feel fun

A cosy reading nook. A weekend challenge with a reward. A few extra minutes before bed if they’re engrossed in a chapter. Little things like this help reading feel like a treat, not homework.

Pick stories that match their imaginary world

Whether it’s Vikings, dragons, puzzles, or epic quests, it’s great when reading speaks to a child’s interests. Middle grade fiction is full of fast-paced, funny, moving, and relatable stories like these.

One story can change everything…

Kids are used to loud, fast, instant rewards. Stories create valuable space, build imagination, and allow children to often see themselves in a new light and escape into a different world where they’re the hero.

If you want to help your child find their way back to books, I want to help.