Literacy

With the aim of promoting reading and language skills, the Frankfurt-based non-profit organisation MENTOR: Die Leselernhelfer Hessen e.V. has matched reading mentors with schoolchildren since 2006. Currently, around 1,350 mentors are involved in the initiative, reaching around 1,500 school children across Germany. Over the last few years, the operations have expanded to digital solutions, giving children weekly access to reading mentors regardless of location. Bonnier Media Deutschland supports the initiative with annual financial contributions.

Already at age five, children begin to form their career aspirations according to the British charity National Literacy Trust (NLT). Through the initiative ‘Words for Work, Dream Big’ Bonnier Books UK has partnered up with NLT to engage with children 5-7 years old to develop their literacy skills and inspire them to a career in publishing. Bonnier Books UK has been engaged in the initiative since 2019. In 2021, the business took part in two programmes and involved its volunteers participating in both. Additionally, Bonnier Books UK contributes to the initiative with children’s books and puts forward authors to support the National Literacy Trust’s campaigns.

How can you encourage 10-year-olds to discover, explore and enjoy reading? Bonnier Carlsen, a children’s books publisher within Bonnierförlagen, joined forces with two other children’s publishers and the largest online book retailer to start the competition ‘Den stora läsutmaningen’ (The great reading challenge). In autumn 2021, Swedish children in Year 4 were challenged to read the largest numbers of books during the autumn term to win a school trip. In total, more than 1,100 classes participated in the challenge, reaching 27,000 pupils who read more than 430,000 books together. That is an average of 16 books per child, corresponding to an increase in books read by 70 percent!

According to a study by the Finnish Children and Youth Foundation, only one in four young people in Finland thought it was ‘cool’ to read. WSOY has partnered up with the Foundation and many more organisations to promote ‘Read Hour’, an hour a year when all Finns are encouraged to sit back and read a book at 7 pm on 8 September – the United Nations’ Day of Literacy. The purpose of the initiative is for people, especially children and young adults, to appreciate the value of literacy. Through advertising and communications, the initiative is promoted throughout the year. In 2021, the event was also celebrated in Sweden and the UK
for the first time.