Author and former Irish Children's Laureate Patricia Forde
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk. With Aviva Insurance. Now, Children's Books Ireland this week warned that children are missing out on a lifetime of reading because the government doesn't fund school libraries properly. Well, someone who's passionate about encouraging children to read is children's author Patricia Ford, who was previously, until very recently, the former Irish Children's Laureate. And Patricia's new book for children is called The Island of Bees, which is illustrated by Paddy Donnelly. And she's here with me. Lovely to have you here.
Thank you, Clare. It's great to be here.
So you've spent three years in this role as laureate and you hear all of this around screens taking over, children not reading.
Why are children missing out on reading?
What is it really like out there from your point of view?
I find it very worrying for parents. I think I feel really sorry for parents of young children at the moment. I think they feel under terrible pressure not to have their children on screens. And yet the whole world is on a screen all around them. It's unnatural, including the parents. So very slow to lecture people about being on screens and their children being on screens when we're all on screens. Yes. But I did feel very strongly when I was laureate in ANOG that we, the book community, have to step up. And by book community, I mean the parents of small children and their teachers and the writers and the librarians. We have to compete. It's no good saying, oh, mine won't read. They're always on the screen.
We have to fight for it and we're going to have to fight for it. When I went out in the first year as laureate, we took a bus from Malin to Mezzan. We took 26 writers and illustrators. Every school had bunting up. They were out on the road to meet us. I wanted it to feel like the circus was coming to town. And I wanted that so that children would see that books are cool, that there is something there for them. Because like all drugs, once we get them reading, they're hooked. There is no problem after that. We have to.
It's all about what they see, though, isn't it? It's all about what you model as well in the house. They have to see you with a book.
What was Patricia Forde's experience as the Irish Children's Laureate?
They have to have books around them, which is why Children's Books Ireland is so keen for these school libraries to be well funded.
Children's Books Ireland are very keen that we meet children where they are and where they are is in school. That's where we'll definitely meet them. So for people who say, oh, well, you know, we have the public libraries, they can go there. You can go there if mommy and daddy will bring you or whoever takes care of you. You can't go there on your own steam if you're six. So in school, we can get books into their hands.
And you see the public library and they're all brilliant. They're great resources still. Well, when I was growing up, every Tuesday night we went to the library. It was a ritual and it always happened. Never fail. And we got our books. But you see, we live a different life now. You've got two parents working and all the extra extracurricular activities, which we didn't seem to do as much of when we were growing up. It's very difficult to carve out that hour and a bit to do that.
It is. And you definitely have to give up something to do it. Also, like you said, children have so many other things going on, you know, like sport and music. And I do think we've made them too busy sometimes. Mm. And I worry about creativity because I know I became a creative kind of person because I was bored there for most, if not all of my childhood. You were forced to do stuff yourself. I was one of six girls. And really, if you told my mother you were bored, her answer would be great because there's hoovering to be done. So we didn't we didn't confess to being bored, but we were bored. And when you're bored, what do you fall back on? You know, you fall back on your own head. That's all you have.
And in your head, you make up stuff. And out of that, I think, comes all kinds of creativity.
Yeah, it's a great way to look at it. But then having access to books in every school, it's just really important because if you have a free half an hour and the books are there and there isn't a screen, you'll
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:01–0:45
2
Why are children missing out on reading?
0:45–2:07
3
What was Patricia Forde's experience as the Irish Children's Laureate?
2:07–4:07
4
How does screen time affect children's reading habits?
4:07–6:12
5
What initiatives can the book community take to promote reading?
6:12–7:00
6
How can school libraries impact children's access to books?
7:00–11:09
7
What role do parents play in encouraging reading at home?
11:09–13:22
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from The Claire Byrne Show
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