Have you ever tried to get your kids to read books at home and been given this look? Been given multiple excuses about why they don’t want to do it? Or just been faced with a tantrum?

Well, you are not alone.

There is an epidemic of reluctant readers, so much so that it has become a focus for many literacy programs. The reluctance comes from many sources, but it’s not an insurmountable problem.

For many the goal is to go from angry, excuses and tantrums to this! Sitting down whenever given the opportunity to read, without even being asked to.

For many, books and reading are a joy. They open minds, worlds and ideas no matter what the age of the reader. But reading in younger years is important developmentally, I am blogging on this separately so I won’t go into that now, I just wanted to underline why reading is important at a younger age before I go any further now.

Between Girls and Boys

Studies have shown that there really is no difference between the two sexes when it comes to intelligence. But when it comes to reading, and as a result writing, language usage etc, girls are miles ahead.

Some have said over the years that girls maturing faster than boys is responsible for the difference in these abilities, but recent research concludes that the larger number of reluctant readers amongst boys is responsible for the gap.

It’s not that there aren’t books out there that aren’t pitched towards boys and girls, but they haven’t solved the problem of reluctant readers.

My Aims

So I don’t believe for a moment that I will be able to solve the problem of reluctant readers and even the playing field between boys and girls in one fell swoop. But I do believe that books can change someone’s life. That by reaching just one reluctant reader will give them more opportunities and change everything for them.

I love writing and reading. I have been writing stories and poetry since I was 7 because I have read books in great numbers for as long as I can remember. I found that one series when I was young that I just had to read every book in. I made my mother drive to three different libraries so I could get all of the books and read them in order. For me this was the Saddle Club series (I was and still am horse mad) and there are a lot of books in that series and they were aimed at girls! From them my mum gave me Dick Francis books to read, and from them I went to Agatha Christie, and from there I launched to fantasy, Robert Jordan, Tolkien, Ursula LeGuinn, and the reading world was open to me.

For some children, it is just about finding that one series that they have to read, have to find all the books that will lead them to the wider world of reading and have their lives changed forever by books. This was one of my motivations for writing The Children of Ribe (the other being to help dyslexic readers), and even if I only help two or three children to find a love of reading through my books, that’s two or three children that are no longer reluctant readers.

These are just two of the testimonials I’ve had from mothers who stumbled across FATE and taken the time to contact me about the books.

This is the review I was given by a nine year old boy after he asked his grandmother to buy him the first eight books in the Children of Ribe series.

FATE is the first book in the Children of Ribe series and it is available in digital, paperback, hardback and audiobook format. You can get your copy from Amazon now in all four formats. Paperback books are available from all good retailers including Barnes & Noble, Waterstones, Blackwells and direct from me. The direct copies come with the option of being signed by me or being sent unsigned. Orders can be dispatched for Christmas now but please understand any postal delays are outside of my control.

There is also a range of merchandise for the Children of Ribe that is ever expanding and available from my Etsy store and from the Realm One store.