Background: The home literacy environment (HLE) has rarely been examined for individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders, including individuals with Williams syndrome and Down syndrome. Method: The current study surveyed carers of individuals with Down syndrome (n = 48) and Williams syndrome (n = 18) in the United Kingdom (UK). Results: The…

Several early learning programmes have targeted children's reading, particularly their relationships with books. One, Bookstart, provided free books to babies attending their eighth-month health check at local clinics. Study of this programme suggested that it led to an improvement in language performance upon school entry. Booktime continues from…

This report focuses on children aged 8 to 11 and their enjoyment of reading, reading behaviour, and attitudes toward reading. It synthesises information from surveys that have been conducted since 2005, but most heavily exploits data from the fourth annual literacy survey conducted in November/December 2013 in which 10,946 8 to 11-year-olds…

This paper focuses on a 1997 pilot project carried out in five secondary schools in South Africa that examined children's reading and information use. This study (n=958) was part of a larger study from 1995 and 1996 carried out in the United Kingdom. The primary goal was to examine what young people are reading at the end of the 20th century. The…