Merlinwand, a publishing startup surveyed 1,146 families on the occasion of Children’s Day to understand their reading habits better. This report revealed that approximately 69% of interviewed preferred hard copies or physical copies of books instead of e-books. In addition, 68.5% of the participants felt that the illustrations in the book attract the child and motivate them to read.
The survey shows that while 57.6% of the respondents encourage reading in children to keep them engaged, 53.9% do so to keep their wards away from gadgets and their destructive effects on the child’s thinking capacity. 53.4% reported that they have been inculcating the habit of reading in their child since a very young age so they can learn new things, as reported by 41.2% of the respondents.
Inculcating an interest in reading is a priority for most parents these days. This is understandable, given the importance of story books in fostering creativity and imagination in children. An indication of this endeavour by caregivers is that around 46% reported reading to their child whereas 54% of children read on their own.
Approximately 40% read every day before sleeping
As per the survey results, while around 40% of children read every day, 19.6% read once a week, and 20.9% read twice a week. The remaining (19.8%) only read sometimes.
The survey also claimed that children read books across multiple genres, and most prefer adventure books. This is followed by learning-based stories (44.7%) and picture books (43.9%). The least preference was shown for horror books (23.4%).
While many indicated that they would like storybooks to be activity-based, around 45.4% preferred personalised stories involving family members.
Speaking about the findings of the report, Sudarshan Vig, Founder, Merlinwand, said, “Our objective at Merlinwand is to ensure that children are motivated to read, and for that, it is important to understand their preferences about the kind of stories that they find engaging and the format of these books.
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