Opening a book for the very first time still fills me with the same excitement and expectation that it did when I was a child. Not only do books enable children to discover new worlds, meet new people and learn about the past, but they also have the power to change lives. By sparking imaginations, stimulating critical thinking and helping develop empathy （共鸣）, reading gives children the very literacy （会读会写） skills they need to succeed at school, at work and in life. Helping children discover a love of reading is crucial, but it is worrying today that children’s enjoyment of reading is falling behind their reading skills.
Why does this matter? While reading skills are essential, reading for pleasure is crucial for academic success, mental health and even later economic success. The emphasis here is on reading for pleasure: being able to read does not give the same benefits as enjoying it.
Getting the right book into the right child’s hands at the right time is the key. Yet1 in 8 disadvantaged children in the UK don’t own a single book and primary school libraries have closed across the nation. If your parents can’t afford to buy books and your primary school hasn’t got a library, how on earth are you supposed to become a reader for pleasure? The problem is bigger for boys than it is for girls. Many parents tell me that my books have been effective in turning their boys into readers. I have to say that although it is always a pleasure to be told that my books have been effective, it has never been my intention to target boys specifically. I don’t want to write either a boys’ book or a girls’ book, or draw conclusions about boy or girl behavior.
I haven’t found the gender of the characters in my books to be an issue. I’ve lost count of the number of nine-year-old boys who say that Camicazi, the girl hero in How to Train Your Dragon, is their favorite character. That is why I prefer boys and girls reading the same books. Girls need to see girls like themselves being strong, dynamic heroes, and boys do too.
1.What is the author trying to tell the reader?
2.What aspect related to reading is mentioned in Paragraph 3?
3.What type of readers does the author most likely have in mind for his books?
4.What do we know about Camicazi from the passage?
5.What might be the author’s attitude towards reading and gender?
