Article & Journal Resources

The Richard & Judy producer Amanda Ross has just led a delegation of leading authors to 10 Downing Street to deliver a petition urging greater efforts to get children reading. We exclusively reveal the letter and the star-studded list of signees, and ask some of the authors involved why they have the joined the campaign

Dear Mr Brown,

As authors, we are deeply concerned at the low levels of childhood literacy across Britain. Official figures suggest that around one in five children leave their primary schools at the age of 11 unable to read to the minimum standard required of their age group.

In a complex world, reading has become increasingly important — if not crucial. As the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has pointed out: “People cannot be active or informed citizens unless they can read. Reading is a prerequisite for almost all cultural and social activities”. The International Reading Association puts it more bluntly: “Adolescents entering the adult world in the 21st century will read and write more than at any other time in human history. They will need advanced levels of literacy to perform their jobs, run their households, act as citizens, and conduct their personal lives.”

We, the undersigned, are therefore pleased to lend our support to Channel 4's “Lost for Words” campaign, which aims to get all our kids reading. The fact of the matter is that all children in mainstream schools are capable of learning to read — and so all children should be taught to read in school, for an hour every day, until they are able to read properly.

In fact, everyone who cares about the future of our children's education needs to ask: What more can we do? A year ago, for example, half the children at Monteagle Primary School in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham were more than a year behind where they should have been in their reading levels. Twelve months on, after a concerted effort by staff, parents and pupils, the school has managed to cut this level of functional illiteracy by half and doubled the number of children who are reading to their age-appropriate levels or above.

The reality is that the issue of childhood literacy transcends party politics and ideological divisions — and unites all of us who care about the future of our children. You have said that “every child is special, every child precious and therefore no child should be left behind”. It's time to focus on the push to get all our kids reading to make this happen.

Yours faithfully,

Amanda Ross, Joanna Trollope, Tony Parsons, Sophie Kinsella, Kate Mosse, Jacqueline Wilson, Anthony Horowitz, Andrew Motion, Ian Rankin, Adriana Trigiani, Penny Vincenzi, Geri Halliwell, Jackie Collins, Pattie Boyd, Michael Dobbs, Mark Billingham, David Nicholls, Wilbur Smith, Nigel Havers, Howard Jacobson, Polly Williams, Martina Cole, Melvin Bragg, Benjamin Zephaniah, Jamie Oliver, Peter Ho Davies, Johnnie Walker, Mandasue Heller, Alex James, Carol Drinkwater, Richard Madeley, Judy Finnigan, Jeffrey Archer, Jay Rayner, Kate Morton, Eoin Colfer, Nick Hornby, Joseph O'Connor, Alexander McCall Smith, Lionel Shriver, Matthew Parris, Audrey Niffenegger, Andy McNab, Minette Walters, Lauren Child, Sophie Dahl, John Bird, Gyles Brandreth, Victoria Hislop, William Boyd, Rosamunde Pilcher, Peter Lovesey, Robin Pilcher, Brian Clegg, Gareth P. Jones, Mark Hayhurst, Michael Jecks, Tom Lloyd, Harriet Evans, Christopher Brookmyre, Anthony McGowan, Tracy Chevalier, Jon Haylett, Kate Furnivall, Geoff Tristram, Robyn Young, Colin Walsh, Christa Weil, Cari Crook, Sue Moorcroft, Justin Somper, Michael Marshall, Hilary Lloyd, Kim Anderson, Mil Millington, Trevor Montague, Valerie Dunmore, Anna Nilsen, Ronan O'Brien, Sally Emerson, Barney Hoskyns, Natasha Mostert, John Dickie, Katie Fforde, Lisa Appignanesi, Joy Chambers, Vivienne Menkes- Ivry, Dorothy Rowe, Janet Macleod Trotter, Kate Harrison, Barbara Erskine, Tessa Lorant Warburg, June Tate, Professor Bernard Knight, Catherine King, Howard Mills, Charles Allen, Barbara Ewing, David Kynaston, Jill Dawson, Anna Blundy , Tim Butcher, Carole Cadwallader, Marina Lewycka, Adeline Yen Mah, Jeremy Page, Linda Buckley Archer, Cathi Unsworth, Andrew Taylor, Stella Duffy, Karl Sabbagh, Justin Pollard, Frank Rodgers, Anthony Everitt, Brian Freeman, Linda Page, Anthony Adolph, Simon Spurrier, Christopher Matthew, Tony Mitton, Henry Hemming, Mary Hoffman, Liu Hong, Peter Viney, Karen Viney, Deborah Moggach, Isabel Wolff, James Mayhew, Gilda O'Neill, Jane Harris, Sam Baker, Dr Joe Maiolo, Tessa West, Steve Aylett, John Nicholson, Annie Dalton, Marika Cobbold, Amanda Ross, Martin Sixsmith, Justin Cartwright, Michael Frayn, Max Hastings, Sir Roy Strong, Jennifer Donnelly, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Simon Jenkins, Dame Ann Leslie, Adele Parks, Tom Holland, Louise Doughty, Erica Wagner, Meg Rosoff, Cathy Cassidy, Nikki Gemmell, Alan Garner, Selina Hastings, Dorothy Davids, Iain Aitch, Lindsay Ashford, Julia Jarman, Malcolm Gaskill, Lisa Jewell, Carrie Bright, Danny King, Anne Sebba, Katherine Roberts, Maggie Kingsley, Robert Ryan, Claire Rayner, David Rayner, David Bennett, Katie Flynn, Donna Baker, Jill Mansell, Tamara McKinley, Margaret Kaine, Simon Fowler, Paul Burston, Anne Bennett, Karen Campbell, David Cesarani, Bernadette Strachan, Alice Jolly, Pauline Rowson, Nick Wotherspoon, Will Randall, Nicholas Coleridge, Dylan Jones, Polly Samson, Sarah Rayne, Alison Kervin, Margaret Macmillan, Margaret Ryan, Tamar Hodes, Peter Bodle, Jan Jones, Michael Foreman, Marina Peerman, Sarah Morgan, Louise Dale, Sarah Passingham, Michelle Styles, Rachel Seiffert, F.G. Cottam, Suzi Quentin, Wilfred Hopkins, Andrew Robson, Jane Wenham-Jones, Chelsea Cain, David Hewson, Meredith Hooper, David Baldacci, Warren Lakin, Isla Dewar, Ellis Delmonte, Claire Seeber, Jackie Kay M.B.E., Dan Fesperman, Oliver James, Penny Grubb, Vivian French, Kate Long, Rosie Goodwin, Andy Stanton, Mark Walden, Albert Jackson, Angela Woolfe, Penny Halsall, James Chambers, Alan Bissett, Giles MacDonogh, Joolz Denby, Philip Waddell, Rose Wilkins, Gillian Shields, Lynn Brittney, Axel Scheffler, Georgia Byng, Caroline Jayne Church, Gwyneth Lewis, Alice Hogge, Christina Lamb, Leanda de Lisle, Lucy Moore, Sonia Overall, Michael Burleigh, Jenni Mills, Claudia Hammond, Alex Wheatle, Nicola Slater, David Melling, David Wood OBE, Kate Leake, Julia Bell, Jonathan Emmett, Pat Borthwick, Kate Pankhurst, Frances Nagle, Lori Williams, Christopher Foyle, Mark Chisnell, Jenny Valentine, Justin Richards, David Thorpe, Jean Ure, Andrew Cope, Matthew Skelton, Ian Whybrow, Paul Blezzard, Graham Swift, Barbara Nadel, Julian Barnes, Karin Slaughter, Robert Harris, DBC Pierre, Shere Hite, Joanne Harris, Santa Montefiore, Tom Parker Bowles, David Reynolds, Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall, Tony Benn, Jon Snow, Justine Picardie, Bel Mooney, Ken McClure, Chris Ryan, Toby Litt, Francis Wheen, Irma Kurtz, Paige Toon, Andrew O'Hagan, Sarah Salway, Ann Pilling, Judy Astley, David Crane, Paul Dowswell, Kate Williams, Richard Hamilton, Margaret Pinder, Carol Birch, Juliet Nicolson, Kirsty Scott, Joan Lingard, Julia Hollander, Patrick Gale, Lexy Higgins, Martin Davies, Tommy Donbavand, Rosie Harris, Paul Sculthorpe, Mo Hayder, Gary Beard, Aidan Potts, Hilary Green, Edward de Bono, Julian Caldecott, Min Jin Lee, Zoe Sharp, Carol Topalski, Jane Fallon, Mary Lawson, Emily Gravett, Christopher Foyle, Niall Edworthy, Paul Merrett, Eve Ebbotson, Timothy Hopgood, Maggie Bateson, Fiona Loakes, Diana Norman, Jonathan Pugh, Paul Du Noyer, Rhiannon Batten, Stephen Clarke, Adam Zamoyski, Charlotte Mosley, Lucy Lum, Diane Blood, Diana Wynne Jones, Paul Stewart, Chris Riddell, Adam Ockelford, Mairi Hedderwick, Janey Jones, Nick Sharratt, Elizabeth Laird, Tiphanie Beehe, Chris Wilson, Kevin Cahill, Jinny Johnson, Belinda Weber, Cathy Hopkins, Richard Walker, Penelope Hicks, James Riordan, Richard Platt, Steve Augarde, Stephen Savage, Edmund Gregory, Ruth Rogers, Maureen Carter, Timothy Brittain-Catlin, David Tazzyman, Sally Grindley, Jeremy Strong, Angie Sage, Sophie McKenzie, Kevin Brooks, Lauren St. John, Mark Baxter , Josie Henley-Einion, Colin Berry, Kathryn Ross, Belinda Seaward, Adele Geras, Sarah Duncan, Judith Lennox, Juliet Gardiner, Sacha Langton-Gilks, Derick Allsop, Giles Andreae, Michael Norton, Professor Rene Weis, Anne Somerset, Will Hutton, Charlotte Mendelson, Christopher Walking, Norman Lebrecht, Shari Low, Jo Tatchell, Rowan Coleman, Blake Morrison, Peter Mortimer, Naomi Alderman, Beth Webb, Jim Bowen, Jo Bannister, Marian Keyes, Duncan Bannatyne, Bill Granger, Nicola Horlick, James Martin, Catherine Wade, Stephen Wade, Tim Ecott, Sophie Hannah, Graeme Fife, Rupert Thomson, Robin Jarvis, Catherine MacPhail, Justin Marozzi, Tony Walsh, JD Stokes, Anne L Sharp, Rose Gray, Sam Jordison, Ruth Huddlestone, Jon Lambert, Amanda J Wood, Ruth Martin, Libby Hamilton, Stella Gurney, Emily Hawkins, Andrew Hosken, Diana Janney, Rebecca L Royle, Paul Brown, Stuart Wheatman, Leo Hollis, Ben Illis, Ben Yarde Buller, Graeme McLagan, Tessa Codrington, Amanda Lees, Roger Stutter, Emma Brockes, Peter Lantos, Mary Ann Tirone Smith, Janet Neel, Judith Cutler, Priscilla Masters, Paul Gilbert, Michael Arditti, Pete Tanton, Cristina Odone, Roma Tearne, Emma Tennant, Beryl Kingston, Martin Baker, Christopher West, Jonathan Fryer, Christopher Hope, Alexandra Gray, Bill Borrows, Veena S Halai, Alastair Sawday, Stephen Shieber, Razwan Ul-Haq, Simon Blackburn, Lesley Chamberlain, Martyn Amos, Helen Macdonald, Jan Scott, Stephen Richards, Justine Hardy, Anand Menon, Michael Horovitz, Alison Joseph, Karolyn Shindler, Susan Barrett, Jamila Gavin, Scott Frost, Patrick Quinlan, Daniel Hahn, Edward Wilson, Trudie Chalder, Deryn Lake, Frederic Lindsay, Mike Ripley, Rawi Hage, Peter James, Nick Taussig, Jacqueline Pye, Philip Mansel, Mike Daunt, Melinda Hammond, J.O'Donoghue, Aly Monroe, Gillian Greenwood, Brigid Keenan, Tony Booth, Ramsay Wood, Catrine Clay, Flora Fraser, Lucy McCarraher, Catherine Forde, Simon Majumdar, Cassandra Clark, David Nokes, Barney Bardsley, Stacie Lewis, Diran Adebayo, Michael Bloch, Julie Highmore, Bernard O'Mahoney, Adam Ardrey, Susan Elkin, Alex Von Tunzelmann, Miranda Seymour, Jonny Glynn, Laura Barber, Richard Dowden, Anne Marsella, Martyn Waites, Milly Johnson, Rick Glanvill, Linda Newbery, Ian Gittins, Edna Fernandes, Alan Palmer, Sally Spedding, Susan Hill, Gill Hicks, Lorna Martin, Bernie Hare, Allison Pearson, David Nobbs, Kirsty Gunn, A.C Grayling, Christian Wolmar, Karen Armstrong, Barry Miles, Andrew Mawson, Richard Shelton, Amanda Craig, Joan Bakewell, Josephine Hart, Stephen Venables, Jacky Wilson, Tony Hawks, Frederic Raphael, Celia Walden, Charlie Campbell, Everett Coles, Elspeth Wills,