YCN 2015: Save The Children Research

Before I started producing the work for the YCN brief, I decided to look into the research that has been carried out by the charity so that I could see what aspects were the most important from there research that I needed to try and target within my submission.

Extract from Save The Children Campaign Research Phase 2
EdComs (2014) 'Save The Children Campaign Research Phase 2' London: EdComs

The research material pointed out the idea of sharing a story with someone helps with to create a reassuring presence for when the reader is learning, particularly through one on one attention that is focused solely on the reader.

Extract from Save The Children Campaign Research Phase 2
EdComs (2014) 'Save The Children Campaign Research Phase 2' London: EdComs

This paragraph discusses the structure of the content of a book, with younger children taking to repetition and simple flat illustrations that act as clues to the deeper meaning of the content of the story. The constant repetition adds to the experience and overall understanding of the story which gives a positive connotation to the story as the child begins to read for themselves.

Extracts from Save The Children Campaign Research Phase 2
EdComs (2014) 'Save The Children Campaign Research Phase 2' London: EdComs

A good point was made within the research material that technology has become a part of a lot of children's way of learning as it gives a more interactive element and is seen as a cooler way of reading for pleasure. This should be something that I should take into account when I produce the idea for the campaign.

Extract from Save The Children Campaign Research Phase 2
EdComs (2014) 'Save The Children Campaign Research Phase 2' London: EdComs

The research talks about both parents but it strikes a chord onto the role of the father as males are seen as less likely readers and it would set about a good example to see how males can read as well as females. Fathers are increasingly becoming less involved in children's lives within the modern society so this is a simple way of having a bonding exercise between the father and the child.

What I got from looking at the research findings done by the charity was the relationship development alongside the reading development, in particular that of boys and fathers. Also, the inclusion that technology plays a part in the way that child learn in a modern world. What it made me realise about my resource is that it needs to be targeted at children in a positive and familiar way.

I began to look at books that have managed to achieve these things in the past so that I could see how I would apply this to my own creative resource.

Book Trusts 25 Books for 0-5 Year Olds List
Book Trust '25 Books for 0-5 Year Olds List' [Internet] Available from http://www.booktrust.org.uk/books/children/booklists/241/ (Accessed 3rd March 2015)

I found that Book Trust had made a list of the top 100 books children should read and many of them I had read as a child. Some of these were quite relevant to the campaign needs themselves as they reflected the campaigns target audience and the book content needs. I decided to have a look at some of these stories and how they have managed this.

Extracts from 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt'
The Guardian 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt' [Internet] Available from http://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/nov/05/how-we-made-bear-hunt (Accessed 3rd March 2015)

What makes 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt' so well done is the repetition in the storyline and the detailed imagery as well as the sense of adventure. Alongside this, the story is easy to follow and the invention of some words gets down to the same level as the children, making it imaginative and fun. Not just this, but the main protagonist is a father and his children which works with the needs of the campaign.

Extracts from 'The Snowman'
British Comic Awards 'Hall of Fame: Raymond Biggs" [Internet] Available from http://britishcomicawards.com/hall-of-fame-raymond-briggs/ (Accessed 3rd March 2015)

What is relevant about The Snowman is the two main male characters and the relationship between them as they build up a sense of companionship and trust. It is clear that they like to spend time together and this is clear through the imagery. Even without words present, the book speaks for itself.

Despite the huge list of 25 books, I found that the majority of them had characters based off of a girl or a mother and child which totally disregards the people who needs to be targeted to read for. If we want to get fathers and sons reading then there needs to be a book that they can relate to. 

#DadsRead Infographic
The Good Men Project '#DadsRead' [Internet] Available from http://goodmenproject.com/families/tmb-looking-numbers-dads-need-read-kids-infographic/ (Accessed 3rd March 2015)

It is believed that only 13% of dads read to their children on a regular basis compared to the higher amount that mums do. The fact that children are missing out on this valuable time with their father means that they are missing out the most.

In order to try and combat these problems, BookTrust, a charity in the UK, decided to start a campaign to get Dad's reading.

James Patterson- Get Dads Reading

Booktrust 'James Patterson- Get Dads Reading' [Youtube] Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXInAfiU8Yo (Accessed 3rd March 2015)

For the campaign, author James Patterson discusses why its important for fathers to read. What's great about his comments is how he discusses his own experience of being a father and reading to his children. Not only this, but the fact that he began to write children's books so that he could have the time to spend with his son and get him better at reading shows his passion to the problem.

Michael Morpurgo on the Importance of Children Reading

Booktrust 'Michael Morpurgo on the Importance of Children Reading' [Youtube] Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uCtEDPkXwo (Accessed 3rd March 2015)

Also for the campaign, author Michael Morpurgo went onto discussing the importance of reading in children and the way that it effects the upbringing and life that they have due to the fact that reading effects all aspects of life.

With Morpurgo discussing the importance of reading, I thought I would look into the way that ebooks have become part of reading for children in a modern age There are many arguments that ebooks are not good for children compared to printed books.

The Joan Ganz Cooney Centre, a research centre that focuses on learning platforms for children in a digital age, took the initiative to conduct some research experiments to test the effects of printed books and e-books on children and comparing them.

Content vs Non Content Related Actions
Joan Ganz Cooney Centre (2012) 'Print Books vs E-Books' [Internet] Available from http://www.joanganzcooneycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jgcc_ebooks_quickreport.pdf (Accessed 3rd March 2015) 

The first observation from the research was the amount of actions conducted during the reading that were related to the content of the book. Related actions included point at words or pictures or discussing the story compared to non- related like, pushing the book away or not talking about the story. The observation findings found that printed books were more supportive of content related action with the physical thing being tangible so easier for the child to get involved with.

Percentage of Story Recalled 
Joan Ganz Cooney Centre (2012) 'Print Books vs E-Books' [Internet] Available from http://www.joanganzcooneycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jgcc_ebooks_quickreport.pdf (Accessed 3rd March 2015) 

The next observation was to see how much of the story a child would be able to remember based on what method. It was found that printed books allowed for children to recall the narrative of the story better compared with e-books where the concentration was found to be elsewhere.

Engagement Levels 
Joan Ganz Cooney Centre (2012) 'Print Books vs E-Books' [Internet] Available from http://www.joanganzcooneycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jgcc_ebooks_quickreport.pdf (Accessed 3rd March 2015) 

The next thing observed was the levels of engagement when using a printed media and an electronic media. Generally, there was an equal amount of engagement in both forms but there was more engagement overall when using an ebook format due to the interactivity and involvement.

What the overall findings of the experiment showed was how printed books were best to use for literacy improvements however the e-book was better for getting children involved and interacting with reading the in the first place through physical engagement. This highlights the need for me to be able to produce a response to both print and digital media with my solution. The reason for this would be to encourage child who don't read to introduce them to stories through digital before moving onto printed media as it is more important to get them reading in any format rather than them not reading at all.