The National Literacy Trust has launched a new magazine to support professionals involved in reaching out to fathers in order to encourage participation in children's literacy development.

In a survey carried out by the Trust (2005), only 25% of children reported seeing their father reading. It appears that UK fathers are less likely to get involved with school related literacy practices, or read for enjoyment, than their US counterparts.

Julia Strong, deputy director of the National Literacy Trust and coordinator of the Family Reading Campaign comments, “Having a dad or a male family member involved with reading activity can make a huge difference to children’s motivation and enjoyment – especially for the boys. We want to encourage practitioners to reach out to dads and, through the Family Reading Campaign, we can offer support and advice to help get the blokes on board.”

The magazine can be ordered or downloaded in PDF format from the National Literacy Trust website:

www.literacytrust.org.uk