PARENTS should find time each day to read to their children in order to get them to enjoy reading books.

Ludlow MP Philip Dunne is supporting World Book Day’s national ‘share a story’ campaign, calling on parents and carers to read with their children for 10 minutes a day.

Every year, World Book Day creates bespoke £1 books for children and young adults across the UK and Ireland, to promote the magic of books, the power of imagination and the importance of reading.

The aim of the campaign is to encourage parents and carers everywhere to share a story with their children for 10 minutes a day.

Every child in south Shropshire was given a £1 book token for World Book Day, which they can take to a bookshop or supermarket to get their free World Book Day book.

This year, World Book Day 2020 is calling on the nation to share one million stories through a mass participation initiative. All readers have to do is register their participation and share their story throughout World Book Day month that runs until Sunday, March 29, to be in with a chance of winning prizes and joining a nationwide reading revolution.

“As a former bookseller, I am delighted to encourage children and parents to pick up a book and develop a lifelong passion for reading,” said Mr Dunne.

“Reading for 10 minutes a day with children will help turn around the sharp decline in children reading for fun, and give them the reading skills they need for life.

“Sharing stories together, at home or school, in the library or in the park, on a bus or train – anywhere, anytime – for just 10 minutes a day has long-lasting effects on a child’s future.”

According to new research from the National Literacy Trust, levels of daily reading among children and young people are in sharp decline: just 25.8 per cent of children said they read daily in their free time in 2019; the lowest level the NLT recorded since it surveyed children in 2005.