The traditional bed time book is dying out .....
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| The Boy Who Cried Wolf - Francis Barlow's Illustration 1687 |
..... according to a poll commissioned by Rory's Story Cubes.
Up to half of small kids were not aware of many of the old classics. One in three primary school aged kids parents admitted that their children didn't know that Sleeping Beauty or Snow White were books and not just Disney cartoons.
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| Pied Piper of Hamelin 1592 |
Forty two per cent had never heard of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, while twenty eight per cent had never heard of The Boy Who Cried Wolf. Its rather sad when you think on it, but with over half the same parents admitting that they don't read to their kids at bedtime I suppose its not surprising. There is also the fact that many of our under class have no books in their houses, and one fast growing immigrant group also often only have one book in the house ... so the trend is not going to change long term.
What's odder is that I was read to at home and in school (The Hobbit for example), and was then encouraged to go to the library weekly and would have done the same for my kids if I had any, so when did this link between generations break down?
We are losing our cultural identity, and generational links to it very fast these days, and it is not necessarily for the good.
What's weird is that the Shrek movies reference all the classical fairy tales and songs, from 3 blind mice through sleeping beauty to the pied piper. So only older adults got most of the references.
ReplyDeleteYep, it kind of shows that the makers of the series didn't know that kids don't read these stories anymore, but perhaps it encouraged some parents to actually read the stories to their kids. Thanks for the comment.
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