It is important for children to form better reading habits, enjoy reading and feel the power of literature at an early age, according to a survey conducted between January 1, 2016, and January 1, 2017, among 140,000 primary school students in Shanghai.
The results revealed that local students read only 15.32 books every year on average. The higher their grade, the more books they read. From grade 1 to grade 2, students' reading amount generally increases the most, by 57 percent.
According to the children's law of growth, parents can directly influence their children's reading habits by also reading.
The survey shows summer and winter holidays and weekends are when children fail to make the best use of their leisure time for reading.
Reading over summer and winter holidays only accounted for 11 percent, with weekend reading accounting for 35 percent, showing that most children have not formed good reading habits.
Among the 2,000 most popular books read by Shanghai's primary school students, over 74 percent are children's literature, novels and picture books. Books about humanities, science, poetry and drama are far less popular.
