Belfast author Kelly McCaughrin on the joy of World Book Day

As children across Northern Ireland put the finishing touches to their Harry Potter and Cat in the Hat costumes for World Book Day, award-winning Belfast author Kelly McCaughrain, admits she’s been ‘‘running around like a headless chicken’’, with a long list of events and articles to prepare for.

‘‘It’s really wonderful to see people getting into the spirit of World Book Day but I also know that I’ve had to turn down opportunities because I can’t fit them in and that lots of schools, libraries, newspapers, radio stations and festivals have been disappointed because the writer they wanted was all booked up. Which makes me wish we could celebrate books for more than one day of the entire year! Believe me, there are writers twiddling their thumbs and wondering how they’ll pay their bills the other 51 weeks of the year, so it’s kind of frustrating.’’

The 41-year-old young adult (YA) author of Flying Tips for Flightless Birds, a warm and funny story of adolescence, which has won a clutch of awards, was named the new Seamus Heaney Children’s Writing Fellow last year, a role created by the Seamus Heaney Centre and the Arts Council NI, and one she is relishing.

‘‘It’s a fantastic role that’s all about championing children’s literature in NI and they’ve really let me interpret that role however I wish.

I’m passionate about giving older kids more opportunities to be creative as their school lives become more exam-focused and everything they do is graded and assessed. So I’ve set up a website https://theblankpage.kellymccaughrain.com to give support, tips and advice to secondary school librarians and teachers who’d like to set up creative writing clubs in their schools.

‘‘There’s been a fantastic response so far and it makes me so happy to think that there are new writing clubs being set up all over NI. I never had a writing club or writer friends as a teen and I know it would have been such an encouragement and helped with my shyness about writing. It’s wonderful for kids to be shown that grades aren’t everything and that these non-curriculum skills are valued by their schools.’’

Kelly believes the key to turning children who are reluctant readers into bookworms is ‘‘turning parents into bookworms first.’’

‘‘Kids emulate their parents, so they need to see their parents enjoy, value and make time for reading. If parents treat books as ‘kids stuff’ or ‘homework’ or ‘good for you’ in the same way that broccoli is ‘good for you’, then kids will see them that way too. Kids love it when you do activities with them, they love your presence and attention. So instead of Movie Night, have a weekly Reading Night. Don’t make reading something that excludes a child from the family while everyone else watches TV together, make it a family event.

‘‘I told my sister this theory recently and she tried it with her two primary-aged sons. TV off, fire lit, snacks prepared, mum, dad and kids all got out books and settled down to read. She thought they’d stick it for about 10 minutes before asking for their tablets. In fact, they read for an hour and afterwards her eldest said, ‘That was brilliant, can we do it again next week?’’’

Whilst many parents may have good intentions, book poverty is an issue for many low-income families and Kelly admits she worries about the future of our libraries.

‘‘I think they need much more support. They can be the only way to access books for low-income families. And when you look at the lifetime benefits of early reading, that contribution to a child’s life just can’t be overstated.’’

She also worries about the commercial aspect of World Book Day, as parents may struggle to kit their children out in the latest costume.

‘‘I think that’s certainly a risk and it’s another symptom of our tendency to try to ‘lure’ children towards reading by offering them rewards. As if reading is a chore they have to do in order to have the reward of costumes. So many reading initiatives do this. They start out with the assumption that kids don’t want to read and have to be tricked or bribed into it I’d like to see books reframed as the reward rather than the chore.’’

Kelly is thankful she grew up in an environment where reading was cherished and encouraged.

‘‘I was very lucky, my dad is a brilliant storyteller and read to me every night and my mum bought me a Ladybird book every week with her ‘big shop’.

‘‘When I was old enough to walk to the library I stole the entire family’s collection of library cards and the librarian turned a blind eye.

‘‘There were no computers then and kids’ TV was only on for about an hour a day so it was probably easier to raise a reader but I’m also aware of how much influence the adults in your life have over your habits and I think I was lucky to be surrounded by adults who made books available to me and made them fun.’’