'Gruffalo' tops reading survey

Two-thirds of Irish mothers begin reading to their child before he or she is a year old and more than a quarter read to their child from birth, a new survey has found.

The survey was released today to coincide with a promotion of Irish children's books by Kellogg's Rice Krispies, The O'Brien Press and Hughes & Hughes book stores.

It found that 71 per cent of mothers read a bedtime story to their kids nearly every night. Some 28 per cent of mothers read to their children every night, 30 per cent do so most nights and 13 per cent read to their children every other night.

Five per cent of mothers said they never read to their children. Of those, a fifth said they are too busy to do it.

Speaking at the launch of the book promotion, RTÉ presenter Ryan Tubridy said books offered children a passport to other worlds.

The survey also found The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson was the favourite children's book of the mothers surveyed. It was followed by Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Cat in the Hat. Roald Dahl was the most popular children's author, followed by Enid Blyton and Dr Seuss.

Almost three quarters of mothers said they read books by Irish authors to their children, and Eoin Colfer topped the poll of favourite Irish authors.