Reading 'will come back' and 'feeds our souls'

It is incredible the number of those reading has not fallen more “given the unbelievable industry created to try and stop us reading”, author Richard Osman said, as the Government launched its campaign to tackle a decline in the number of children reading for pleasure.

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(Left to right) Richard Osman, Nadia Shireen, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson and Theo Walcott at the launch of the National Year of Reading campaign at the Emirates Stadium in London. Picture: Ben Whitley/PA Wire

(Ben Whitley/PA Wire)

Social media has “overtaken us in a way that we didn’t quite expect”, the presenter and author of the Thursday Murder Club series added, but said he was confident reading will come back.

He was speaking at the Government's launch, alongside the National Literacy Trust, of the National Year of Reading, at London's Emirates Stadium on Tuesday.

The event aims to tackle findings that the number of children reporting they enjoy reading in their spare time has fallen to a 20-year-low.

Asked by the Press Association how concerning the decline in reading levels was, Mr Osman said: “Not at all, because reading will come back.