THE GOOD
KNIGHT

Studies, and general feedback from every mum in history, suggest dads have a very different way of interacting with children. Which dad hasn't got in trouble for launching their child as high in the air as possible while mum watches in the background? The same creative, slightly chaotic energy applies to reading, drawing and playing, and it turns out that's exactly what children need.

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Dads tend to focus on engaging, creative and questioning interactions that boost language skills more than passive reading alone. Silly voices, going off-piste with a story line and acting out pivotal scenes is fun. It also turns out to be HUGELY important to a child's development, and research suggests the positive impact on girls' language development specifically is particularly significant.

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Research by the University of Leeds (2023) found that dads reading to their children has a unique and measurable impact on academic success and language development by age five, with benefits continuing through Key Stage assessments at seven.

 

The effects held regardless of income, ethnicity or the child's gender.

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Yet the evidence is clear that dads read aloud with their children far less than mums, especially with pre-school-aged children. Some studies put this figure at 29% of dads reading daily, and the trend appears to be declining among younger fathers, at precisely the age when the impact would be greatest.

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There are so many reasons for this.

 

It's not disinterest.

 

It's habit, confidence and content.

 

The children's book world is truly wonderful. It's also predominantly shaped by women, for women. Research has shown that females buy between 57-70% of all children's books, which really does have an impact on the choices of books that are available to read at bedtime.

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So we deliberately designed books that make dads want to pick them up, with the characters, adventures, creatures, humour and sound effects that make the ten minutes before bed the most rewarding part of a dad's day. 

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If we want more dads to read then we need books that will appeal to them, get them to buy them in a shop and look forward to reading them with their children. That's exactly what THE GOOD KNIGHT series is setting out to achieve. Surely there isn't a dad alive that hasn't enjoyed knights, castles and fire-breathing dragons at some point in their lives. 

 

Books that make you do the ROOOAR! so loudly that your child can't breathe for laughing, where fairy tales are reimagined, characters are built for putting on your best silly voice and medieval insults are brought well into the 21st century bedroom - you'd be a complete fopdoodle to miss out! 

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We want bedtime to be the thing children look forward to all day. We want to build a love of reading that lasts a lifetime. And we want you to commit to ten minutes a night and make that truly magical bond that reading can bring.

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The research says it changes outcomes. Jack, Charlotte and Fire Pud can help with that, in fact, THE GOOD KNIGHT Blog has been packed to the castle turrets of articles, research, medieval insults and the odd ROOOAR that can help supplement the books.

 

You can also join Jack's SHIELD WALL and become part of a growing community with the quest to bring joy, laughter and ridiculously silly voices back to bedtime reading!

 

Together we can get more dads reading. 

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