The Washington Post – Jay Mathews
“I have ideas on what books are good for kids as holiday gifts, but first some sad news. U.S. schools have been trying for years to encourage more reading of nonfiction, a movement heartily endorsed by us underappreciated nonfiction writers. But it’s not working. The national What Kids Are Reading report says children’s nonfiction reading is up less than 10 percent since 2009. No more than 30 percent of K-12 students read that stuff. What to do? My only option is to give gift buyers some clues as to what nonfiction seems most attractive to children these days.”(more)