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Episode details

World Service,14 Jun 2022,23 mins

Racing to get kids reading

People Fixing The World

Available for over a year

How a race to write books and a gadget that counts words are helping child literacy. In South Africa eight out of 10 children struggle to read by the age of 10. But a charity called Book Dash has come up with an innovative way of getting more kids to read. It holds events where teams of writers and illustrators create a book in just 12 hours. More than a hundred titles have been created and over 2 million books have been given away to children. And in the US a group called Birmingham Talks is giving pre-school children a pedometer-style gadget to wear. But instead of counting steps, the gadget counts the number of words they hear every day. The idea is to encourage parents to talk to their children more and therefore improve language development. Presenter: Myra Anubi Reporter: Lucy Burns Photo: Book Dash

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