A SURVEY by Waterstone's has revealed that only a third of parents read to their children every day and 48 per cent of fathers never read to their sons and daughters. On World Book Day, ALISON BARTON looks at the figures surrounding this poll and speaks to children from a Bolton school to find out if it is a similar story in the town.

WITH our busy modern lifestyles, it is often a struggle to fit into a day everything that we want to do. When we do relax, it is easy to sit down in front of the TV or head straight for the computer to log onto the Internet.

But, as an international survey published last year showed, Britain is languishing near the bottom of a table of 32 countries when it comes to reading for pleasure.

Only 50 per cent of parents with six to nine-year-olds read to them daily, while a third with children aged between six and 15 did the same.

But it is certainly a different story locally, at Crompton Fold Primary School, in Breightmet.

A group of pupils, all aged six, from Year Two classes at the school, talked about books they enjoy reading and, going against the national trend, said that dads do take the time to read with their children.

KAYLEIGH BOOTH enjoys reading fables and books about Jesus.

She says: "I love reading when I go to bed at night. I also go to extra reading classes at lunchtime with some of the older children in the school. My mum reads with me when I am at home."

NAOMI TWIGG also enjoys reading fables because they are good stories. Her favourite is called The Lion and the Mouse.

She says: "I also like to read at bedtime. My mum and dad both read with me at home, especially the books I bring home from school."

JORDAN PENDLEBURY likes reading books by Michael Rosen.

He says: "He's my favourite writer. My mum reads with me at night and in the morning before she goes to work.

"I like to get books from the library. My favourite books are adventure stories."

LEE JONES loves to read with his mum and dad, and his favourite time to read is when he goes to bed.

EMILY MOSS likes Roald Dahl books and her favourite story is George's Marvellous Medicine, which the class's teacher has read in class.

She says: "My mum and dad both listen to me read the books I bring home from school."

IAN SLINN said that he likes to read on his own and likes his mum to read to him too.

He said: "She's impressed when I read my school books to her."

JANE Robinson, Senior Children's and School's librarian, from Bolton's Children's Library Services, Castle Hill, has also seen a large number of parents, including fathers, come along with their children to borrow books from Bolton libraries.

She says: "We get a lot of parents, even dads, coming along to the library. It's great to see them sitting on the rug reading with their children at the children's library."

A different survey of 800 children published yesterday, to mark World Book Day, shows teenage boys spend just 20 minutes a day reading books for pleasure, while TV and computer games are far more popular pastimes.

The poll also showed 76 per cent of 14 to 16-year-olds and 81 per cent of 11 to 12-year-olds in the UK read because they enjoyed it.

Boys aged 15 to 16 said they spent more than two hours a week reading, while girls the same age put in four and a half hours.

In England, progress in national English tests taken at the end of primary school has stalled, while boys fell further behind girls in 2001.

Jane, from the Children's Library Services, said libraries across Bolton were promoting books for boys to encourage them to read more.

The proportion of pupils achieving the required reading standard last year halted at 75per cent, raising the prospect that the Government will miss its 80 per cent target for 2002.

While 11-year-olds' attainment in writing SATs tests rose, there was a one per cent fall in reading from 83 per cent to 82 per cent.

The reading gap widened to seven per cent last year, with 78 per cent of boys and 85 per cent of girls reaching the required standard, compared with 80 per cent and 86 per cent respectively in 2000.

The World Book Day poll showed girls in their first year of secondary school were the most avid spare time readers, averaging five hours a week.

Boys of the same age, 11 to 12, spent nearly four hours a week with their heads buried in a book.

By contrast, 15-year-old boys said they watched TV for more than 11 hours a week, and spent just over nine hours playing computer games.

Both sexes said they enjoyed J K Rowling's Harry Potter books and the epic fantasy of Lord of the Rings creator J R R Tolkien -- and the poll showed he was the favourite author of 14 to 16-year-old boys.

Fantasy was the most popular genre among those who read for more than 14 hours a week.

But with film studios' readiness to turn some of the world's greatest literature into Hollywood fodder, are children simply tuning in rather than being turned on by books? Jane, from the Children's Library Services, said the release of these films was having the opposite effect, as children were now borrowing these books like never before.

She said: "Film adaptations of Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter have certainly encouraged children to read these books. We have had a huge number of youngsters coming into the library to borrow them."

What do you think about the findings of this research? Do children you think our children spend enough time with their nose buried in a book? Are parents encouraging enough? Let us know what you think by writing to: Letters to the Editor, Bolton Evening News, Newspaper House, Churchgate, Bolton, BL1 1DE, or e-mail us at ben_editorial@lancashire.newsquest.co.uk