Quality or quantity?

Michael Gove puts his foot in it again? http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/mar/22/gove-50-books-children-laureate

I'm really fed up with government ministers, of whatever shade of political opinion, going to the US and on the basis of 'hey! look what I've done! I've visited one scheme and I'm so impressed I'm going to roll it out here in the UK' doesn't bother to consult with experts and interested parties, with the result that there's the inevitable row and the issues get muddied for ever.

I particularly liked Alan Garner's comments about his reading, which largely matched my experience as a child.

I was a voracious reader as a child, and read a wide range of things including a large number of Ladybird books, the 1910 Children's Encyclopedia, Dr Seuss, Professor Branestawm, Enid Blyton's Famous Five, Lewis Carroll, Narnia, Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, right through to some wildly unsuitable things such as C. S. Lewis's That Hideous Strength. The only good thing about going to the dentist was that he had old copies of 'Marvel' in the waiting room. (I now wish my parents and teachers had been better informed about children's books, as I missed huge swathes of good stuff such as Rosemary Sutcliff and Joan Aiken.) I agree with the point that cutting public library funding is just about the worst way of encouraging children to read more books.

I loved the first comment under the article, the one where the writer wanted to make MPs read fifty books a year. I suspect it might do a lot of them good.

Incidentally, when I was a schoolboy I read a lot more than fifty books a year (after I discovered the local library) - the problem was that I did it at the expense of my schoolwork!