Harris Interactive: Executive Summary of Survey Commissioned by RIF and Macy's

7/16/2019 Harris Interactive: Executive Summary of Survey Commissioned by RIF and Macy's

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©2013, Harris Interactive Inc. All rights reserved.

Below appears the executive summary report for the State of Bedtime Stories Survey, conducted online by HarrisInteractive® from April 8-15, 2013, on behalf of Reading Is Fundamental with the support of Macy’s.

Background/Objectives and Methodology are included at the beginning, followed by Detailed Findings.

Background/Objectives

Reading Is Fundamental is interested in exploring the opinions and practices of U.S. parents of kids age 8 and

younger in regard to bedtime stories for children. The research is intended to provide mediagenic findings for

use in RIF’s annual Be Book Smart campaign in partnership with RIF’s largest corporate sponsor, Macy’s. This year,

the campaign will focus on the importance of bedtime stories.

Specifically, Reading Is Fundamental wants to know the opinions of parents of children age 0-8 years regarding:

Whether their child spends more time reading books compared to playing video games or watching

television

Whether they read bedtime stories to their child, currently or in the past

The age at which parents stopped reading bedtime stories to their child

How many nights per week and the length of time they typically read a bedtime story to their child

Types of books read to their child before bed

The use and number of printed books vs. e-books for bedtime stories, and their child’s preference for

either format

Whether their child has a favorite bedtime book

Frequency of sharing in the reading of bedtime stories, and whether their child reads on his/her own

before bed

Sources for obtaining books for their child

Reading in school vs. out of school

Obstacles to spending more time reading with their child

The ideal amount of time per day for a parent to read with their child, compared to their own actual

amount

The importance of parents reading with their child to promote future educational development

Agreement with various statements about children and reading

Through funding by Macy’s, Reading Is Fundamental has commissioned a twenty question online study to

explore these issues.



©2013, Harris Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. 2

Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of Reading Is

Fundamental between April 8-15, 2013 among 1,003 US parents of children 0-8 years of age. The survey

identified 841 parents who currently read bedtime stories with their child, and 162 parents who do not. Figures

for age, race/ethnicity, education, region, household income, and number of children in the household were

weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity

score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of

error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error

associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey

weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words “margin of error” as they are

misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure,

unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls

come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris

Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the US population with childrenage 0-8 years in the household. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris

Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.




Overview of Key Findings

In general, parents of children aged 8 years or younger say that their child spends the most time either

watching television or playing video games compared to reading books. Specifically, watching television

tops reading books in terms of more time spent among: parents who don’t currently read bedtime

stories with their child, families with a household income of less than $35K, parental education of high

school or less, Black/African American households, and if the child is male.

The vast majority of parents of children aged 8 years or younger report that they had ever read bedtime

stories to their child, and most of them still currently do. The likelihood to read bedtime stories with

their child increases with household income and parental education level.

On average, parents of children age 8 years and younger read bedtime stories to their child about 5

times per week, butonly a third read to their child daily.

More than half of parents of children aged 8 years or younger read bedtime stories with their child for

10-19 minutes in a typical evening, and an additional quarter say they spend 20 minutes or more

engaging in this activity. The amount of time spent reading bedtime stories tends to increase with child

age.

Printed books are the format of choice for most parents of children age 8 and younger when they read

bedtime stories, while less than one in five use a combination of printed books and e-books. Younger

parents show higher percentages of dual printed/e-book use than their older counterparts. And among

parents who do use both printed and e-books, a wide majority say that their child likes both forms

equally.

Parents of children age 8 and younger own, on average, about 60 printed children’s books in their

household, with a median of 40 books. Among those parents who own any children’s books in e-book

format, the average number is about 13 e-books in the household. The number of children’s books

(printed or e-book) tends to increase with household income, parental education level, and child age.

The average number of printed books among families with a household income of less than $35K is 44.4

(median = 30), which does appear a bit higher than existing qualitative research (see Dickinson and

Neuman, 20061; McQuillan, 19982).

Gifts received are the most frequently mentioned source of children’s books in the household, followed

by the library and brick and mortar stores. More than half of parents of children age 8 and younger identify obstacles to spending more time

reading with their child, with the most common reason being “not enough time in the day.”

More than half of parents of children age 8 or younger believe that the amount of time they spend

reading with their child is the ideal amount, while about a quarter believe the amount of time they

spend is less than ideal. A substantial majority estimate that the ideal total amount of time to read with

a child is at least 20 minutes per day. In terms of bedtime stories specifically (not counting other times of

the day), only about a quarter spend 20 minutes or more reading with their child but more than 4 in 5

spend 10 minutes or more reading bedtime stories.

Two thirds of parents of children age 8 years and younger believe it is absolutely essential for parents to

read with their children at an early age as a way to promote their future educational development. This

percentage increases with household income and parental education level.

1 Dickinson, David K., and Susan B. Neuman, Handbook of Early Literacy Research, Vol. 2 New York, NY: 2006, p. 312McQuillan, Jeff. The Literacy Crisis: False Claims, Real Solutions. Portsmouth, NH: 1998, p. 81




Detailed Findings – Which of the following activities, if any, does your [X]-year old [son/daughter] spend the

most time on?

When asked whether their child spends the most time on reading books (either independently or being read to),

watching television, or playing video games, 41% of parents of children age 8 and younger report that their child

spends the most time reading books, compared to watching television (36%) or playing video games (14%). Nine

percent report that their child does not do any of these activities.

However, watching television ranks above reading books as the activity on which more time is spent,

among the following groups:

o Parent does not currently read bedtime stories with their child (50% watching TV vs. 12%

reading books)

o Household income is less than $35K (40% watching TV vs. 35%reading books)

o Parental education is high school or less (38% watching TV vs. 32%reading books)

o Black/African American (43% watching TV vs. 37%reading books)

o Child gender is male (35% watching TV vs. 32%reading books).

Forty-five percent of parents who currently read bedtime stories with their child report that their child

spends the most time reading books, which is higher than those who don’t currently read bedtime

stories with their child (12%). Conversely, 50% of those who don’t currently read bedtime stories with

their child cite watching television as the top activity, compared to a lower 34% among those parentswho do.

Parents of girls are more likely than parents of boys (50% vs. 32%) to cite reading books at the activity

their child spends the most time on.

The likelihood to identify book reading as the activity their child spends the most time on increases with:

o Household income (35% among less than $35K; 39% among $35K to $99.9K; 47% among

$100Kor more)

o Parental education (32% among high school or less; 43% among some college; 47% among

college graduates).

Detailed Findings – Did you ever read bedtime stories to your [X]-year old [son/daughter]? By “bedtime

stories,” we mean reading in the evening with your child; it can be in bed, on the couch, or anywhere else, andfor fun or for school reading assignments.

Ninety-five percent of parents of children age 8 or younger report that they ever read bedtime stories to their

child, with 87% saying that they currently do, and 8% saying that they did but not anymore. Only 5% report that

they had never read bedtime stories to their child.

Viewed in terms of child age, a vast majority of parents report ever having read bedtime stories to their

child – 91% children age 0-2 years, 97% with children age 3-5 years, and 97% with children age 6-8 years

have ever done this. However, the percentage who currently read bedtime stories with their child is

higher among parents of younger children compared to those with children age 6-8 years – 89% of

parents of 0-2 year olds and 91% of parents of 3-5 year olds currently do this, versus 80% of parents of

6-8 year olds. Seventeen percent of parents of 6-8 year olds read bedtime stories to their child in the

past, but not anymore.

o While the percentage who had ever read bedtime stories to their child is high among all groups,

the likelihood to do so increases with household income (92% among less than $35K; 96%

among $35K to $99.9K; 98% among $100K or more).

Detailed Findings – At what age did you stop reading bedtime stories to your [X]-year old [son/daughter]?

Among parents who used to read bedtime stories to their child age 8 or younger but not anymore (n=98), the

mean age at which they stopped reading bedtime stories to their child is 4.6 years. A plurality (33%) report that

they stopped reading to their child at the age of 5 years.




Detailed Findings – In a typical week, how many nights [do/did] you read a bedtime story to your [X]-year old

[son/daughter]?

Overall, 33% of parents of children age 8 years or younger report that they typically read bedtime stories to their

child 7 nights a week (every day). Conversely, 67% of parents do not read bedtime stories to their child daily. The

overall average is 5.1 nights per week.

Higher percentages of parents age 18-34 read bedtime stories to their child daily (7 nights a week) (39%)

compared to those age35-44 (30%) and 45+ (28%).

Thirty-eight percent of Hispanic parents (n=147) read bedtime stories to their child daily, while 23% of

Black/African American parents (n=150) report reading a bedtime story to their child daily.

Detailed Findings – How many minutes [do/did] you spend reading bedtime stories to your [X]-year old

[son/daughter] in a typical evening?

A majority (51%) of parents of children age 8 years or younger report that they spend between 10 -19 minutes

reading to their child in a typical evening. Collectively, 78% report an amount of time equal to 10 minutes or

more, and 27% report an amount that is 20 minutes or more. Seventeen percent of parents say that they spend

less than 10 minutes reading bedtime stories to their child in a typical evening.

The length of time parents spend reading bedtime stories tends to increase along with child age, as 62%of parents of children aged 0-2 years (n=330) do this activity at least 10 minutes or more in a typical

evening, while 82% of those with children age 3-5 years (n=335) and 90% of those with children age 6-8

years (n=338) do so. Furthermore, 19% of parents of children age 0-2 years, 29% of parents of children

age 3-5 years, and 32% of parents of children age 6-8 years report that the time they spend reading

bedtime stories to their child in a typical evening is 20 minutes or more. Conversely, the percentages of

parents who report that they read bedtime stories to their child for less than 10 minutes in a typical

evening are 30% for 0-2 year old children, 15% for 3-5 year olds, and 8% for 6-8 year olds.

Parents who share in reading bedtime stories with their child (n=655), with the parent and child

alternating the reading of pages/lines, tend to spend longer amounts of time reading bedtime stories

with their child than those who don’t share in reading, but have ever read a bedtime story to their child

(n=284). Eighty-seven percent of parents who share in reading, and 68% of those who do not, reportthat they spend 10 minutes or more reading bedtime stories with their child.

In terms of income, the amount of time they read bedtime stories to their child peaks among middle

income parents – 74% of those with a HH income of less than $35K, 82% with a HH income of $35K to

$99.9K, and 77% with a HH income of $100K+ report that the time they spend reading bedtime stories to

their child in a typical evening is 10 minutes or more. However, the percentages are not notably

different.

Detailed Findings – What types of books [do/did] you read to your [X]-year old [son/daughter] before bed?

Please select all that apply.

Seventy percent of parents of children age 8 or younger report that they read picture books to their child before

bed, while 66% have read easy reader books, 32% have read transition books/early chapter books, and 19% have

read chapter books to their child before bed.

Viewed by child age, 83% of parents of 0-2 year olds report that they read picture books to their child

before bed, and 51% have read easy reader books. Seventy-nine percent of parents of 3-5 year olds say

that they read picture books to their child, and 80% read easy reader books while 29% read transition

books/early chapter books. Among parents of 6-8 year olds, 66% read easy readers, 57% read transition

books/early chapter books, and 38% read chapter books with their child before bed.




Parents who share in the reading of bedtime stories with their child (n=655) report reading the following

types of books with their child, compared with those parents who do not share in reading (n=348):

picture books (68% vs. 74%), easy reader books (74% vs. 49%), transition books/early chapter books

(42% vs. 11%), and chapter books (24% vs. 7%).

Detailed Findings – What form of book [do/did] you typically use when reading bedtime stories to your

[X]-year old [son/daughter]?

Seventy-six percent of parents of children age 8 years or younger report that they typically use a printed book

format when reading bedtime stories to their child, while 2% typically use an e-book format and 17% use both of

these book formats.

While printed books are the top choice among all parent age ranges, the preference for printed books

increases with parent age – 71% of parents age 18-34, 77% aged 35-44, and 86% aged 45+ typically use a

printed book when reading bedtime stories to their child. Meanwhile, both printed and e-book formats

are typically used by 22% of parents age 18-34, 15% of those age 35-44, and just 12% of those aged 45+

years.

Parents in the South (21%) are more likely than those in the Midwest (12%) to report using both printed

books and e-books when reading bedtime stories to their child. However, for both of these regions

printed books are still the top choice (73% and 82%, respectively). In terms of e-book usage, the Southleads with 23% reporting that they typically use e-books or both printed books and e-books equally; this

is followed by the West (21%), East (17%), and the Midwest (12%).

Although printed books are the top choice among all ethnic/racial groups, a higher percentage of

Black/African American (30%) and Hispanic (28%) parents read both e-books and printed books. By

contrast, 82% of White parents report that they typically use printed books and only 12% use both.

Detailed Findings – Which form of book does your [X]-year old [son/daughter] prefer?

Among parents of children age 8 years or younger who typically read both printed books and e-books for their

child’s bedtime stories (n=148), 71% say their child likes both forms equally, while 29% say that their child has a

preference for a particular form of book. Twenty percent of parents report that their child favors printed books,

and 9% say their child prefers e-books.

Detailed Findings – Does your [X]-year old [son/daughter] have a favorite bedtime book?

Forty-two percent of parents report that their child aged 8 or younger has a favorite bedtime book, while 46%

say their child does not have a favorite and 12% are not sure.

Forty-eight percent of fathers say that their child has a favorite bedtime book, compared with just 36%

of mothers.

Hispanic parents (54%) are more likely than White parents (37%) to report that their child has a favorite

bedtime book. Forty percent of Black/African American parents answer this way.

Parents who currently read bedtime stories with their child (46%) are more likely than those who don’t

(14%) to report that their child has a favorite bedtime book.

Detailed Findings – How often [do/did] you and your [X]-year old [son/daughter] ever share in the reading of

bedtime stories (e.g., you read a page and your [X]-year old [son/daughter] reads the next page, or you read a

line and your [X]-year old [son/daughter] reads the next line)?

Overall, 68% of parents of children age 8 years or younger report that they ever share in the reading of bedtime

stories with their child, and 55% say that they often/sometimes do this activity.




Sixty-five percent of Hispanic and 62% of Black/African American parents report that they

often/sometimes share in the reading of bedtime stories with their child, which is higher than the 50%

of White parents who do this. The percentage of parents who report that they share in the reading of

bedtime stories increases with child age, as 33% of parents of 0-2 year olds, 80% of parents of 3-5 year

olds, and 90% of parents of 6-8 year olds ever do this. Furthermore, 20% of parents of 0-2 year olds,

61% of parents of 3-5 year olds, and 81% of parents of 6-8 year olds say that they often/sometimes

share in the reading of bedtime stories with their child.

Detailed Findings – How often does your [X]-year old [son/daughter] ever read on [his/her] own before bed?

Sixty-five percent of parents of children age 8 or younger say that their child ever reads on his/her own before

bed, and 46% report that their child often/sometimes does this activity.

Parents of daughters report that their child reads on their own at higher rates than parents of boys, both

in terms of ever participating in this activity (69% vs. 60%, respectively) as well as often/sometimes

doing this (50% vs. 42%).

Reading on their own before bed increases with child age, as 24% of parents of 0-2 year olds, 75% of

parents of 3-5 year olds, and 94% of parents of 6-8 year olds report that their child ever does this activity.

Furthermore, 13% of parents of 0-2 year olds, 49% of parents of 3-5 year olds, and 74% of parents of 6-8

year olds say that their child often/sometimes reads on their own before bed.

Detailed Findings – Approximately how many of each of the following types of children’s books, if any, do you

own in your household? If you are not sure please give your best estimate.

Ninety-nine percent of parents of children age 8 and younger report that they have at least one printed

children’s book in their household, while 46% have at least one children’s book in e-book format in their

household. Overall, parents report an average of 60.2 printed children’s books in their household (with a median

of 40 books), and an average of 6.1 e-books in the household. However, among those who own at least one

children’s book in e-book format, the average increases to 13.4 e-books in the household.

The average number of children’s books overall in the household is highest among parents age 35-44, as

the combined number of printed and e-books amounts to 57.6 books among parents age 18-34, 75.8

among parents age 35-44, and 67.5 among parents age 45+. Parents age 18-34 (51%) are more likelythan parents age 45+ (37%) to own any children’s books in e-book format in the household; 45% of

parents age 35-44 report owning any children’s e-books. The average number of children’s e-books

owned is 6.8 e-books among parents age 18-34, 6.7 e-books among parents age 35-44, and 3.4 e-books

among parents age 45+. However, among parents own at least one children’s book in e-book format in

their household, there are no notable differences among the age ranges but older parents do report a

directionally lower number of e-books on average (13.4 among age 18-34, 15.0 among age 35-44, and

9.3 among age 45+).

In terms of household income, there is a direct relationship with the number of children’s books in the

household. Ownership of at least one e-book increases with income level (40% of families with a

household income of less than $35K, 46% with $35K-$99.9K, and 52% with $100K or more own at least

one e-book), and while there are negligible differences in terms of average number of e-books owned

across income levels (the average ranges from 6.1 to 6.2 e-books) the differences are notable regarding

printed books. On average, families with a household income of less than $35K have 44.4 printed books

in their household, while those with $35K-$99.9K have 60.4 printed books, and those with $100K+ have

76.8 printed books in their household, on average. In total, the average numbers of printed books and

e-books combinedare: 50.5 for household incomes of less than $35K, 66.6 for $35K-$99.9K, and 83.0 for

$100K+.




Parental education level is also directly related to the number of children’s books in the household.

Parents with a high school education or less average 39.9 printed books, and 45.1 printed and e-books

combined, in the household; for parents with some college these averages are 68.4 and 75.8, and for

parents with a college degree or higher these averages are 73.8 and 83.0, respectively.

As child age increases, so does the average number of children’s books in the household. In terms of

printed books, parents of 0-2 year olds report an average of 41.5 printed books, while parents of 3-5

year olds average 68.4 and parents of 6-8 year olds average 69.8 printed books in the household.

Combined, the average number of children’s printed books and e-books owned in the household is 45.4

books among parents of 0-2 year olds, 75.7 books among parents of 3-5 year olds, and 76.8 books

among parents of 6-8 year olds.

Detailed Findings – Where do you or other members of your household get books for your [X]-year old

[son/daughter]? Please select all that apply.

Sixty-seven percent of parents of children age 8 or younger report that their household receives books for their

child as gifts. Other sources of children’s books include the library (56%), brick and mortar stores (52%), book

fairs/festivals (47%), online stores (43%), thrift shops/secondhand stores (43%), yard sales (36%), book

exchanges/book swap programs (15%), and other (7%).

Receiving books as a gift is more likely among:o Parents with some college (71%) or a college degree or higher (72%) compared to those with a

high school education or less (59%)

o White parents (72%) compared to Black/African American (60%) or Hispanic (58%) parents

Library usage for children’s books is higher among parents with a household income of $35K-$99.9K as

well as $100K+ (both 59%) compared to household incomes of less than $35K (49%). Also, library usage

is higher among parents of 3-5 year olds (57%) and 6-8 year olds (73%) compared to 0-2 year olds (37%)

– and the library is the top source of children’s books among parents of 6-8 year olds, surpassing

“receive as a gift” (66%) for this age group.

Detailed Findings – Does your [X]-year old [son/daughter] spend more time reading at school, or out of school

(including weekends and summer)?Sixty-four percent of parents of children age 8 years or younger report that their child attends school. Of those

(n=635), 47% believe that their child spends about the same amount reading at school as they do out of school.

Thirty-three percent feel that their child spends more time reading out of school, while 20% believe they read

more at school.

Among parents whose child attends school, 53% of parents of 0-2 year olds (n=70) believe that their

child spends more time reading out of school, compared to 33% of parents of 3-5 year olds (n=235) and

30% of parents of 6-8 year olds (n=330). Pluralities of parents of 3-5 year olds (49%) and 6-8 year olds

(48%) believe that their child spends about the same amount of time reading at school as they do out of

school.

Detailed Findings – What, if anything, prevents you from spending more time reading with your [X]-year old

[son/daughter]? Please select all that apply.

Fifty-five percent of parents of children age 8 years and younger identify something that prevents them from

spending more time reading with their child. The top reason is not enough time in the day (35%), followed by

their child not seeming interested (14%), not enough money to buy books (7%), limited access to a library (4%),

parental uninterest in reading (2%), and other reasons (5%).

“Not enough time in the day” is the top reason among all groups studied, however, the percentages

giving this response is higher among:




o Household incomes of $100K+ (45%), compared to household incomes of less than $35K (27%)

or $35K to $99.9K (33%)

o Parents employed full-time/part-time/self (41%), compared to non-employed parents (24%)

o Fathers (40%), compared to mothers (30%)

o Parents of 3-5 year olds and 6-8 year olds (both 40%), compared to parents of 0-2 year olds

(24%).

Detailed Findings – In your opinion, what is the ideal total amount of time per day for a [X]-year old

[son/daughter] and parent to read together?

Sixty-one percent of parents of children age 8 or younger believe that the total ideal amount of time per day for

a parent to read with a child their son’s or daughter’s age is 20 minutes or more. A plurality believes the ideal

time is 20-29 minutes (36%), followed by 10-19 minutes (34%). Ninety-four percent believe the ideal amount of

time is 10 minutes or more, and conversely, only 6% place this amount at less than 10 minutes per day.

Among parents of children age 0-2 years (39%), a plurality believe 10-19 minutes is the ideal amount of

time to read with their child, while 20-29 minutes is the ideal length for pluralities of parents of 3-5 year

olds (41%) and 6-8 year olds (63%). Majorities in each group believe 20 minutes or more is an ideal total

amount of time (51% of parents of 0-2 year olds, 68% of parents of 3-5 year olds, and 63% of parents of

6-8 year olds).

Detailed Findings – Thinking about the ideal amount of time for reading with a child, would you say that the

time you and your [X]-year old [son/daughter] spend reading together is less, more, or about the same?

A majority (59%) of parents of children age 8 years and younger believe that the ideal amount of time for

reading with a child is about the same as what they spend reading with their own child. A quarter (26%) believe

the amount of time they spend is much/somewhat less than ideal, while 15% feel that they spend

much/somewhat more that the ideal amount of time reading with their child.

Fathers (21%) are more likely than mothers (30%) to believe the amount of time they spend is less than

ideal, although majorities of each gender believe that it is about the same (61% and 58%, respectively).

Parents age 35-44 (33%) are more likely than parents age 18-34 (23%) and parents age 45+ (19%) to

believe they spend less than the ideal amount of time. However, majorities in each age group believethat the time they spend is about the same as the ideal (59% age 18-34, 56% age 35-44, and 66% age

45+).

Parents with some college (33%) or a college degree or higher (28%) are more likely than those with a

high school education or less (18%) to believe they spend less than an ideal amount of time reading

with their child, although majorities believe the amount of time they spend is about the same as the

ideal (68% high school or less, 51% some college, 57% college degree or higher).

A plurality of parents who do not currently read bedtime stories with their child (46%) believe that they

spend less than the ideal amount of time reading with their child, and this percentage is higher than

those who do read bedtime stories with their child (23%). Sixty-two percent of parents who do read

bedtime stories with their child believe they read about the same about of time as the ideal, while only

45% of non-bedtime story readers feel this way.

Detailed Findings – In your opinion, how important is it for parents to read with their children at an early age

as a way to promote their future educational development?

Ninety-two percent of parents of children age 8 years and younger believe that it is absolutely essential/very

important for parents to read with their children at an early age as a way to promote their future educational

development, and a full 66% consider it absolutely essential.




The belief that this is absolutely essential increases with:

o Household income (less than $35K, 60%; $35K to $99.9K, 66%; and $100K+, 75%)

o Parental education (high school or less, 57%; some college, 72%; and college degree or higher,

71%).

Parents who currently read bedtime stories with their child (70%) are more likely to believe this is

absolutely essential, compared to those who don’t read bedtime stories (43%).

Detailed Findings – How much do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements regarding your

[X]-year old [son/daughter]?

The following percentages of parents of children age 8 years and younger strongly/somewhat agree with these

statements:

- Reading books helps stimulate children’s creativity. (96%)

- Reading books together is one of my favorite ways to spend quality time with my child. (88%)

- Bedtime stories are an effective way to help my child go to sleep. (79%)

- My child enjoys reading non-fiction (i.e., factual books about things like animals, presidents, space, history).

(71%)

- My child has one or two favorite books that he/she likes to read over and over again. (66%)

- I wish my child were more interested in reading. (55%) For several statements, parents who currently read bedtime stories are more likely to agree than those

who do not read bedtime stories to their child. These include:

o Reading books helps stimulate children’s creativity. (97% vs. 91%, respectively)

o Reading books together is one of my favorite ways to spend quality time with my child. (93% vs.

59%)

o Bedtime stories are an effective way to help my child go to sleep. (83% vs. 48%)

o My child enjoys reading non-fiction (i.e. factual books about things like animals, presidents,

space, history). (73% vs. 58%)

o My child has one or two favorite books that he/she likes to read over and over again. (67% vs.

55%).

Documents

Harris Interactive: Executive Summary of Survey Commissioned by RIF and Macy's