Poems about books and a text about reading)

Reading for pleasure means any reading that is primarily for enjoyment. It encompasses a wide range of genres and publications, and includes both fiction and non-fiction. For example, gardening or cookery books can be read as instructional texts in order to carry out specific tasks, but can also be read purely for pleasure. Similarly, fiction is often considered to be read for pleasure – but may also be read for academic study.

Reading for pleasure is no longer restricted to the printed word but increasingly includes online reading, whether on a website, or via an e-reader such as a Kindle.

• Fiction: Novels, short stories, jokes, comics, poetry, lyrics, plays and scripts
• Non-fiction: Reference books, newsletters, letters, emails, biographies, memoirs, newspapers, magazines, websites

Why read for pleasure? Like anything else, reading is a skill that becomes better with practice. Reading for pleasure is critical for ensuring that the practice needed to become fluent becomes part of the learners’ everyday life, and is not just seen as a classroom-based activity.

There are a range of benefits gained from reading for pleasure:

• it increases sense of achievement, confidence, self-esteem and self-awareness
• it widens horizons
• you can do it anywhere
• it develops relationships and promotes inclusion and empathy through sharing opinions and ideas
• it prevents boredom and promotes relaxation.