EDINBURGH – On a bright January morning inside the National Library of Scotland, Her Majesty The Queen stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Dennis the Menace, three of Scotland’s biggest literary names, and 150 excited primary school children to launch the National Year of Reading north of the border.
The message was simple but urgent: Scotland’s children are falling out of love with reading, and the country is going all in to win them back.
New research published the same day by the National Literacy Trust paints a worrying picture. Only 30.3 percent of Scottish children and young people aged 8 to 18 say they enjoy reading in their free time – one of the lowest figures ever recorded. Even more alarming, just 16.8 percent read daily outside school.
“That’s fewer than one in six,” Her Majesty told the room. “We can and must do better.”
Why Reading Levels Have Plummeted in Scotland
The decline did not happen overnight. Years of lockdown, screen-time surges, and squeezed school budgets have gradually pushed books to the edge of many children’s lives.
The National Literacy Trust’s 2025 Scotland report shows the enjoyment figure has dropped almost 13 percentage points in a decade. Children from the poorest homes are now twice as likely to say they never read as their better-off classmates.
Yet the same research uncovered a clear path back: give children reading material linked to what they already love – football, gaming, music, animals, or mischief – and they will turn the pages themselves.
Scottish Literary Giants Sign Up as Ambassadors
Jackie Kay, Val McDermid, and Sir Ian Rankin were unveiled as the first National Year of Reading ambassadors at Monday’s launch.
“Reading is a window on the world beyond our own,” said Val McDermid. “It shows us possibilities and gives us the tools to make them realities. Reading is the greatest gift we can give our children. And ourselves.”
Ian Rankin told the children: “Every book I read as a boy in Fife made me think bigger. Rebus wouldn’t exist without libraries and second-hand bookshops.”
Jackie Kay added: “Stories carry our accents, our places, our people. When a child in Drumchapel or Dundee sees themselves in a book, something magical happens.”
Dennis the Menace and 150 School Kids Steal the Show
Beano turned the launch into pure joy. Pupils from Granton Primary School helped create a special three-panel comic strip starring The Queen and Dennis pulling the biggest reading prank in history.
Her Majesty then sat down with cartoonist Nigel Auchterlounie to draw Gnasher’s teeth – and declared the result “rather good, actually.”
Every child left with a goody bag stuffed with fresh Beano annuals, books from HarperCollins and Penguin Random House, and a limited-edition comic featuring the royal visit.
Mike Stirling, Beano’s Director of Mischief, said: “We’re declaring a Year of Mischief. Because reading should never be homework – it should feel like planning the best prank ever.”
What Happens Next Across Scotland
The National Year of Reading is backed by Education Scotland, Scottish Book Trust, DC Thomson, the Scottish Library and Information Council, and dozens of local authorities.
Libraries will host gaming-and-graphic-novel nights. Football clubs will run reading challenges in the stands. Musicians will share the lyrics and books that shaped them.
First Minister John Swinney said: “Every child in Scotland deserves to discover the joy that opened up the world for so many of us. This year we make that happen.”
The Queen ended her visit by telling the children: “Keep reading, keep imagining, keep being gloriously, wonderfully mischievous with books.”
As Dennis the Menace would say: result!
What do you think – can a year of comics, football books, song-lyric magazines and pure mischief really turn Scotland back into a nation of readers? Drop your thoughts below, and if you’re joining the fun on social media use #NationalYearOfReading to share the best reading moments with your family and friends.
