The Gruffalo and The Very Hungry Caterpillar among favourite reads says new Childwise research.
A new report from Childwise has found that the average spend on books for preschoolers is now £7 a month, up from £6 last year.
Children are also making more regular trips to the library, while The Gruffalo is the favourite book for preschoolers, following a new research question this year asking parents which children’s titles their preschoolers enjoy most.
“Spending on books has been boosted by parents of under-twos with the average spend among this group increasing by a pound to £7. Spending peaks early before dropping back for all other age categories,” said Jenny Ehren, research manager at Childwise. “Two out of five parents continue to spend less than £10 a month while around a third pay out more than this on books.
“More than a quarter of parents do not spend any money on books at all in an average month period.”
Julia Donaldson tops the list of favourite preschool authors, while Eric Carle, author of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, is also held in high regard.
Other favourite books include anything Peppa Pig related, Disney branded books, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt and Thomas the Tank Engine.
Research shows that around three quarters of preschool children read bedtime stories regularly, or even all the time, with their parents. Increasing numbers are also listening to stories or audio books using a tablet device, with a quarter of preschoolers now doing this.
The number of children going to the library frequently has also risen this year to one in three.
