Getting lost in a good story should be something every child can enjoy.
For children who find printed text challenging, audiobooks offer another way into the world of books and a new Calibre Audio survey suggests there is plenty of enthusiasm for listening.
Our Baseline Reading for Pleasure Survey 2026 involved 168 children in Years 4 to 6 across 15 primary schools, who took part in our Assisted Reading with Audiobooks project. The children all have special educational needs or disabilities that make reading print difficult and are not meeting age-related expectations for reading.
Over one third had never listened to an audiobook. Yet 69% of those who rated audiobooks said they liked or loved them, while 73% liked or loved being read to. Among children who described reading as “OK”, 66% preferred listening to audiobooks. These findings point to an opportunity to connect more children with stories in a format they enjoy.
A starting point is to introduce audiobooks early and choose books children already know and enjoy. This reflects the National Year of Reading’s Go All In campaign: starting with existing interests to help people discover reading in any or all of its many forms, including audiobooks, novels, non-fiction, poetry, comics, magazines and graphic novels.
As Helen Mee, Calibre Audio’s Director of Communities and Learning, puts it: “Every child deserves the chance to get lost in a wonderful story. By opening up more ways to read, we can help more children find their way into books one story at a time.”