The thriller has been named Birmingham’s favourite genre of book according to new research from tuition provider, Explore Learning, which has a number of centres across the city. In a survey to mark the final week to enter the National Young Writers’ Awards, a third of people in Birmingham (32%) said it was their favourite type of novel, closely followed by Detective and Comedy.
When asked who would be their dream fictional character to feature in a literary mash-up – where two genres combine – there was a tie with one in five (22%) both saying Harry Potter with Robin Hood and Game of Thrones’ Jon Snow with Alice in Wonderland as the characters they’d like to see star together. This was closely followed by Doctor Who with Cinderella and James Bond and Cruella de Vil!
The theme of this year’s National Young Writers’ Awards, the annual competition organised by Explore Learning, is ‘mash-up’ where children are challenged to write a 500 word story where two genres collide. Judged by best-selling author of the Ruby Redfort and Charlie & Lola series of books, Lauren Child, kids from all over the UK are competing for an amazing trip to Disneyland Paris and £500 worth of books for their school. The deadline for entries is Tuesday 7th June.
Birmingham’s favourite literary mash-ups were named as follows:
- Harry Potter and Robin Hood – JOINT with Jon Snow and Alice in Wonderland
- Doctor Who and Cinderella
- James Bond and Cruella de Vil
- Indiana Jones and Snow White
- Jack Sparrow and Ellen Ripley
- Wolverine and Winnie the Pooh
- Forrest Gump and Frankenstein
- Han Solo and The White Witch (Narnia)
- Tracey Beaker and Willy Wonka (Charlie & The Chocolate Factory)
And when it comes to Birmingham's favourite genres:
- Thriller
- Detective/Crime
- Comedy
- Romance
- Fantasy
- Science Fiction
- Classic
- Horror
- Biography
- Drama
The research found that a third of people in Birmingham (33%) read every day for pleasure, while 45% read once a week for fun while 5% say they never read at all.
When it comes to the reading habits of children in Birmingham, 88% of children aged between 4 and 14 have asked for a book as a present. Despite the ever-increasing rise in popularity of technology, books are still the city’s favourite form of reading material with the majority (83%) of children choosing to read from them – double those who read from an iPad or Kindle (38%).
The grand old tradition of reading bedtime stories is still alive and well with a third (35%) of parents of children aged four to 11 reading with their child every night. Nearly half (48%) also said they did once a week and just 8% said they never did at all.
Carey Ann Dodah, Head of Curriculum at Explore Learning which compiled the research says: “It’s wonderful to see that parents and children alike still love reading. No matter how busy our lives are, it’s essential to take the time to get lost in a good book and let your imagination fly!
“It’s also very interesting to see that Birmingham’s favourite genre is the thriller! The fact that people would most like to read a mash-up of the literary heroes of Harry Potter and Robin Hood or Jon Snow and Alice in Wonderland shows they have a very vivid imagination and we hope this will spur on lots of entries into our fantastic writing competition – the National Young Writers’ Awards which closes on the 7th June.”
Explore Learning has a number of tuition centres across Birmingham, providing English and maths tuition to children aged five to 14. Each session is tailored to an individual child’s needs and Explore Learning tutors work with children in a low ratio (1:6 maximum) to create a fun and vibrant atmosphere that has positive results.
