Children reading series books: Ways into peer culture and reading development

Abstract

This article, drawing on research which aimed to explore how young children read English in Singapore, demonstrates how 9-year-old Singaporean children's voluntary reading of series books served the dual purposes of enabling their membership of the peer group through culturated reading and the independent development of their reading skills and motivation for reading. Using interviews to encourage conversation and reflection, the research examined children’s book choices and their reasons for reading. This formed part of a topic-focussed ethnographic study in three primary schools. In addition, the article seeks to prove that Singaporean children’s choice of series books makes them readers with potential for global, intra-generational, cultural connections rather than familial, intergenerational ones, and it is especially significant educationally for less well-off families where English is not the dominant home language.