Experts say that children’s books should be shorter, so that more kids are encouraged to get into reading.

Studies suggest that reading skills are in decline across Europe, and in a survey of 500 teachers last year, 84% of teachers agreed that children have shorter attention spans than they did before the Covid-19 pandemic.

There’s a debate over whether book publishers are judging children’s reading habits correctly, and that making a book longer doesn’t always mean it’s better.

Rachel Boden, from children’s reading charity BookTrust, warned: “As most middle-grade books are now around 300 pages long, children may struggle to finish a book, and so might not see themselves as readers.”

Do you agree? Would you read a book that’s 300 pages long?