“For a moment, only that story matters”: My plan to reignite an all-consuming love of books | books

A A girl on the cusp of adolescence stares at a book. Her left hand rests on her rosy cheeks, while her right hand holds the pages, ready to turn to see what happens next. She has porcelain-like skin and golden hair that seems full of air, done in textures that contrast with the loose markings that make up her shirt and the pages of the book. When I look at this drawing, I am struck by the way American-born Impressionist Mary Cassatt was able to capture the exhausting sensation of being immersed in a book – the feeling of the whole world melting around you. For a moment, only that story matters.

Cassatt, who worked in Paris for most of her adult life when women were finally beginning to be accepted as artists (and entitled to state-funded art education), was hailed for her intimate depictions of women and children. They are glimpses into their minds, their own worlds, and yet they also emphasize intellect and ambition. Little Girl’s Reading is one example of this. I often wonder if she reads something like Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, published nearly three decades ago, which tells the story of the four March sisters, who discover their own journey into womanhood.

It’s a striking image for many reasons, and one that makes me think of all the work that helped me through adolescence. But it also feels particularly relevant today in a world where immersion in a story has become a thing of the past for young people. Instead, it is being replaced by social media addiction that destroys growing and thriving minds. In 2025, the National Literacy Trust (NLT) found that the proportion of children and young people in the UK who “enjoyed reading” was at its lowest level in 20 years. Less than one in five children aged between 8 and 18 said they read “something every day” in their spare time, representing a 36% decline in enjoyment levels since 2005.

That’s why the charity is making 2026 the National Year of Reading: a UK-wide government-backed initiative, led by the NLT, to help more people rediscover the joy of reading. The goal is to distribute 72,000 new books to the children most in need. Although Louisa May Alcott may be appealing to some, the campaign wants to find books that all children might enjoy – from what they’re passionate about, from history to sport, from films to art.

I recently read a stirring biography of the English footballer Bukayo Saka with my six-year-old nephew, but it’s an artistic delight that I hope to instill in young readers with my new book, The Story of Art Without Men: An Illustrated Guide to Amazing Women Artists. It’s a 2022 edition of my adult book – A Play on the Story of Art by E. H. Gombrich, which failed to mention a single woman until Katie Kollwitz was added to its sixteenth edition. However, this book is really designed for readers of all ages. It is brought to life by Ping Zhu’s beautiful illustrations that complement a wide range of artworks from around the world, shaping the last 500 years of art history.

There are new chapters, such as one on the dazzling world of First Nations art in Australia, inspired by Emily Camm Kingwarai’s recent exhibition at Tate Modern in London. The book is also very interactive. Each chapter is centered around a movement and features an “art assignment” that I hope will not only help the reader understand how the work relates to their lives, but also encourage them to create their own version of what they are reading about.

When discussing the seventeenth-century Flemish painter Clara Peters—known for concealing her self-portraits in her still lifes, to ensure that no man would claim her works as his own—I ask the reader to disguise a self-portrait in the image of something else. In the chapter that introduces the postwar world of Abstract Expressionism, which also had an influence on literature, I ask the reader to draw a drawing to accompany his or her favorite poem. Or ask a friend to write one and together think about what colors you might use to capture it—just as Joan Mitchell and James Schuyler did. Likewise, the reader is encouraged to make “wishing trees,” à la Yoko Ono, or transform their favorite singer or actor into a pop art image. I hope the book will be a great tool for teachers who want to incorporate art into their classrooms as well.

Georgia O’Keefe, before venturing to New York City and finding fame, taught art in the public school system in Amarillo, Texas. According to her biographer Roxanna Robinson, O’Keeffe, far from taking an authoritarian approach, “brought to the study of art a clarity and interest that students found exhilarating.” The book emulates her comprehensive approach to art education, no matter someone’s background or knowledge. As O’Keefe once said: “I enjoyed teaching people who had no particular interest in art.”

We are lucky in the UK to have free access to the permanent collections of museums. So, let’s make young people not only read and look at art in books, but in museums as well. If a young person says they have no interest in art, let’s broaden the focus to art history, which is an umbrella that covers many different topics. What if there was a painting of your favorite author or musician? Or a work of art that deals with technology or the environment?

If you are keen to have your child participate in the National Year of Reading, why not start with art? It’s an activity that families can do together for very little cost. This was my approach, as the younger brother whose older sister encouraged me to bring the tube with her and draw what we found. I hope that 2026 is the year when young people of all backgrounds feel welcome in museum spaces, can find that book for them, and rediscover the joy of reading—and feel what it’s like to be a little girl reading Cassatt.

Books and arts stimulate the mind. They make us dream, imagine worlds beyond our own, transport us through time, and teach us about others in a way that they inadvertently teach us about ourselves. Above all, it shows us that the human imagination is a superpower that no machine can replace.