A new report found that  91 percent of children ages 6 to 17 said that their favorite books are the ones that they are able to choose. 

According to the report, half of the respondents "are currently reading a book for fun and another one in 5 just finished one," according to an article on WashingtonPost.com. 

The report also found that "both parents of children ages 6–17 [71%] and kids [54%] rank strong reading skills as the most important skill a child should have. Yet while 86% of parents say reading books for fun is extremely or very important, only 46% of kids say the same. Three-quarters of parents with children ages 6–17 [75%] agree 'I wish my child would read more books for fun,' and 71% agree 'I wish my child would do more things that did not involve screen time.'"

Frequent readers, according to the article, are defined as "children who read books for fun 5–7 days a week, differ substantially in a number of ways from infrequent readers—those who read books for fun less than one day a week. For instance, 97% of frequent readers ages 6–17 say they are currently reading a book for fun or have just finished one, while 75% of infrequent readers say they haven’t read a book for fun in a while."

According to the article, "there are several predictors that children ages 6–17 will be frequent readers. Three dynamics among the most powerful predictors are:"

• being more likely to rate themselves as 'really enjoying reading'
• a strong belief that reading for fun is important and
• having parents who are frequent readers.

When it comes to school, the article said, "One third of children ages 6–17 (33%) say their class has a designated time during the school day to read a book of choice independently, but only 17% do this every or almost every school day.

The report also found the following:

• Half of children ages 6–17 who read independently as a class or school (52%) say it’s one of their favorite parts of the day or wish it would happen more often.
• School plays a bigger role in reading books for fun among children in lower-income homes. Sixty-one percent of children ages 6–17 from the lowest-income homes say they read for fun mostly in school or equally at school and at home, while 32% of kids ages 6–17 from the highest-income homes say the same.

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Article by Kassondra Granata, Education World Contributor