ONCE UPON a time, as it used to say at the start of almost every children’s book, there was no such thing as television and there were no computer games to provide endless distraction for youngsters.

Mums everywhere had just one simple retort for their offspring who complained  especially when the weather was too cold or wet to play outside - that they were bored.

“Well, go and read a book” was the cry in homes across the land. And, by and large, children usually did.

The fact that such a response is often noticeable by its absence in many households nowadays is not just the product of the modern era where flat screen TVs are in every child’s bedroom, with games consoles usually lying beside them.

New research released by the National Literacy Trust shows that a quarter of the UK’s eight to 11-year-olds would not own a book were it not for World Book Day, which marked its 20th anniversary yesterday.

The survey of 9,000 Key Stage Two pupils found that nine out of ten were aware of World Book Day and six out of ten were inspired to read more by it.

A quarter said that the book they bought last year with their free World Book Day token was the first they had ever been able to call their own.

That is a fantastic endorsement of this brilliant and important initiative which brought hundreds of children out dressed as their favourite characters for events across the district.

But is is also a sad indictment of some parents and their lack of commitment to aiding their child’s development.

Books are an awful lot cheaper than computer games....