Children's progress hindered by e-books and Kindles, charity warns While children had initially been slower to catch on to ebooks than adults, the number of young digital readers has doubled in the last two years. Publishers and retailers have caught on, making a larger range of children's books and comics available on devices such as iPads and Kindles. The reading of newspapers by children and young people has fallen from 46.8 per cent in 2005 to 31.2 per cent in 2012. While only 3 in 10 children and young people last year said that they read a newspaper outside of class, the reading of news on electronic devices is becoming more popular. Over 40 per cent of children and young people reading news on their computer, 35.5 per cent on their smartphone and a third reading news on their tablets. The research also showed that while nearly all children have access to a computer at home and 4 out of 10 own a tablet or a smartphone, three in 10 do not have a desk of their own. Pupils who receive free school meals - a measure of a family's socio-economic status - are also significantly less likely to read traditional books than their peers who do not receive meals. Children who eat free at school read more fiction but less news on electronic devices than those who pay for meals. Joan Brady, the Whitbread-prize winning author, has previously said it would be a "problem" if the surge in e-books comes to mean that children never pick up a real book. "There is a certain amount of gravitas to a page that you don't get on a screen," she said. All the technological things are a huge addition, but hopefully it will not bury the book. While the Trust acknowledged the positive impact technology has had on reading numbers, they urged a "healthier balance" using both books and technological devices. Jonathan Douglas, National Literacy Trust's director, said: "Our research confirms that technology is playing a central role in young people's literacy development and reading choice. While we welcome the positive impact which technology has on bringing further reading opportunities to young people, it's crucial that reading in print is not cast aside. We are concerned by our finding that children who only read on-screen are significantly less likely to enjoy reading and less likely to be strong readers. Good reading skills and reading for pleasure are closely linked to children's success at school and beyond. We need to encourage children to become avid readers, whatever format they choose.