Introduction. The Children’s Book Initiative (CBI) is a multi-faceted reading promotion intervention that aims to get ‘more children reading more and better books.’ Taking a whole book chain approach, the CBI works both at the national level, building capacity among publishers, writers and illustrators, and at the school level, training teachers, principals and librarians in the use of storybooks in the classroom. This paper presents results from a pilot project of the CBI that ran from 2014-2016 in Bhutan. Through the project, 20 story books were produced, 10 in English and 10 in Dzhongkha, and child-friendly bookshelves were set up and stocked in pre-primary to grade 3 classrooms. Teachers in programme schools were also given two days of training in using storybooks as a learning tool.
Methods. The programme was evaluated using a quasi-experimental research design. Two districts of Bhutan ran the programme in all schools, while two similar districts were selected as comparison districts. Data were collected at baseline and endline from a sample of students drawn in both treatment and comparison districts. Quantitative data were analysed using difference-in-difference regressions.
Results. The programme increased student access to storybooks, both at school and at home. Students displayed a greater print awareness and higher enjoyment of reading as a result of the programme. Teachers who attended the training were more likely to include reading activities in their lessons, and to use best practices during those reading activities.
Discussion. These results suggest that storybook based interventions that combine quality supplemental reading material with teacher training can have a significant impact on student engagement. Future research should explore the role of mother tongue storybooks for speakers of minority languages, as well as digging deeper into literacy improvements.
