Boys now reading as well as girls, study suggests

Boys appear to have caught up with girls on reading ability, research into what children are reading for pleasure suggests. A study of which books more than 210,000 UK children are reading suggests boys no longer read at a lower level of difficulty than girls. Concerns that boys lag behind girls has been frequently expressed. Roald Dahl remains the most popular children's author. He is closely followed by Roderick Hunt, author of the popular Magic Key series, which is part of the Oxford Reading Scheme. Diary of a Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney and the creator of Horrid Henry Francesca Simon were also hugely popular