Her Majesty The Queen launched the National Year of Reading in Scotland on Monday 19 January 2026, alongside Scottish authors, local primary school children and Dennis the Menace, at the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh.
The once-in-a-generation initiative from the Department for Education and the National Literacy Trust, of which Her Majesty is Patron, seeks to address the steep decline in the nation’s reading enjoyment.
The launch in Scotland comes as our new research Children and young people’s reading in Scotland in 2025 reveals that:
- just 3 in 10 (30.3%) children and young people aged 8 to 18 said they enjoyed reading in their free time, and
- only 1 in 6 (16.8%) said they read daily in their free time.
To help address this challenge, the campaign asks the nation to ‘Go All In’ on their interests and passions and (re)discover how reading can unlock the things they already love – from music and sport to films, food and family time – in whatever way works for them.
The events in Scotland follow the National Year of Reading launch at Emirates Stadium in London on Tuesday 13 January 2026.
Backing the campaign, award-winning Scottish authors Jackie Kay, Val McDermid and Sir Ian Rankin were unveiled as National Year of Reading ambassadors at today’s event. Government, business and charity partners including Education Scotland, DC Thomson, Scottish Book Trust and The Scottish Library and Information Council (SLiC) also showed their support.
“Reading is a window on the world beyond our own. It shows us possibilities and gives us the tools to make them realities. Reading is the greatest gift we can give our children. And ourselves."
Val McDermid, award-winning author and National Year of Reading ambassador
Tapping into the power of comics
Underscoring the principles of the ‘Go All In’ campaign, our new research reveals that children and young people in Scotland who don’t currently enjoy reading said that finding reading materials based on their passions, as well as visual media, would motivate them to read. The research also found song lyrics, fiction, non-fiction and comics to be the most popular reading materials for Scotland’s children and young people.
Today’s launch event used the power of comics to engage Scotland’s children and young people with reading and saw Beano immerse 150 local school children in the magic of reading, writing and illustrating comics.
Using a bespoke three panel Beano comic strip featuring The Queen and Dennis the Menace as a story starter – a special print of which was later presented to Her Majesty by pupils – Beano’s Directors of Mischief (Mike Stirling) and Mayhem (Craig Graham) worked with local pupils from Granton Primary School and The Queen herself to create a mischievous National Year of Reading comic strip.
"Beano shows children that reading doesn’t have to be boring to be powerful. We encourage them to question, imagine and think differently, which we call creative mischief. We’re launching a Year of Mischief to celebrate reading as a powerful, playful force that helps kids explore ideas, spark creativity and see the world their way.”
Mike Stirling, Director of Mischief, Beano
Her Majesty then joined a group of pupils to try their hand at illustrating Dennis the Menace’s pet dog, Gnasher, with comics artist and cartoonist Nigel Auchterlounie. Comics artist Laura Howell also helped children draw their own Minnie the Minx characters.
Generous donations from DC Thomson, HarperCollins and Penguin Random House meant all 150 children were gifted a mix of brand new Beano comics, Beano books and extra children’s books to keep.
The National Literacy Trust’s work in Scotland
Working together with a network of national, local and community partners, the National Literacy Trust will lead the delivery of the National Year of Reading in Scotland. We are committed to supporting communities across the UK where low literacy and poverty are having the greatest impact on people’s lives.
In Scotland, we work intensively in Dundee, where despite overall improvements in literacy achievement seen since 2017, the gap between pupils from the most and least deprived areas has remained relatively steady.
More broadly across the country, in response to research indicating that 1 in 4 (25%) primary schools in Scotland does not have a library, we have worked with Penguin Books through our joint Libraries for Primaries campaign to transform library spaces in 100 Scottish primary schools - including Granton Primary School and Clovenstone Primary School, whose pupils attended the National Year of Reading event in Scotland.