The new school year arrived on August 19 with a nasty surprise from primary school kids. No mobile phones. But the new rule had given TBWA\Neboko and telco, Odido, an idea. Together with author, Marjon Hoffman, known for her bestseller De regels van Floor (The Rules of Floor), they produced Het Telefoonboekje four months ago. The unique children’s book, designed to resemble a smartphone and written entirely in chat format, has already proven to be an unprecedented success. Primary school teachers have eagerly ordered Het Telefoonboekje, resulting in a print run of over 50,000 copies. So on August 19, Hoffman presented the 50,000th edition of Het Telefoonboekje at a Netherlands primary school.
In April of this year, Odido and CPNB (Collective Promotion for the Dutch Book, an organisation that promotes Dutch literature) highlighted the issue of phone usage in primary schools. As children’s attention increasingly shifts from books to phones, Odido developed the unique Telefoonboekje. The telecom provider believes it is important for children to put their phones aside more often and engage in other activities. So with Het Telefoonboekje, children can rediscover the joy of reading. With an average reading time of 25 minutes, Het Telefoonboekje has already contributed to 1,375,000 minutes of reading time. Moreover, 80% of children who read Het Telefoonboekje are considering reading other books as well. Among the surveyed group of 2,425 students, 72% expressed a desire to read more books in this format.
Eveline Aendekerk, director of the CPNB, stated, “We are pleasantly surprised by the overwhelming interest from primary school teachers in Het Telefoonboekje. But even more encouraging is the fact that children appreciate it so much, which in turn increases their enjoyment of reading. All in all, a very successful initiative. We hope that the phone ban in primary schools will also contribute to improving children’s reading skills and, consequently, their reading pleasure.”
Among seven-year-olds, who are beginning readers, 68% read a book almost daily in their free time. By the end of primary school, at the age of twelve, this figure drops by half (to 35%). One in three fifteen-year-olds in the Netherlands scores below proficiency in reading skills (PISA-Netherlands, 2022).
