Julia Strong's job involves prying kids' fingers away from computer keyboards and getting them comfortably grasping a good old-fashioned book.

The deputy director of Britain's National Literacy Trust got stuck into Thailand's problem of book-shy youngsters at a seminar last week at the Queen Sirikit Convention Centre.

The event was organised by Thailand Knowledge Park, better known as TK Park.

"You must not think there's a wall between the electronic and paper media     - you should use the Internet to promote books and reading," Strong said in an interview before the seminar, citing as an example a school that uses screensavers to recommend good books for young readers.

Aren't the kids already reading from their computer screens? Yes, but Strong insists that reading the printed page has distinct advantages.

"Reading from the screen is hard on the eyes," she said. "Plus, the Internet only provides bits of information here and there - and a lot of misinformation, since anybody can put anything they want there.

"Books are more in-depth and can give you the whole picture."

Another speaker at the seminar, leading Japanese children's-reading advocate Tadashi Matsui, pointed out that electronic media don't allow for the same bonding between parent and child as books do.

"In a society where children are bombarded by television and computers, what they need most is the transferring of language through stories, with the love of the parents," he said.

It's crucial for parents to impart reading skills, Matsui added.

"In Japan the literacy rate is 97.8 per cent, but only 40 per cent of Japanese read regularly, and high-school students don't even read that often because they had no experience as children in learning from illustrated storybooks."

Strong said the biggest obstacle to getting youngsters to read is the fact that their parents don't read much either.

As a result, much of the promotional work in Britain is aimed at encouraging them to read along with their children.

The Literacy Trust's "Reading Champion Dad" campaign has fathers discussing their favourite books in pubs, while "Reading Connects" helps schools build "fun" reading environments, complete with a buddy system for book-swapping.

"We all tend to read books that are recommended to us," Strong said, suggesting that the Harry Potter phenomenon is a good example of this word-of-mouth impact.

"Sixty-seven per cent of reading choices are made because someone says, 'This is a good read'."

It also helps if popular sport and entertainment celebrities publicly endorse a book, she noted. Suddenly reading doesn't seem so "nerdy".

Strong urged parents to sign up for a course in storytelling. Young children will take to books much more readily if their parents read to them while using some body language, different voices, puppets and illustrations.

In Japan, said another seminar speaker, Izumi Satou Sugita, the Bookstart campaign shows parents how to share a book with their toddlers, using a kit with illustrated storybooks and other tools.

The concept is so effective that it's been introduced in Thailand, Taiwan, South Korea and India, she said.

"A mother in Yala who's  in the programme has found that her child - who has a heart disease - enjoys her storytelling so much that it's greatly improved her condition," TK Park president Dr Sirikorn Maneerin noted.

Strong points out, though, that while it's never too late to start reading, storytelling might not be effective with teenagers.

"You can organise classes to train teens to help younger children read," she said. "Set up reading groups that suit their interests. A lot of children like to read but have a hard time finding a book they're interested in."

And she advises parents to let their children pick whatever subject interests them, even if they have some misgivings.

"How can children start reading good-quality books if they never get a chance to pick out books that interest them? You have to start out by letting them choose their own.

"If people are to think and have ideas, they have to have imagination. When you read a lot, your writing improves. You get the pattern of the language from reading."

Lisnaree Vichitsorasatra

The Nation