This BERA Blog special issue discusses diverse practices, perspectives and experiences that influence reading engagement among children, young people and adults. It draws upon a number of current research projects from the University of Edinburgh’s Literacy Lab. Within this lab, researchers collaborate with children, young people, teachers and other professionals to seek to better understand and support literacy experiences and outcomes.

The blog posts share recent research from the Literacy Lab’s community of early career researchers, both PhD and postdoctoral, who together are making a significant contribution to our understanding of the reading experiences and outcomes of children, young people and adults.

The series features contributions about:

• varied classroom practices and programmes and how they might support children’s engagement with reading
• approaches that use technology to support reading engagement, including Augmented Reality books and e-reading
• how reading engagement in children, young people and adults depends on individual perspectives, such as who they are, the books they read, their connection with the book and their perceptions of reading.