Want to make kids write? Try a capybara.

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U School book fair it’s a big deal at my oldest son’s school.

A couple of times a year, the auditorium transforms into a kid-friendly bookstore, and elementary schoolers come out of their regular classrooms to buy their favorite titles—as many millennial and Gen Z readers remember. from our youth.

This time, my son was excited to come home Buffalo Fluffalo, a best-selling picture book about a self-importing buffalo that cuts itself to size. But the real must-have item on my 7-year-old son’s list wasn’t a book, but this diary of furry capybara.

The fur journal (I tried to make a portmanteau here and failed) is a sensation across the country, still one of the most popular items at book fairs, according to Laura Lundgren, director of marketing for the children’s book group at Scholastic. “Kids are obsessed with these diaries,” he told me.

Selling more than 4 million copies a year, newspapers feel like a sign of the times – for better and for worse. On the one hand, elementary school reading scores continue to languishand children are less and less likely take a book please. In a time of widespread concern about the decline of reading, the idea of ​​children choosing a capybara for a storybook feels a little depressing.

On the other hand, in the face an increased AI dominance throughout our lives, the popularity of a physical analogue journal can say something hopeful about children’s persistent desire for self-expression. And it’s a reminder that even as adults try to impose our priorities and anxieties on children, they have their own lives and preferences that have nothing to do with us.

With more than 100,000 events each year across the country, School Book Fairs are school fundraisers that also aim to encourage student literacy. “It encourages kids to read, even if they don’t think of themselves as readers yet,” Lundgren said.

Although the fairs focus on books, they have long had a variety of other reading or writing items such as pens, pencil toppers, or posters – including “hang in there” kitten poster. which have become a symbol of a certain kind of millennial kitsch.

Newspapers have been part of the mix for decades, but the fuzzy capybara, in particular, feels very much of the moment. As cute animals go, capybaras have grew in popularity in recent years, animated by adorable videos of his antics. Last week, a capybara went viral after escaping from an English zoo and then he basks in the sun beatifically in the countryside.

It’s not hard to see why children like newspapers that effectively imitate stuffed animals – other variants include a fuzzy one. unicorn, butterflyand Stitch. Lundgren points to the “tactile nature” of the journals: “It feels special to them. It feels very personalized. It’s not like other school supplies they might have in their lives.”

The capybara version also has a small pocket containing a small capybara with a carrot on its head, perfect for being stolen by a younger sibling and triggering a giant fight. Win-win!

In all seriousness, though, one purpose of the non-book items at the Book Fair is to bring in reluctant readers who might not even get excited about books. “We don’t want it to show up and feel like homework,” Lundgren said. “We want to show it with all the joy and all the fuzzy capybaras, and we really want to invite the children to the experience.”

The advantages of writing in a journal

Now, children’s enthusiasm for reading feels as hard as ever. In 2023, the share of 13-year-olds who read for pleasure almost every day fell to 14 percent, the lowest ever recorded, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Elementary school children’s scores on reading tests across the country have been on a downward trend the last 10 yearswith little sign of reversal. Many fear that AI is already there undermine students’ ability to reador even think clearly.

At the same time, handwriting is somewhat resurgent. Cursiveomitted from the Common Core standards in 2010, it is now required in a increasing number of statesand a cursive club at Holmes Middle School in Virginia was recently established national attention and waves of fan mail.

Some students “love the slowness and pace of writing on their own,” Sherisse Kenerson, multilingual learning specialist and club founder, told me.

Handwriting is associated with a host of benefits, including better learning and retention. Writing and reading are also closely related. When students aren’t sure how to spell a word, it can help to spell it a few different ways, Kenerson said. “You can pick up the right way by seeing it.”

Kids probably aren’t thinking about literacy skills when they pick up a fuzzy capybara at the book fair. But they might be thinking about the next thing they want to write or draw, which feels like a sign of hope in a time of concern about AI killing children’s creativity.

The potential to create is part of the appeal of newspapers for children, Lundgren said. “If they see a graphic novel, or if they see a visual illustration that they love, we want to encourage them to express themselves as well,” Lundgren said.

What makes a special newspaper for children

Beyond the cute furry exterior and lined pages, there is another feature that attracts children to newspapers. Anthony Angelillo, 19, remembers his days at the School Book Fair affectionately Newspapers were a hot item even then, he told me, and “what made those very compelling was that they always had these little locks on them with these very specific keys.”

The lock made the diary secret, Angelillo said: “You lock your thoughts, and then no one sees them except you.”

Scholastic markets fuzzy journals (many of which also have a lock) as tools for “creators,” not writers or artists, very intentionally using the language of YouTube and TikTok influencers. But for many kids, writing in a journal isn’t about creating something for public consumption—it’s about keeping a record of their thoughts that are only for them to see.

In a time of social media overexposure and adult surveillance of children’s lives, experts and young people told me that children crave spaces that are just for them. Maybe for some children, a newspaper can be that space. One that is found in a capybara.

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My eldest son is reading Series Unico Awakeningabout a unicorn with amnesia who navigates new and mysterious realms. I know less about these books because my son is reading independently now, but I can confirm the fact that the art is beautiful, and the second book includes some cool jellyfish creatures.