Boys not tooned in to books.

JUST one in 20 boys read for more than an hour a day outside school - compared with almost a fifth of girls, according to a survey.

And an alarming 13 per cent of boys fail to pick up a book at all during their leisure time, reveals research commissioned by The Beano and The Dandy comics.

The poll of 253 children aged seven to 11 showed that 17 per cent of girls read for more than one hour each day outside school, while only five per cent of boys do the same.

The poll, which also quizzed 934 adults, found that 38 per cent of parents with primary school children were worried that they were not spending enough time reading outside of the classroom.

And while 17 per cent of boys do not read at all outside school time, 36 per cent of girls read four or more booksBut 60 per cent of boys read comics outside of school and 86 per cent did not need any help.

When asked what they had read in the last year, just over a fifth of the children had read The Beano and 12 per cent had read The Dandy, which features such favourites as Desperate Dan.

The boys in the survey also enjoyed reading Harry Potter and Captain Underpants whereas girls had read Jacqueline Wilson's Tracy Beaker stories.

Dr Pat Spungen, who writes about childhood, said comics can encourage children - particularly boys - to read.

Dr Spungen said: 'Reading must become part of daily life and comics are a great starting point 

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