Harry Potter tops Amazon book character poll

The Gruffalo, Winnie the Pooh, The BFG, Paddington also make top ten listing.

A new poll from Amazon UK has revealed Harry Potter as the nation’s favourite children’s book character – seeing off competition from the likes of Paddington, The BFG and The Gruffalo.

The survey of 2,000 children aged four to 11 and their parents also unearthed some interesting statistics on time spent reading.

Amazon UK found that 56% of parents read to their child every night and children spend an average of 27 minutes a day reading on their own.

Over one in three children (42%) said they preferred reading on their own to reading with parents.

Interestingly, one in three children said they prefer to imagine their favourite character rather than see them in film or TV.

Over a quarter of parents (27%) said that their children spend more time reading than they do watching TV.

While Harry Potter topped the listing of favourite book characters, The Gruffalo, Matilda, The BFG and Winnie the Pooh completed the top five.

Tracey Beaker, Paddington Bear, Charlie Bucket (from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), Peter Rabbit and Alice in Wonderland rounded out the top ten.

Amy Worth, UK Kindle content director at Amazon, said: “There really is nothing like getting lost in a good book, and it’s particularly important for children to experience this from a young age.

“It’s fantastic to learn that children prefer the characters they imagine whilst reading rather than the ones they see in films, and our research shows that parents understand the importance of instilling a love of reading in their children from an early age.”

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