As teachers endlessly tell children “don’t move your lips when you read.”  There’s no disputing that it slows young readers down. Reading speed is limited by how fast you are able to speak. “You speak too quickly, slow down” teachers also endlessly tell children.   What does all this advice do to us? Well, presumably Sean Shannon ignored it, to become the holder of the world record for fastest talking. He can manage more than 655 words...

The last person to raise a hand when the English teacher asks for a volunteer to read aloud is always the budding writer. It’s often left to their classmates, the ones who dream of being singers, dancers and actors. Appearing on Desert Island Discs the award-winning author and Children’s Laureate, Malorie Blackman talked about her reluctance to read out her own work at a writing group. Eventually after many weeks, she was told to ‘either poo or...