I agree with Geoff Barton that our children should read more books. But this is not just to instil a love of reading or to improve literacy and GCSE results. Books matter because they impart knowledge and ideas and an insight into the human condition.

Whether it’s the delicious prose of Tolstoy’s War and Peace, the intellectual gravitas of Plato’s Republic or the sheer audacity of Darwin’s Origin of Species, books have greatly enriched our lives and quite literally changed the world. In spite of the internet, the printed word still speaks to us with enormous power.

Stan Labovitch, Secondary teacher, Windsor.