The book shapes personality

In Kazakhstan, the culture of reading acquires special social significance: on May 16, 2026, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a decree "On measures to develop the culture of reading and the formation of a reading nation." In the document, the development of a culture of reading, including among children and young people, is designated as a priority of state policy. But the path to that goal begins long before school—with the first book, family reading, and the story the child asks to tell again.

From September 2026 to March 2027, the Republican Marathon “Reading Nation” is held. Participants are invited to read 15 books. According to the international PISA-2025 study published in September 2026, only 36 percent of Kazakhstani 15-year-olds achieved basic second-level reading literacy or higher. The OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) average is 69 percent.

According to the Ministry of Culture and Information of Kazakhstan, there are more than 300 children's and youth libraries with a fund of more than seven million books in the country.

It turns out an interesting thing: there are books and infrastructure, the state request for reading is formulated, but how to make a child really like to read?

On this topic we talked with Valery Yuzhakov, the leading editor of the publishing house COCOBOOK. It’s only one year old, but it has its own store. Books are prepared here, and many are written by domestic authors, games that develop activations in Kazakh and Russian for the age category of children under 12 years old. This year, the publishing house received two awards of the national competition “Ulttyk Kitap”, and this is also an occasion to introduce our readers to it.

- What is more important when selecting a manuscript - the plot, language, illustrations, age characteristics or relevance of the topic?

- When working on books, we primarily start from the benefits that we can bring to children and parents. Of course, for each age there are peculiarities of choosing a topic, working with text, style of illustrations and design of books. A good book is a good combination of all the elements listed.

- How much has the taste of children changed in the last five years?

- It is said that children do not read what their parents read as children. In many ways, this is true, because choices are influenced by the world we live in, and the world is changing very quickly. However, the love of reading is laid from an early age, and, perhaps, it is from the fact that parents read to children and together with them that artistic taste and love for literature in general are formed.

- At what age is it better to introduce a child to books?

- This can be done from the first months of life. Gradually, the child gets used to interact with the book, learns to perceive visual images, listens to the voice of parents, observes their actions and imitates them. All this creates the basis for the development of speech, attention and cognitive skills.

Modern interactive formats help to interest the youngest readers. Today, there are many toy books that turn acquaintance with literature into an exciting game. For example, tactile books, food books, puzzle books, sound books and books with progress.

- What to do if your child refuses to read and prefers gadgets?

- Don't force me to read. Set an example as a reading parent. Read together, aloud, in roles. Offer books on topics that are interesting to the child, offer to choose a book yourself and start with small texts. Try new, interesting genres for the child. For example, many people love detectives and fantasy.

- Does the digital environment really stop children from reading, or does it only change the format of reading?

- I'll split the answer into two points. The first is that the digital environment itself does not stop people from reading – a modern person reads a lot, except in electronic format and texts of smaller size. And secondly, to teach a child to read, it takes the time of parents, and these days it is sorely lacking. Sometimes it is easier to put a child behind the screen than to engage him with a high-quality book or other activity. It is all the more important from an early age to give the child a wide range of activities so that he learns and knows how to spend time in a variety of ways, not only behind the screen, and finds interest in reading.

- What role do illustrations, interactivity and visual language play?

- Very large, and not only for children, but also for adults. Many of us, when choosing a book, pay attention to the format of the publication and its visual design - after all, you spend quite a lot of time with the book. The quality of the experience you will have and the emotional component of this interaction depend on what you hold in your hands. High-quality printing, atmospheric illustrations, strong binding, page density and the smell of the book are what readers appreciate the book.

- Which illustrators and authors do you work with?

- Our authors – Lena Bayanova, Kuralai Omar and Kristina Shvaneva – create kind and instructive poems and stories for children. To illustrate our books, we fruitfully cooperate with wonderful illustrators from different countries, trying to find people in the team of each project whose style and syllable will find the maximum response from our reader.

- How can a publisher keep the attention of a child accustomed to fast content?

- Learn to find new solutions, new forms. Experiment and propose new things. Try to find the right proportions of benefits and entertainment. Make books for readers, not for yourself.

- What do you think of the Reading Nation initiative as a children’s publisher?

- It is wonderful that reading is given attention. The very fact that this initiative has emerged and been discussed encourages people to read — and that's great.

- What should happen to make government initiatives a habit of millions of families?

- Time will tell. It depends on a lot of factors. Once upon a time, reading was a privilege due to the inaccessibility of books, but now it is a privilege due to lack of time. I think if there are more opportunities, socially and economically, to devote time to reading, it will lead to its popularization.

- What are the opportunities and difficulties of the children’s book market in Kazakhstan?

- The main opportunity is provided by wonderful parents who care about the development of their children and choose useful forms of education for them, including reading. The market is growing and developing, there are new publishing houses, new book events and events, finally, new stories - and this is a good vector.

This year, our publishing house received two awards of the national competition "Ulttyk Kitap" - we appreciate the trust shown, are proud of the results of our work and are happy to continue to develop the culture of reading in Kazakhstan.

- What three books would you recommend to a child who is just starting to read?

- For children starting to read, of course, small forms are suitable - stories for one or more pages, collections of poems with interesting plots. Children often like to read about their favorite characters – try a series of books about characters with which the child can associate himself.

- What simple reading ritual would you recommend to families with very little free time?

- It’s great to get together and share your impressions of what you read this week at dinner on one of the weekends, share emotions and experiences, ideas and thoughts with each other. It’s even better to spend at least half an hour reading together – this is a very valuable time.

- Please name three specific books by COCOBOOK for different ages, explaining why they can be fun.

- This is a giant tactile book "Animals" - "Januarlar", published in Kazakh and Russian. You have never seen such a book format before! Floor book for children will cause admiration for both children and adults. Tactile-sound "Farm" rings in bookstores for the second year and has become a real hit among our readers. In it and poems, and imitations, and real voices of animals that sound when you stroke their hair, and interesting informative notes – this book is interesting and useful for different ages in its own way! And this is a series of books about Pooh chicken with large illustrations, different formats and an amazingly cute little hero. With books about Pooh children grow and develop with great pleasure!

Note that the brand itself is already ten years old. Its founder is Elena Omarbekova, the mother of two boys. Publishing house appeared recently, but in a year it has already created a lot, and plans — new books and the opening of bookstores for children and the whole family across the country. You can also buy books on Kaspi and Wildberries. But in the store they are more pleasant to choose - visually and tactilely.