By Salome Dore | Digital Content Manager
Evans has plans. First, he wants to be chief of his grandad's island - a role he takes seriously, because "one of the roles of a chief is to look after the community." Then, once that's done, he'd like to discover space.
"I like stories about space, because space is my favourite," says the 7-year-old from Sanma Province, in the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu. "One day, when I'm done being chief, I'll choose something else, so I can go and discover space!"
His mum Leah laughs when she talks about him. "He asks questions most of the day until he goes to bed. I just have to tell him, 'Look, leave some for tomorrow, it's bedtime now!'"
Evans is the kind of child who reads under the table at school ("in peace and quiet"), who wonders about black holes and robots on Mars, and who, if he could jump into any story, would choose Lightning McQueen - "so I could race other champs and be the winner of the racing gold cup."
Books, for Evans, are not just entertainment. They are how he makes sense of the world, and reaches beyond it.
Why access to books matters
Research from the University of Cambridge found that children who read for pleasure from an early age show better cognitive performance, stronger mental health, and measurably larger brain areas linked to learning and wellbeing into adolescence - regardless of a child's family background or income. Reading isn't a luxury. It's one of the most equalising things a child can have access to.
But in Vanuatu, books are in short supply. National results show that eight out of ten children cannot read by grade three; and a large proportion of students are failing to achieve expected outcomes in reading comprehension and writing in standardised tests.
These are not just numbers. They represent children whose curiosity - curiosity like Evans' - has nowhere to go.
Stories that look like home
That is what makes the next part of this story so important.
Save the Children's social enterprise Library For All has worked with Ni-Vanuatu writers to create 59 new books - written in both English and French, inspired by stories that children themselves wrote during Save the Children workshops. The books are set in Vanuatu. They reflect its landscapes, its communities, its daily life.
All 56,000 primary schoolchildren across Vanuatu are receiving these books.
Leah noticed the difference immediately. "I think the new books are really good," she says. "It gives them a sense of pride that their culture and their traditions have been written down just like any other place in the world."
That matters. When children see themselves in stories - their islands, their games, their families - reading stops being an abstract school task and becomes something personal. Something worth caring about.
"Seeing Evans reading a lot of books - and his imagination, and the questions that he asks every day - it just goes to show that books are really good for kids," Leah adds. "They expand their horizons, their imaginations, so they explore beyond what they have here in Vanuatu."
A child born during a volcano
Evans was born in 2018, on the day a volcanic eruption forced his family to evacuate their home island of Ambae. He nearly lost his life on his first day in the world. The fact that he was born during the volcan, Leah says, is the first thing he tells everyone he meets - and he tells it with pride.
He has grown up in a country uniquely vulnerable to climate change and natural disasters - the kind of disruption that cuts children off from education just when they need it most. The fact that he reads under a tree with his best friend Dylan, that he has a bookshelf in his kitchen next to his toys, that he can tell you in vivid detail about Dog Man and robot fish and invading aliens - none of that is accidental. It is the result of people deciding that children in Vanuatu deserve stories as much as children anywhere else.
Evans will probably be a chief one day. He may or may not make it to space. But right now, he is a 7-year-old with a library, a best friend, and an imagination that nobody can put a ceiling on.
That is exactly as it should be.
Want to support children's reading?
Whether you are reading with a child at home or thinking about the millions of children globally who lack access to books, small actions add up. Find tips for reading with your child on our website - and discover more about how Save the Children is working to put help children learn and grow.
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By Rebecca Huddleston | Digital Content Manager
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