But those 80 per cent of kids are right. Most books are boring. The last time I browsed a bookshop I only found two books I wanted to read - and I have a book-a-day habit.

I don't want to read about the private lives of cricketers.

I don't want to read books about politicians unless they have been deceased for at least 20 years.

Zombies, paranormal romances, books where the hero saves the world by wiping out 20,000 bystanders, and any science fiction where either the science or the fiction isn't excellent are not my thing. Nor is fantasy unless it's written by six of my favourite authors who just happen to write fantasy.

If it's difficult for me to find a book I want to read, it is 10,000 times harder for kids - especially ones who haven't yet learnt that the hunt is worthwhile.

The whole "I hate books" thing is made worse by the undoubted fact that books are good for us. Books literally make kids more intelligent, creating new neurons and connections between neurons. Books teach empathy. You become the protagonist in each book you read. Reading fiction strengthens imagination. Historical adventures are a safe way of learning that yes, humanity has faced challenges in the past, and this is how we have survived.

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Books also relax us, in a way screen-time can't. Screens can turn your brain to that of a zombie if you are gulping down movies or TV shows, or make you anxious if you are overdosing on social media. Neither settles both brain and blood pressure like a good book.

Books are excellent for everyone - but I don't know any adult who reads books because they're good for us. Enthusiastic readers read because it's fun, absorbing, relaxing, fascinating, and we can't shut the covers, even if it is 2am, until we get to the last page.

So how do you persuade kids to read?

Step 1: I offer kids $5, or a packet of excellent chocolate frogs, if their teacher, a librarian or, as a last resort, an email to me can't find them a book they love so much they want to read another. In five years, I have not had to pay out once - and I am eternally grateful for librarian friends who can name 50 books about soccer, goldfish, dragons or maths. Sadly, it has now become difficult to find an accessible specimen of that endangered species, the children's librarian or teacher librarian who will know just which book to give which kid. So:

Step 2: Let them browse and choose a book online. Any book. No cheating. No saying "oh, you wouldn't like that". A few years ago my grandson only wanted me to read him Snakes and Lizards of Australia. Two weeks of snakes and lizards ... but that was what he wanted, then.

Step 3: They only have to taste it. Books aren't like broccoli - you don't have to eat everything on your plate. If the book is boring, or just not what they feel like reading then, stop after two pages. If the book is great but they've had enough of it halfway through, don't make your kid finish reading it. In a whispered confession: I only read half of the last Tim Winton. Like the best pizza in the universe, while it was delicious, after half of it I'd had enough. So I read the last chapter to see how it ended. Actually, I do that a lot. There are many books - and pizzas - where I only want a few slices. I also often begin reading non-fiction at the most interesting-looking bit, then read the rest - or not. It's what most avid readers do - we pick out the plums and leave the dry cake behind.

Step 4 - the most important one: Most kids can't read the kind of books they'd love yet. We read to our babies, but once our children can read a chapter book we expect them to read on their own.

But these simple books aren't satisfying. No one ever says to a kid: "you can't watch that movie because you won't understand it". We forbid them because they will understand it - and it's too confronting. It is so easy to underestimate the types of books kids will love.

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If you tell a kid "you must read a book", they'll probably go for a short, simple, funny one. But it's complex books like The Lord of the Rings or John Marsden's Tomorrow When the War Began that get kids hooked.

So read to your kids. Read a long, complex, fascinating book and stop at an exciting bit, so they will read just a bit to see what happens next and get the confidence to read longer books. Read their choice of book to them while they clean their room. If you cook their favourite meal, they have to read you your choice of book while you are cooking.

Step 5: Ask kids what kind of book they'd like, then help them find it - and don't be surprised if it's from the adult shelf once they hit 10 or so. If they want to read about soccer, dinosaurs, horses or history, help them find that kind of book online. Yes, paper books are best - they smell good - but in times like this the best book to escape into is the one that can be found most easily. Head to eBooks, or online book stores that deliver, and simply browse. A book a day sounds extravagant, but an eBook a day can cost no more than two cups of coffee.

And in return? Your kid will grow more intelligent, empathetic, possibly tidy their room more often, do better at school, and be less likely to end up in prison (the illiteracy rate in prisons is high). But more importantly just now, they will emerge from their book more relaxed, and more confident. Books contain the distilled wisdom of humanity - our knowledge, our laughter, our shared experiences.

I only write the words in my books. The reader creates the world in their own mind's eye. Set your kids in search of their own favourite worlds, and see them emerge, each time, just slightly changed.