More children in North West recognise Beatrix Potter than Zoella

According to a new poll of 1,000 children from all over the UK, Enid Blyton and Beatrix Potter were some of the most widely recognised names when children were asked about significant cultural, artistic and literary figures.

The poll asked children aged from five to 16 about their artistic tastes and which authors, artists, writers and even vloggers they recognised by name. Revealing which of these famous names may be “extinct” within a generation and exposing what modern parents are likely to be reading and showing their children on TV, in books and in galleries,

The names that children were asked to identify that they recognised were:

Enid Blyton

Beatrix Potter

Lewis Carroll

Rudyard Kipling

Zoella (Zoe Sugg, vlogger)

Van Gogh

Quentin Blake

Claude Monet

Steven Spielberg

Dr Seuss

Results in the North West showed that authors Beatrix Potter, Enid Blyton and famous artist Van Gough were ranked first (with 76 per cent), second (74 per cent) and third (62 per cent) respectively when asked which people they had ever heard of; while Roald Dahl’s famous illustrator Quentin Blake was ranked last with 28 per cent.

Surprisingly, as she has just under 10 million subscribers online and a best-selling book herself, YouTube sensation Zoella came in ninth (31 per cent) behind authors Lewis Carrol (58 per cent) and Rudyard Kipling (41 per cent) ranked sixth and seventh respectively.

Three per cent of all the children polled in the North West didn’t recognise any names on the list which may take teachers by surprise as many feature on the national curriculum.

The online poll was commissioned for holidaycottages.co.uk to learn more about children’s cultural tastes ahead of the launch of a new competition they launched to find Britain’s best young authors, artists and video film directors.

The ‘Young Creatives’ competition asks schools, Scouts, Brownies and other youth groups to enter their best work for a chance to win part of a £2,000 prize which includes books, holiday vouchers and photography prizes. The competition is in partnership with Penguin books and is being judged by celebrity children’s authors, Jeremy Strong and Chris Bradford, alongside MD of Photobox, Robert May. There will be two age groups for entries, under 11s and under 16s.

James Morris, managing director of holidaycottages.co.uk said: “It’s very encouraging that many children recognised the authors and artists widely renowned as ‘classic’ names. However, the poll suggests many of the most famous painters may be starting to slip off the radar.

“Our aim with the ‘Young Creatives’ competition is to encourage children to paint, write or produce short films and express their creativity. As providers of holidays, we know that when children’s imaginations are stimulated by a great day at the beach or on a long forest walk, the best creative moments happen. We hope that by giving children an outlet such as the Young Creatives competition to show their best work, it will remind each of us to value the creative and artistic elements in our lives.”