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Comics as a gateway to reading -study

In a study conducted in primary schools in Helsinki in 2026, Finnish and Swedish-language third graders will receive a copy of Aku Ankka/Kalle Anka comic book at home free of charge for three months. The study aims to investigate the impact of regular home delivery of reading material on the reading interest. Participation in the study is voluntary.

Photo: Samuli Pulkkinen / Sanoma

Finnish and Swedish-language third grades in the City of Helsinki will participate in the study. The classes have been randomly drawn into two groups: experimental and control classes.

Students in the experimental classes will receive an Aku Ankka comic book at home weekly from February to April, and students in the control classes will receive their comic books weekly from June to August. Students at Swedish-language schools will receive Kalle Anka comic books. Sanoma Media Finland and Egmont Story House AB deliver the magazines.

Students can also participate in the study if they already receive Aku Ankka/Kalle Anka at home. In this case, the student will receive the monthly Aku Ankka Klassikko/Kalle Anka Klassiker comic books for three months.

The subscription period is free for families and ends after the three-month period. The contact information obtained in the study will not be used for marketing.

The research process

The research is part of the City of Helsinki's main aim at supporting the literacy of children and young people. In the study, students will participate in a literacy assessment in January and May. Also guardians will complete a short survey in January and May.

All third grade students complete the literacy assessment tasks as part of the school's regular activities, but only the results of those students who participate in the study will be used for research purposes. Teachers will not be informed, which students will participate in the study.

The study collects information from students, guardians and teachers, and combines these with register data at Statistics Finland. In the data used in the analyses, direct personal data has been removed or changed to numerical identifiers from which individual persons cannot be identified. The data collected, their processing and storage are described in detail in the privacy policy (link below). The results of the study are always reported in such a way that individuals, classes or schools cannot be identified.

Read more about the study:

More information about the study: sarjakuvatutkimus@jyu.fi