The success over the last year of the Harry Potter books has already breathed new life into reading as a hobby among children around the world. Now the prestigious international body, the OECD, has put reading and books back at the heart of education.
Its survey of more than a quarter of a million 15-year-olds throughout the industrialised world will give a fresh impetus to those who believe the basic building blocks of school life - reading regularly and doing homework - are what matters in education.
Its new report, Knowledge and Skills for Life, highlights a tremendous performance by Irish pupils, but more generally it says traditional approaches (or the three Rs as they were once known), long gone out of fashion among some educationalists, are the ones which should be encouraged.
Having books at home, reading them regularly and discussing them with your children seems to be vital to a successful education. Hardly rocket science, but this simple recipe has tended to be sidelined in education debates over recent years.
The OECD report even suggests that in certain contexts, access to books, films and other cultural items is more important than the socio-economic background of pupils. Television and computers we know from other surveys occupy children of all ages, especially boys, but this survey illustrates that reading could be the key to success.
Girls are more likely to be voracious readers and it is no coincidence they do better overall as a result. For those who think that reading makes you good at English only, the report says it also improves performance in science and maths too, albeit to a lesser extent. The report emphasises however that filling your shelves with books alone is not going to result in miraculous report cards. It says social communication is also important for children. Eating your evening meals with them and talking to them generally during the day are strongly emphasised.
Whatever the key to success is, Ireland seems to be doing something right. While the performance of students in maths was mediocre, the results for science and reading were remarkable.
Who would have thought that Ireland, for so long bedevilled by crowded classrooms and shocking levels of illiteracy, could move into the top five in the OECD for reading ability? While there continues to be problems among the 3 per cent who have dire reading problems, this country is also producing almost 15 per cent of students in the top level for reading.
The OECD says these are people "nobody needs to worry about", but the others are a continuing cause for concern.
Despite the perception that the Irish system is rife with inequality, the OECD report says the difference in performance among schools is not large compared to other countries. Ironically, it adds, the differences within schools are bigger, says the report.
Teachers will rightly take pride in the achievements of their students. Their contribution is favourably noted in the report, particularly their ability to drive their students during periods when their work rate falls away.
The ASTI last night welcomed the findings. Its deputy general secretary, Mr John Whyte, said teachers had come in for strong criticism over the last year, but now was the time for these critics "to reflect very carefully on the results of this survey".