Editing Literacy (section)

====Laos====
[[File:Lao schoolgirls reading books.jpg|thumb|right|Three [[Lao people|Laotian]] girls sit outside their school reading.]]

[[Laos]] has the lowest level of adult literacy in all of [[Southeast Asia]], other than [[East Timor]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Adult literacy rate (both sexes) (% aged 15 and above) |url=http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/indicators/6.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513165357/http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/indicators/6.html |archive-date=13 May 2011 |access-date=2023-09-24 |website=International human development indicators}}</ref>

Obstacles to literacy vary by country and culture, as writing systems, quality of education, availability of written material, competition from other sources (television, video games, cell phones, and family obligations), and culture all influence literacy levels. In Laos, which has a [[Phonetic transcription|phonetic]] alphabet, reading is relatively easy to learn—especially compared to [[English language|English]], where spelling and pronunciation rules are filled with exceptions, and [[Chinese language|Chinese]], with thousands of symbols to be memorized. However, a lack of books and other written materials has hindered functional literacy in Laos.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Daniel G. Dorner |first=G. E. Gorman |title=Contextual factors affecting learning in Laos and the implications for information literacy education |url=https://informationr.net/ir/16-2/paper479.html |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=informationr.net |language=en}}</ref> Many children and adults read so haltingly that the skill is hardly beneficial.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

A literacy project in Laos addresses this by using what it calls "books that make literacy fun!" The project, [[Big Brother Mouse]], publishes colorful, easy-to-read books, then delivers them during book parties at rural schools. Some of the books are modeled on successful western books by authors such as [[Dr. Seuss]]; the most popular, however, are traditional Laotian fairy tales. Two popular collections of folktales were written by Siphone Vouthisakdee, who comes from a village where only five children finished primary school.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Krausz |first=Tibor |date=21 February 2011 |title=Publishing Children's Books and Delivering Them by Elephant |work=Christian Science Monitor |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Making-a-difference/2011/0221/Publishing-children-s-books-and-delivering-them-by-elephant |access-date=25 December 2013}}</ref>

Big Brother Mouse has also created village reading rooms and published books for adult readers about subjects such as Buddhism, health, and baby care.<ref>{{Citation |last=Wells |first=Bonnie |title=Picturing Laos |date=27 August 2010 |publisher=Amherst Bulletin}}</ref>