Michael Morpurgo has read stories to thousands of children over the years, first as a school teacher and then as a bestselling children's writer.
Now the former Children's Laureate has spoken up in defence of story time as a vital part of the school day.
Mr Morpurgo, who lives in the village of Iddesleigh in North Devon, said children needed to be allowed to enjoy storytelling for its own sake, not just as a "tool for literacy".
"There are many, many children who can never experience the magic and love of literature because they're not being taught this is what books are really for, that they are there to be enjoyed," he told the Daily Telegraph.
"This is where we're going wrong now. If we simply use books as a tool for literacy, to teach punctuation and spelling and so on, then very probably these children aren't going to take the joy of literature on board."
Mr Morpurgo, the author of more than 30 much-loved books, including War Horse, Private Peaceful, Why the Whales Came and The Wreck of the Zanzibar, made his comments on a visit to Brackenbury Primary School in West London.
He met pupils in their new reading space, a quiet corner of a new library recently built with the help of fundraising by parents. It was developed to give them somewhere to enjoy listening to stories.
Recalling his days as a teacher back in his 20s, Mr Morpurgo, 70, said story time had always been an important half hour to allow children to wind down at the end of the day.
It gave children the chance to enjoy the special relaxation of having someone else read a story to them, not something that all children had access to at home.
"It is really important for children to have these moments in the school day for contemplation," he said. "There must be no questions afterwards, no comprehension and no testing."
He reiterated a message to Education Secretary Michael Gove, that story time should be reinstated as a compulsory part of the school day.
Too many children were introduced to stories simply to teach spelling and punctuation, which was counterproductive to fostering a love of reading for itself, he suggested.
"You cannot force this medicine down their throats and say 'you have to learn this because you're going to be tested on it'," he said.
No one should assume that all children were read to at home. Story time ensured that all children had the chance to access the magic of stories, he said.
"Literature is their birthright, it is not just for people who can afford stuff, it's not just for clever people, it's for everyone."
And Mr Morpurgo, himself a grandfather, called on grandparents, often the ones with the time in today's busy world, to come into the classroom and get involved in story time.
"The more help we can get with bringing children up, the better," he said.
