People in the UK were stockpiling novels and home learning books last week as they prepared for a spell in isolation, sales figures suggest.

Sales of fiction rose by a third, while children’s education went up 234 per cent to the third highest level on record.

Puzzle books, handicrafts and true crime also saw sharp rises.

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“The sales data suggests that the UK population has indeed been preparing for long periods of isolation,” said Nielsen Book, which keeps track.

“We’ve seen significant jumps in sales of puzzle books, adult colouring titles, home-learning titles for children, study guides, and we have seen been a big increase in sales of paperback novels.”

The rise for paperbacks may have been down to an increased footfall in supermarkets, Nielsen said.

But physical book sales may now plummet after the public were told only to shop for essentials when necessary. Book chains like Waterstones have shut their doors.

Readers are turning online, with Waterstones seeing its digital sales rise by 400% week on week.

It reported a “significant uplift” for classic titles like Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera, Toni Morrison’s Beloved, F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, and Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar.

Hilary Mantel’s The Mirror and the Light was the UK’s number one book overall for the third week in a row.

“Our bestseller is Hilary Mantel – those 900 pages aren’t going to seem daunting any more and it’s doing really well,” said Waterstones fiction buyer Bea Carvalho.

Meanwhile, many authors are finding ways to reach readers – and audiobook listeners – as people look for ways to fill their time.

David Walliams – whose new book Slime is published on April 2 – is releasing a free audio story from his World’s Worst Children series every day for a month.

“Those stuck at home with their kids may be able to relate to The World’s Worst Children,” he joked on Twitter.

Cressida Cowell is reading a chapter of How To Train Your Dragon to children on the BookTrust’s Home Time virtual hub.

JK Rowling has relaxed copyright restrictions to allow teachers to post videos of themselves reading her Harry Potter novels to children who are stuck at home.

Illustrator Oliver Jeffers is doing a daily #StayAtHomeStoryTime on Instagram.

More than 110 free Sesame Street ebooks are available – along with virtual Elmo hugs and other resources from the children’s show.

Meanwhile, people staying at home due to the coronavirus pandemic appear to be listening to more radio rather than music apps, figures suggest.

Global, which owns Capital FM and talk station LBC, said online radio listening had risen by 15%.

The BBC said streaming of its radio stations had risen 18% since last week.

And data from two US analytics companies suggested use of music-streaming apps such as Spotify had dipped by about 8%.

“These figures indicate that the public are turning to radio in times of crisis,” a Global spokeswoman said.

BBC Radio and Education director James Purnell said: “People turn to us during significant events for our news and analysis but also for music, entertainment and companionship.

“Last week, we saw record live listening on BBC Sounds.”

The numbers shared by the BBC and Global are from their own online streaming platforms.

Radio Joint Audience Research (Rajar), the official organisation that measures radio listening figures in the UK, has not released its latest numbers yet.

According to trusted music industry monitor BuzzAngle, US music streaming between March 13 and March 19 fell by 8.8% compared with the previous week.

Rolling Stone magazine, which uses a different data provider, Alpha Data, said streams were down 7.8%.

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“There are likely to be multiple causes,” said BBC News music reporter Mark Savage.

“Fewer people are commuting to work or going to the gym and shops that use Spotify for their in-store music are closing their doors.

“People who stream music in the office also seem to be turning off and watching Netflix instead and there’s a big rise in radio listening – suggesting we’re seeking companionship alongside our music.”