Reading with Children

The bedtime story is one of the integral parts of the parenting experience. Signalling the end of the day for your child and perhaps the end of being in parent mode for the day for the grown-ups, it’s a chance for you both to wind down and snuggle up at the end of the day.

Of course it’s not always the perfect scenario we hope for. There can be tantrums from too tired children, arguments between siblings over what to read, and for exhausted parents having to read The Gruffalo, fantastic book though it is, for the 57th time can be trying. But when it goes right it’s a wonderful end to the day, especially if your children do then settle down and allow you to attempt to tidy the house or just chill out perhaps with your own book.

As well as being a cue that it’s time for settling down, reading books to small children is one of the most important activities parents can engage in to support their child’s development.

Reading books to young children is a great way to help them develop language skills. As you read to your child, they’ll be exposed to new vocabulary, sentence structures and grammar rules. This exposure to language helps children develop their own language skills, including vocabulary and grammar, as well as their ability to understand and communicate with others. Reading to and with children can also help support cognitive development. Children who are read to regularly have better memory and attention skills, as well as improved critical thinking and problem-solving abilities. Reading books can also help children develop their imagination and creativity, which are important skills for success in school and beyond.

As children grow and move through the early years of primary education, daily story sessions help support the learning they are doing at school and will assist in the ongoing development of literacy skills, such as phonics and reading comprehension. As children are exposed to different words and sentence structures, they’ll start to develop a better understanding of how language works, which can help them become stronger readers as they get older.

Taking time to sit with your child and look at books together can also have a positive impact on their emotional development. Through books, children can learn about different emotions, such as happiness, sadness, anger, and develop empathy and understanding for others. This can help them develop their emotional intelligence and build stronger relationships with others.

Snuggling up with your kids to read together is a great way to spend quality time and bond with your child. As you look at books together, you can talk about the story, ask questions, and share your thoughts and feelings. This can help strengthen your relationship and build a sense of closeness and connection between you and your son or daughter.

I used to love story time when my children were little, we’d all cuddle up on ‘the big bed’, often with the dog joining us too and the boys would pick a story each and even though there was 3 years between them they were generally happy to listen to the other one’s choice, though of course there were times when the older one found the younger one’s picture book too boring and would fidget, or the younger one didn’t liked the older one’s story so would fling himself round the room instead but when it went well it was lovely.

Julia Donaldson’s stories were always popular in with my kids and for that reason I stock most of her books in Giddy Goat Toys. I also work with a couple of publishers and buy a selection of new books every few months so that we always have new titles as well as old favourites. I believe that children are never too young to be given books, so we have cloth books to get babies used to the concept of books with ‘pages’ with different images on and then we have a selection of touchy feely board books for older babies to look at and play with but without the worry of them ripping pages. We have lots and lots of picture books then a selection of books for early readers and finally story books for older children to either read independently or to have been read to them. Most books are still around the £8 and under mark which makes them perfect for gifts or treats too.

Here at Giddy Goat Toys we also try to support local authors where we can. In stock at the moment we have a range of lovely bird themed books by Joanne Appleby as well as The Chocolate Wolf by Lizzie Finlay and Rosie and The Unicorn by Sally Penni and her young daughter Maddie.

Competition Time!

We have put together a selection of ten lovely picture books, including those by the local authors mentioned above and we are offering one lucky Mums&Dads’s reader the chance to win this fantastic book bundle which will offer many hours of story-time fun.

To be in with a chance of winning this fabulous book bundle, all you have to do is enter the competition through the widget below (using as many options as you like).

Books in the bundle:

• Rosie and the Uncorn – Sally Penni and Maddie
• Myra Plays Holi – Sheena Garg
• The Grinny Granny Donkey – Craig Smith
• Rhinos Don’t eat Pancakes – Anna Kemp & Sara Ogilvie
• The Blackbird who lost his voice – Joanne Appleby
• The Swans of Border House Pond- Joanne Appleby
• Bobby, the Allotment Robin – Joanne Appleby
• Our Kid – Tony Ross
• The Chocolate Wolf – Lizzie Finlay
• 20 Bunnies at Bedtime – Mark Sperring & Tim Budgen

Closing date: 28^th June 2023

 

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