World Book Day. Some Family Favourites

Today, March 6^th 2014, is World Book Day and according to their site, it is a day of celebration; to celebrate authors and illustrators alike and of course, to celebrate reading. 

We all know that reading aloud to your child is very important.   But what if I told you a bedtime story relaxes children and helps them start unwinding from a busy day thus making the entire bedtime routine and experience much more pleasant?  It does.  A mere ten minutes and the rhythmic, hypnotic sound of your voice reading to them, chills them right out.  Other benefits would include:

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•   Reading to children allows them to use their imagination and gives them background knowledge about everything they hear and see.
• ·  It helps   children with their vocabulary by introducing them to new words.
• ·  As they get older, it helps them become motivated to read on their own.

I am delighted to report I have a voracious reader in the house.  It didn’t happen overnight.  One school report contained the words, “could benefit from extra reading experience over the summer.”

It was a bit of a struggle as the sun was shining and he wanted to be out in it and not at the kitchen table reading about Pat and Jane taking their dog to the beach.

Then a holiday happened and we never returned to home schooling.  A few short months later, Diary of a Wimpy Kid was discovered and it just clicked.  He is rarely without a book in his hand now.

I try to read to my boys every day.  Recently Mister Husband has taken over the bedtime story. It seems their love of books is growing.

In honour of World Book Day I would like to share with you some of our favourites.

The Apple Tree Farm series of books from Usborne have made their way down the ranks, starting with our oldest who is now 8 and resting firmly in the hands of the 3 year old.  They tell the daily adventures of Poppy and Sam and their dog Rusty who of course all live on Apple Tree Farm.  A really delightful collection of books.

Marvin Gets Mad tells of a hot headed sheep who loses the cool with his more relaxed VBFF (Very Best Friend Forever) Molly when he discovers she scoffed his apple as he was sleeping.  A major tantrum follows and we see how Molly and indeed Marvin, the sore loser, deals with it.  Recently I found two more in this series and snapped them up online.  Marvin and Molly describes a jealous moment which results in a visit to a rock concert followed by a perhaps, rash, marriage proposal.  Marvin Wanted More deals with wanting to be as good as, if not better than, everyone else.  Most smile inducing indeed.   

author: Joseph Theobald

I purchased Big Brother Little Brother purely because of the illustrations.  They are amazing and so very realistic, especially Big Brothers cross and sad facial expressions when Little Brother takes his truck.  I may or may not have also been influenced by the parents in the book looking on knowingly as the toy is returned, but the story line is lovely too.  And a very topical one in our house.  It never grows old.

author:  Penny Dale

Finally a book that draws my younger two boys like flies again and again is The Lonely Beast by Chris Judge.  A fantastic book with lovely illustrations that enables Smallest Boy to recite it word for word from memory.   A tale about finding the grass isn’t always greener on the other side and what you were looking for was right under your nose all along.

The smaller boys might be deeply into the above books but my older two are currently all over the Minecraft phenomenon and Lego encyclopaedias.

My beloved Enid Blyton books were unearthed during a blitz the other day.  They were rescued from the depths of a dark cupboard only to gather dust on my landing.  My boys are not a bit interested in what used to be my favourites.  What am I rearing at all?

What are you reading on this World Book Day?