Posts

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Why I still read aloud to my children

Its been 1.5 years since I wrote my last blog about reading aloud to children, even older children. My kids are now 11,9 & 7 and I thought I’d give an update on what we’re doing now. Well, I’m still reading to my three most nights…
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Move over Valentines, International Book Giving Day, here we come!

We all know that February 14th is Valentine's Day, but probably far less of us are aware that it's also International Book Giving Day. Never heard of it? Well, despite being in its sixth year, I put my hands up and say that neither had I until…
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Why reading aloud to older kids is not just special, it's vital

When is a good age to stop reading stories aloud to children? Well, how about never? Alright, so what are the chances really of being tucked up beside our seventeen year old reading a bedtime story. But many believe that once children have…
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Notes from the Calais 'Jungle' - How can WE help?

The 'Jungle' migrant camp in Calais was recorded as being home to well over 10,000 people, a vast patchwork of people from the world over seeking a better life. As we are faced with an escalating number of disturbing images coming out of Syria…
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How can we help introduce Shakespeare to our children?

We'd all love our children to ingest a little bit of the Bard in one way or another, right? As the world celebrates 400 years since the death of William Shakespeare, the best-known playwright to ever walk the earth, Bard fever has been spreading…
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Uncovering Enid Blyton

Lauded and loathed in equal measure, since the 1950's Enid Blyton's books have been banned from many schools, libraries and homes for being anachronistic, sexist, xenophobic, elitist and racist, not to mention accusations of relentlessly…
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Childhood Books Beloved of Authors

'You are what you eat,' it has commonly been said. But, I'd argue, you are also what you read. During our childhoods when we are discovering new worlds for the first time, we read with our entire bodies, minds and senses. We literally become…
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Three Fantastic Magazines for Children

Have you ever thought you'd like to subscribe to a magazine for your children, but something with a little more depth and less gender stereotyping than the average glossy mag that can be slipped into the shopping trolley at the supermarket? Living…
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How can we as parents turn around reluctant readers?

Do you have a child you really have to coerce into reading? Does it sometimes feels as though everybody else's kids are racing through books whilst your child will do anything they can think of to avoid it? We, as parents, would all love our…
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A mini-bookworm's TOP TEN reads from 2015

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about my top ten reads of 2015 and now I'd like to share with you my nine year old's top ten reads of this year as it draws to a close. I often bring my children into my blogs in one way or another and this time…