World Book Day

Stories from our childhood leave an indelible mark on our memory. Whether because of the characters, the illustrations, or a particular turn of phrase, the emotions evoked by the stories we read – or that were read to us – stay with us for life. To markWorld Book Day, we put together a list of families’ and early years educators’ favourite children's books, from popular classics to lesser-known treasures!

When they enter the phonics stage of early reading, some children start to ‘switch off’ because something that was a fun, relaxing experience has become like a chore. Imagine someone taking your favourite television programme and suddenly making the story harder to follow, with you having to work hard to decipher what’s going on. Kind of takes the fun out of it, right? This is why it’s so important to help channel a deep love of reading in children from an early age.

You’ll only persevere at something when you actually want to get to the end results, if that result excites or intrigues you somewhat. The same applies with little ones and reading. They have to view reading and books as exciting, worth the challenge. And this is where early years settings can be crucial – particularly if reading at home isn’t something encouraged, modelled or cared about.

So here are some handy tips to help underfives grow a love of reading that lasts a lifetime!

Create a literacy-rich environment – build cosy reading nooks with beanbags, cushions, blankets and book selections; provide markmaking materials so little ones can create alongside their reading; offer a wide array of choice in reading and replace/repair any overly tatty books.

Make reading interactive – encourage children to repeat words and phrases at different volumes and in different voices as you read together; ask them open-ended questions about the story and plot, about character motives and emotions, and encourage predictions – don’t just stick to recall or interpretation of images; suggest children join in by acting out scenes or creating actions for any repetition or rhyme.

Model enthusiasm for books, words and reading – this one is much more subtle and may require you to ‘act’, particularly if reading for pleasure isn’t really your thing. It includes adults talking about their own favourite books, discussing what they’re reading in a way that children can listen but don’t feel talked ‘at’, and taking opportunities to act both excited about and engrossed in books in front of children.

Connect to children’s interests – this one is pretty simple but is one of the most important: really listen to and absorb all the different interests of the children and recognise that these interests may change rapidly, then find books that speak to these interests. Occasionally, it may mean sacrificing utmost quality for an engaging hook, but if it helps cultivate an attachment between a child and a book, it has a role to play.

Build reading rituals – this means setting aside certain times each day to really focus on books and both shared and individual reading experiences, while building in a comfort aspect – maybe this time is accompanied by a healthy, tasty snack or includes some music to start and finish the reading experience? Repetition builds habit and habit becomes nature.

Involve families as much as possible – invite families in regularly (not just as a one-off) to read with their children, building in some of the elements above, such as cosy reading nooks, snacks, calming music. Perhaps you could have an interactive reading session where families sit with their children and listen to and engage with the book as a collective? This could be illuminating for families who lack confidence about reading for themselves and/or with their children.

The best tip of all? Go beyond simply reading aloud and aim for active, enthusiastic engagement by doing character voices, raising and lowering the volume of your voice depending on what’s happening in the story, and building in dramatic tension through acting and well-timed pauses – and encourage the children to join in!! Perhaps they can even choose the voice of different characters?