The Magic Faraway Tree was an enchanting story that inspired me to use my imagination and visualise all the magical worlds and characters that were being described. It was a book that took me on an adventure and made me curious about the mystery that existed. It also helped me to develop my love of books and stories and as a result I joined a creative writing group that my headteacher ran. I would have notebooks everywhere containing short stories that I had written, which I believe helped me to improve my vocabulary skills.
Now that I am a parent, I get the chance to enjoy reading with my children, which is something that I have ensured we have done together since they were babies. I began with touchy-feely books such as the 'That's Not My' range from Usborne, as well as books about animals and vehicles. It is my opinion that these kind of books helped my children to learn to identify things and although they could not read or speak at the time, it allowed them to visualise, imagine and also listen.
As my children got older we switched to some books that featured elements of comedy and that brought a smile to your face. We felt that these were the kind of books that could be enjoyed at any time and it was great being able to read together and enjoy a giggle, whilst we read stories like Aliens Love Underpants and The Dinosaur that Pooped a Planet!
Now that my children are aged 6, 11 and 12, they have all enjoyed various different genres of books and now find books that appeal to them as individuals. My daughter loves the Harry Potter series, whilst my son enjoys absolutely anything that has been written by David Walliams. My youngest son Riley enjoys books that make him laugh and he is always excited when he gets to bring home a new reading book or library book from school.
He has previously struggled for some time with his pronunciation of certain letters, but I have recently seen a huge improvement in his speech and understanding of words. By regularly reading out loud together we have been able to work on his sounding out and story books have provided some great assistance with this.
In addition to the English spoken word, my children all learn Welsh in school. We therefore also read some welsh language books at home to assist them in their bilingual skills. Welsh is such a beautiful language and although none of us are fluent just yet, I hope that the use of books will help us to improve, so that my children can use these language skills in the future.
As you may have seen World Book Day are encouraging everyone to #ShareAStory, so I asked each of my children what their current favourite book is and why;
Emma aged 12 said: "My favourite book is Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling. I really enjoy all of the Harry Potter books, but I found this one really intriguing and it was great to see the character development."
Ben aged 11 said: "I don't have just one favourite book, instead I like all of David Walliams books as they are really funny. The first one I read was Gangsta Granny and I even dressed up as Gangsta Granny a couple of years ago for World Book Day. I also think the Boy in the Dress and Awful Auntie are great too. I have just started reading The Midnight Gang, but haven't finished this one yet."
Riley aged 6 said: "My favourite book at the moment is The Very Silly Dog, because the dog is funny and eats some soap thinking it is a bone. He then ends up blowing bubbles and one comes out of his bum!"
Make sure you join in with all the World Book Day fun and share your story on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, using either #ShareAStory or #RhannwchStori and #WorldBookDay. We are looking forward to finding out what everyone else is reading.
To find out more about World Book Day you can visit their website or social media pages, which can be found on the following channels:
Website: https://www.worldbookday.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/worldbookdayuk
Twitter: @worldbookdayuk
Instagram: @worldbookdayteen
*Disclaimer: This is a collaborative post and we were gifted a selection of books to enjoy and celebrate World Book Day with. Not all the books pictured were gifted.