Showing posts with label stories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stories. Show all posts

Thursday 7 March 2019

Let's #ShareAStory for World Book Day!

As a child, I used to regularly read the same books over and over again. I absolutely loved the The Faraway Tree, as well as The Wishing Chair by Enid Blyton and I was also a fan of the 'My Naughty Little Sister' range of books written by Dorothy Edwards. I don't remember ever needing to be encouraged to read and instead it was something that I chose to do because I enjoyed it.

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.


Once we reached the toddler ages, I began purchasing well known fairytale books such as Goldilocks and the Three Bears and Little Red Riding Hood. These allowed me to help create a bedtime routine and it was great to have the opportunity every evening to read them a story.

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.

Wednesday 6 March 2019

Celebrating World Book Day!

Every year since my children have been in school, we have celebrated World Book Day. Usually my kids will go into school dressed as their favourite character along with a copy of their chosen book. This provides children with a great way to talk about reading and celebrating books, both at home and in school. So when World Book Day recently got in touch and asked to send us a reading pack, we were delighted at the prospect of learning more about this initiative, as well as having some new and exciting books to enjoy together.

I strongly believe that books can be fantastic in so many ways, they can provide you with knowledge, help you to improve your vocabulary skills or allow you to learn more about other people or ways of life. They can also simply provide you with a form of entertainment that will allow you to escape to a world of make believe and enjoy being taken on a journey with the characters of the story.


World Book Day helps children, adults and families celebrate stories, which encourages a persons love of reading. This year it takes place in the UK and Ireland on the 7th March 2019, but it will also be celebrated in other countries on the 23rd April 2019 as World Book and Copyright Day. It is a campaign that I strongly support and this wonderful worldwide celebration of books and reading is marked on a global scale, with over 100 countries taking part. The main objective is to have fun and enjoy reading together and there are so many great ideas to help you to do this.

In my children's primary school this year, they have arranged a book swap initiative, so that each child can go to school dressed as their favourite book character and take in a book that they have already read. They then have the opportunity to swap this book for a different one in the school hall, ensuring that all students go home at the end of the day with a new book for them to enjoy. I think that this is a lovely idea and provides all of the children with accessibility to books, that they may not have seen or heard of before.

In my daughter's high school, they have arranged a slightly different event which will be a huge celebration to mark the day. They have planned competitions, quizzes, stalls and activities, as well as offering some prizes for some of the best costumes. One idea they have had that I really like is a 'Best Form Group Costume' competition, where the form class can discuss a theme, genre, or specific book and all come as characters that are linked. I think it would be absolutely hilarious for a whole class to dress as Where's Wally or Wenda, imagine the great photograph that would make!


The World Book Day website, offers a great range of fantastic ideas to give you some inspiration as to how you could celebrate this event. Ranging from fun activities to creative costume ideas, there is something suitable for all ages to enjoy. This year they are also asking people to join in with their fun nationwide social event encouraging everyone to simply share a story. Reading can be done at any time in any place and reading and sharing stories can have a wonderful impact. 

You can also join in with this campaign on social media and tell everyone what you are reading and your favourite stories by posting on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram using #ShareAStory or #RhannwchStori.

In addition to all the fun activities that will be taking place, there is also an incredible initiative in the UK where World Book Day will be distributing more than 15 million £1 world book day tokens, in partnership with schools all around the country. This is with thanks to National Book Tokens (the sponsors of World Book Day), as well as lots of lovely booksellers and publishers. These tokens can then be taken to a local participating book shop and swapped for one of the 12 new and exclusive World Book Day books. Full details of this initiative along with a full list of the books available can be found here and includes some fantastic titles! You can also find out more about the £1 book scheme for Ireland here.

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.