The wonderful world of children’s books
Junior book review: Father Christmas and Me by Matt Haig
By Sam, 7 What was the book about? It was about a girl, Amelia, who went to Elfhelm to live with Father Christmas and a woman called Mary. The girl and Mary used to live in a workhouse and their boss was mean to them, but Father Christmas saved them. Mary was to become Mary…
The Reason Boys Don’t Choose to Read ‘Girls” Books
As seen on Ten Daily It is widely believed that boys prefer to read about male protagonists. But, before we decry the way that boys are not interested in girls’ stories, it is worth taking a look at the bookshelves. A quick glance at the books for young readers reveals a clue as to why…
How to avoid the battle of the school reader
It starts out a happy sign of a young learner’s first steps towards independent reading. The parent tucks their child under their arm to listen to them sound out words and occasionally stumble over syllables, filled with a mixture of pride and nostalgia. At intervals, the child will raise their wide eyes to their parents’,…
Faraway tree or Andy Griffiths’ treehouse? Books for the inbetweeners.
It is not hard to find great books for young children. Libraries and bookshops have considerable areas dedicated to the under-fives, complete with beanbags and colourful posters. From Mem Fox to Alison Lester, The Gruffalo to The Cat in the Hat, there are endless appealing options to pique the interest of toddlers and young children.…
Lessons are lovely but fun comes first
Children can be fickle creatures. One minute they like something, the next minute they push it away in disgust. I’ve seen my kids do it with food, toys and occasionally, one of their relatives. And one foolproof way of ensuring their interest in something is quashed is for them to believe that it is “good”…
How to read to a reluctant baby or toddler
Forget Sudoku for toddlers, in utero Mozart concertos and Baby Einstein DVDs, one of the best ways to promote babies’ development is to read to them. And it is never too early for parents to start reading to their babies, with the years from birth to five critical for building literacy skills. That is all…
Naughty can be nice in kids’ books
One farmer is fat, another is boozy and the third is a pot-bellied dwarf. Then there is the grandmother described as ‘an old hag’ and likened to a witch. This vitriol is not spouted by internet trolls or sparring bogans, but is used by Roald Dahl to describe characters in two of his most popular…
Children’s books have no age limit
They used to speak of their passion in hushed tones. After all, they thought, what fully-grown adult would freely admit to their love of young adult literature? More recently, the YA section of libraries and bookshops have become a free-for-all, with those long past their youth proudly admitting to their preference for young adult literature.…
