Walking with Betty: The Importance of Reading to Children, aka an Excuse to Cuddle Up!

Hello!

Hope you had a fun weekend. Mine was spent doing usual weekend chores but also a trip into Norwich and a cycle ride in the Norfolk countryside.

I've been a bit slack updating my blog, sometimes life takes over a bit and I am pleased to say that I was able to paint a bit last week for pretty much the first time in three months. I was working on the illustrations for My Name is Debbie, a joint venture with my cousin. Sometimes, however much you try a picture won't come together and it was like that last week which was so frustrating, however I will be back on the case after writing this.

I am planning on having a Wordless Wednesday, following the example of one of my favourite bloggers, Dottie Angel. I thought it might be interesting to chart a corner of the woods or a tree or other plant and how it changes with the seasons, so a weekly snapshot of whatever I choose is what will appear on a Wednesday, got to find the right spot though....

I, as some of you will know, am a mother to four children and they have all, to a greater or lesser degree loved listening to stories and reading. My two big guys, Zoe and Fin, would spend hours in the library choosing books to read and I shared in their excitement of walking away with a huge pile of stories to discover. I remember Fin sitting on the sofa surrounded by books as he made his way through them, probably got a photo somewhere. I felt very pleased with myself when Marilyn Brocklehurst of the Norfolk Children's Book Centre spoke of the importance of libraries and allowing your children to choose their own books, even if it does meaning insisting on taking one that they already own home. Marilyn feels this is one of the first things you can do as a parent to foster the love of reading in your children.

Allowing children to choose also means accepting that they may like a book for younger children, one which also may not even have any words and that's fine as Marilyn says none of us want to be pushed all the time or told we must read a harder text. I remembered that I had recently spoken to my seven year old's teacher about the book she was taking home not pushing her. I think there is a tendency, for me at least, to see those early years of learning to read as a bit of a marathon and that the child should be pressing ahead and constantly improving. I felt guilty recalling this, Marilyn's wise words pulled me up short.

I also recall trying to direct my children towards books that I felt visually interesting and inspiring. As an artist with a love of unusual, and maybe more challenging illustration for children, I felt it was my job to educate my children in my taste! I do think it is important to encourage and expand their visual knowledge though, so I won't be beating myself up too badly!

Marilyn spoke of the importance of reading aloud to your children, even those who are proficient readers. Children learn a lot about the rhythm of language, vocabulary, grammatical constructions, rhyme, pronunciation and playing with language. Studies have shown that those children who are read to have greater general knowledge, concentration and empathy than those who are not. It also helps fuel children's own story writing skills.

Taking time over the book so younger children have to chance to decode the illustrations, and have time to predict what will happen next is very important too. If nothing else, it is an excuse to settle down for a rest and a cuddle. I am trying to get back into the habit. I read to Zoe and Fin pretty much every evening and I have got out of the habit with my younger two, partly because they go to bed later now and partly because I'm lazy! I do intend to try harder though.....

Here are some pictures of my week, including some snaps of some new books I discovered. I also found a new publisher that I might just send one of my stories off too, if I can pluck up the courage!

Bye for now x