World Book Day is a great day to think about the benefits of reading with young children. At Beaconsfield Childcare we love to enjoy all sorts of different books with our children. Reading with young children has many benefits, including developing language and communication skills. Research has shown that children who have a love of reading, perform better at school. But actually, as well as the academic benefits, reading together with your children is a great way to bond. It’s fun to enjoy a book together, so we’ve asked some of our lovely staff from our Beaconsfield nurseries to recommend books that the children enjoy at nursery, so you can share them together at home.

Heather Endsor who works in Rocket Space at Northgate House Nursery suggests We’re Going on a Bear Hunt:
“Children really enjoy this book, because they like pretend they are going on the bear hunt themselves. We use this book both indoors and outdoors- we planned a really lovely outdoors activity recently regarding this book where we set out the different stations in the garden eg we had a tray of water for the river, a tray of soil for the mud, we had a tray of leaves and grass for the forest. All children lined up pretending to be on a bear hunt, walking through the different stations as we read the book. Children knew the words well- it was great fun!

Wallis from Brindley House and Megan from Rocket Space at Northgate House both recommend Rumble in the Jungle: “Children really enjoy the rhymes in this book. Rhyming is very important in children’s early language and literacy skills. And the children all join in with the rhymes in this book,” says Megan. Wallis agrees and says that the children are always really engaged when they read this book.

Ashley, one of our room leaders at Brindley enjoys sharing Wow said the Owl. “It teaches the children so many different things including colours, times of the day and animals,” she says.

If you don’t already have a copy of The Gruffalo at home, then you must get one, Hannah at Northgate says, “All children in all rooms love this story. It is a classic. Children love the different tones of voice we use when narrating as the mouse and then as the Gruffalo. This is another rhyming book which all children know the words of well- Even in the toddler rooms!”

And finally, last word to Becky Young, the manager of Brindley House Nursery in Beaconsfield New Town who loves reading Goldilocks and the Three Bears: “This book is very easy to role play and I enjoy adding props to this story, for example three different sized bowls, bears etc to make it more engaging. The book teaches the children about emotions as the bears experience the different feelings throughout the books.”

Other resources that can help you find books to enjoy together include:
http://www.booktrust.org.uk/
http://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/
and of course, your local library.