By Danni Perkins, ZaZa’s Storybox Founder
“One more story Mummy/Daddy, pleeeasse!” It is a familiar bedtime phrase from little ones, or is it?! At 11 months, 45% of Dads and 32% of Mums will never have read to their babies (BookTrust). How sad is that? At least those little ones pleading for ‘one more story’, have had one read to them. Instead of perceiving it as another stalling bedtime tactic, here are some of the reasons I firmly believe ‘just one more story’ is time well spent together. It helps to…
- Create nurturing relationships and allows you to enjoy precious time together.
- Develop imaginations and stimulate curiosity.
- Encourage two way communication and helps your little one to listen and respond.
- Improve concentration and ability to sit still and focus.
- Hear new words and phrases that they wouldn’t otherwise hear.
- Improve literacy and language skills – those who enjoy reading, do better in these subjects.
Of course after a long day in the office, or nightmare commute home, it is easy to go and sit with a nice cold wine/beer rather than read that all important story. However, 83% of children would love to spend more time with their parents making up stories (Rory’s Story Cubes), so there is a good chance your mini-me is one of them. If you need some tips on making up stories, check out this great article published recently by Huffington Post.
For me, reading to our daughter every day is second nature, she loves books, and always has done because we have read to her right from those precious early days. She is the inspiration for my book subscription service, ZaZa’s Storybox, to inspire more families to read to their little ones. Friends and relatives can give the gift of books inspiring a lifetime of reading, setting the foundations for their development.
Each one of our Storyboxes is themed and personalised to the age of the child – we don’t just send out a ‘one size fits all’ Storybox each month like a lot of other subscription box companies. We pride ourselves on including quality products from reputable brands and none of our books are paperback. Delivered to the subscribers door, there is no hassle of visiting a bookshop with a tiny baby or busy toddler, and Zaza’s Storybox takes the stress out of knowing what books are suitable – little ones develop and grow so quickly month to month it can be hard to keep up!
If you’re not sure where to get started engaging your child with books, there are some fantastic events over the next couple of months which are perfect for getting more books into your home to read together at home.
World Book Day – 7th March 2019 – This is one of the most renowned days in the book world with a huge amount of activities involving children’s authors. There are also so many lovely outfits to choose from in the shops to get little ones involved and engaged, I particularly love these Elmer outfits available in Sainsbury’s. Did you know Elmer the Elephant is celebrating his 30th birthday this year?!
To celebrate World Book Day, there are a number of books available for free using book tokens distributed across schools in the UK. I’m particularly looking forward to reading ‘Ten Little Bookworms’ with my daughter.
World Book Night, 23rd April – Run by the The Reading Agency to celebrate the difference reading makes to people’s lives.
These events do not have to be expensive and can be enjoyed by children of all ages, check out your local library and see what they have going on. Our libraries have a great amount to offer but unfortunately are often struggling to stay open. Did you know there are lots of rhyme time and story time events held at libraries every week near you?
More detail about ZaZa’s Storybox is available on our website, and you can also find us on Facebook and Twitter. For Red Kite Days readers, there is 10% off all our one-off Storyboxes available in our shop using the code REDKITE10.
Make reading fun, bring it into your home and teach your child skills for a lifetime.
