As I snuggled up for storytime with my great niece today, we entered the world of Miffy. It was Miffy’s birthday, Miffy donned her pretty dress with daisies on and was politely grateful for the ‘gay parcels’ that awaited her. Thousands of children have been part of Miffy’s magic and enjoyed her birthday; generations past would have only thought of the bright colours as they read about the ‘gay parcels’, how language evolves!

Evolving language

Storytelling Magic

We talked about the words and the sounds, I pointed to words as we read, my beautiful (great) niece soaked it up like the sponge Miffy washed with on page one. It wasn’t about being pushy, ‘hot-housing’ her to propel her ahead of her peers at nursery school. It was about a journey of discovery that we took together. Nestled in my arms we bonded a little bit more over this magical shared experience, Pages were turned back and forth to re-live Miffy’s day and the last page was met with ‘again’, twice, from this delighted child.

The magic of story-time, vital for literacy

The Power of Being Literate

Today the news that sales of actual books rose by 8% last year accompanied by a 4% fall in sales of ebooks is heart-warming. I have no idea what my little protégé will become when she is older; my hope is, whatever she wants to be. You see, if she has been nurtured, guided and given the opportunity to discover the joy of reading, she will develop the ability to read and understand anything she chooses to, and to understand texts that are compulsory reading. Perhaps more importantly, she will be able to voice the wonderful, creative and unique ideas that spring from her mind and share them eloquently with the world. What more can one give to a child?