World Book Day

3rd March 2021

As its World Book Day tomorrow I thought I would do an early post in recognition of the day and any preparations that maybe taking place in your home or for key workers children at school.

https://www.worldbookday.com/books/

See the above for a list of the books you can purchase with the world book tokens for only £1! Also have a look at the resources available for all different age ranges.

I particularly like the idea of ‘sharing a story’. For many children with dyslexia, the struggle to read is so great, that the idea of reading a book just brings dread. It’s so hard work and therefore not enjoyable. But listening to a story?

Imagine a professional artist or Tennis Player. Do you think they would have the same talent as a beginner as they have achieved after many, many, many hours of practice, dedication and hard work? Do you think an interest in painting/tennis is necessary at the beginning of the long journey to greatness?

Dyslexics will have difficulty with language (and I am not saying that all will become avid readers). It will take hard work and dedication to become efficient readers but, just like the Tennis Player or Artist, initially there has to be an interest or at least not a total repulsion of the activity to commit to the journey.

I think this interest in stories can be developed from a very early age, hopefully before school and the difficulties in getting to know the complexities of the English Language begins.

In the development of language, speech came before the written word. A child learns to speak and listen before they understand letters, new words continuously being heard. Vocabulary knowledge can be enriched and encouraged by listening to someone read to you and discussing meanings of any unusual new words. The long term memory store has already begun with spoken words and their meanings.

Children often mimic their external experiences in their developing stages. If they are brought up in an environment that values the benefits of books and world of stories hopefully this may reflect in their own attitude.

I don’t know about you but if I like something, however hard it is to do or learn, I am more willing to put in the effort and keep going even when the going gets hard?

Reading time with your child is precious but there does become a time when they would prefer to be independent. To prolong that interest in stories/books maybe consider Audio books?

Obviously they still need to learn to read but this could be a way to access reading for pleasure? Leave the hard work with their school books and relax and just appreciate the escapism of a good story.

https://www.worldbookday.com/world-of-stories/

Click on to above link and you will be able to access free audio books!

Author @KajaBlackley and @LindaDMcDade, @magsmaccormack‘s audiobook narrator, will be donating 10% of their gross profit from the sales of Maggie McCormack’s audiobook to Dyslexia Canada and Dyslexia Scotland.

Maggie’s audiobook narrator, @LindaDMcDade, offers more insight into living with dyslexia and how she’s turned her learning disability into a superpower on her twitter account, go on, give her a ‘follow’.

@DyslexiaScotlan@dyslexia_canada#dyslexia#audiobooks#audiobooknarration#YAfantasy#youngadultbooks#yalit#fantasybooks

“Reading for pleasure is at the heart of World Book Day. We know that making every day a book day can have significant impacts on children and young people’s wellbeing. Three in five (59.3%) children and young people told us during the first lockdown that reading makes them feel better. It shows just how important it is to encourage children to read for pleasure during these very turbulent times.” Quote by The National Literacy Trust.

So whatever you have planned for World Book day; dressing up, acting out stories, giving audiobooks a try I hope you have fun. I would love to hear what you got up to, leave a comment or send an email.

Take care and enjoy that book!