Booktrust launched a Bedtime Reading Week as part of National Family Week 2009.
Sharing books with your baby or child and reading aloud with them at bedtime is a fun, warm and loving experience. It is a time when you can cuddle up together to share in the sheer joy and excitement of pictures and stories. Just by reading aloud together for ten minutes a day you will see them grow into eager confident learners; learning how to listen and learning new words. Even babies that are too young to understand the story will be soothed and calmed by your voice when you share a book with them. It’s a chance to slow the day down and for children to make sense of the world around them or drift off into a magical world of imagination.
Children and babies love routine and rituals. The joy of looking forward to a story makes a bedtime routine so much more fun and exciting. Ending the day with a loving cuddle and a book helps a child wind down ready for sleep.
It's never too soon to start sharing books. Babies and children who love books and the pleasure of hearing stories and rhymes have a flying start when it comes to learning to read by themselves.
Remember too that children will love to have a bedtime story long after they do start reading by themselves. You can share in the magic of bedtime reading for many, many years. So go on, share a book tonight ...
Bedtime Reading Week is an opportunity for all the family to get involved in the sheer joy and pleasure of reading aloud. On these web pages you will find tips and ideas on sharing stories and rhymes with babies, toddlers, children who are starting to read and independent readers. Look out for events at libraries, children’s centres, health clinics and schools in your area where you can get together with other families to celebrate Bedtime Reading.
Read our top tips for sharing books at bedtime
Recommended books to read aloud
Games, songs and activities for bedtime
Find out who won our Bedtime Reading Week competition
On these pages, you can also view the very fine Bookstart ads that appeared on national TV last year!
