Reading Rights campaign: “One child saw a book and said: ‘What’s that?’”

Waterstones Children's Laureate, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, is seated on a tiny chair, settled in for a really good story.

Cheryl McEneaney, Teacher at St Francis De Sales Infants and Nursery School, is reading The Gruffalo to her nursery students. She encourages them to each pick something from the story bag as she goes. It's filled with puppets and props that connect to the plot – even a jar of glittery "story dust".

Their parents are here too, seated together and beaming when it's time for their children get on their feet and flap their arms like owls. At the end, they join their little ones to make autumn leaf crowns as mementos from the story they've just experienced together.

Making sure families aren't missing out

Frank is here to witness how expert storytelling can be embedded into Early Years education practice – and why it's so crucial that this is supported.

Cheryl says: "We know as teachers how important it is for children to read. It's the crux of everything. When you're reading for pleasure, it's a calming, nurturing feeling for them. We do what we can to show the children how important reading is, and to build that love of reading so hopefully they go home and can read with their families."

What can make this more difficult? "I think some of it is to do with confidence," Cheryl says. "Some parents aren't confident readers themselves, and they certainly aren't confident when it comes to helping their child to read.

"There's a lot of deprivation in the area. The school is in the top 1% of deprived areas in the country. Some families are homeless, and they're placed in hotels that aren't close to the school, which affects children's attendance.

"A lot of children are coming to school without good levels of speech and language. They don't have the understanding and comprehension that you would expect of children of that age. A lot more children who have additional needs are coming in, too."

Cheryl adds: "We've got a lot of children over the past few years who speak English as an additional language, which is lovely for the cultural aspects, and we thrive off that as a school, but it has presented challenges, particularly when some children aren't fluent in their native language either.

"Families don't always have books. There was a child who came into nursery once, saw a book and said: 'What's that?'"

Making reading about play, excitement and happiness

Cheryl and her team work hard to promote reading for pleasure. To help build families' familiarity and comfort levels with sharing stories at home, Cheryl and her team host workshops with parents, just like the one today.

"We also do something called 'Surprise Reader'," says Cheryl. "At the end of the day, a parent or family member is invited to come in – the children don't know who it's going to be. They come and read a story to our class. It's really lovely, and the children really enjoy it."

She adds: "We do everything we can, and hopefully that will have a knock-on effect on the children and their families. We want to promote that love of reading as early as we can. It's just the start here with us, in the Early Years - but we know how important it is for them to have a successful life."

'My son knows the importance of reading now'

Rakhi, a parent who joined the session today with her youngest son, shares how engaging with books and stories at nursery has had a positive impact on her eldest son, who's now nine years old.

"My eldest son was born in India," she says. "When he came here, he was having difficulty, because everyone was talking in English. He couldn't speak to anyone, he didn't have any friends.

"But when he started nursery, he started getting that habit of reading. Now, he's older, he is taking books from the library. He's reading a lot and he likes it. Now, he has a lot of friends. He knows the importance of reading now.

"The staff here at his nursery gave him the habit of reading. I always asked him to do homework, but I never told him to read books or read stories. I can thank the staff here for that, because otherwise he would not have developed that behaviour."

Having her son develop a love of reading has also reignited Rakhi's own relationship with books, and in turn, supported her wellbeing.

"I was not reading much," she says. "Then, my son started bringing library books home to read with him. Then, I started reading for myself. It stops me overthinking about the stresses in my life. It means I'm not thinking about work, balancing work with our family, scrolling on social media, seeing so many issues. I've started reading for myself now, and it's getting so much better."

Reading as the 'apparatus of happiness' for children

After chatting to parents and teachers at St Francis De Sales, Frank reflects on his visit to the school nursery. "It was just joyous," he says. "They got a really big session out of that little book, The Gruffalo.

"There was such joy when the children shouted out words they recognised, or when they pulled props out of the story bag. Cheryl created this zone of play, in which so much more was going on than literacy, reading or vocabulary. There was so much more happening emotionally, and verbally. These kids are learning how to sit, how to relate to each other – and how to be happy."

Find out more about the Waterstones Children's Laureate's Reading Rights campaign