Reading with your baby toddler and preschool child

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Reading with Your Baby Toddler and Preschool Child

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Sharing books with children right from the time they are babies helps them enormously to understand the world and gives them a fantastic head start when they begin school. It’s also an amazing and fun way to bond with your children, building strong and loving relationships, opening eyes, hearts and minds and stretches horizons. Reading with your baby toddler and preschool child

Reading with your baby toddler and preschool child

The routine of sharing books, stories, songs and rhymes helps to build pre-literacy skills. It also provides the excuse to find a special time and place for you to really bond with each other while you enjoy stories together. Many mums and dads build in book sharing at a regular time which allows their child to really look forward to it, perhaps at a quiet time after lunch or just before bed time.

Established in 1992, the Bookstart programme has given away more than 30 million free books over the last 20 years to babies, toddlers and pre school children in England, along with support and warm and friendly advice for parents.

This year, Bookstart is celebrating "fairy tales" as part of National Bookstart Week 2013 from 24 – 30 June.
Libraries, children’s centres and bookshops are all joining in, so be sure not to miss this annual celebration of sharing stories, books and rhymes. This year’s theme is "fairy tales" and the Bookstart team will be baking cakes, blowing up balloons and getting dressed up to celebrate their special birthday. Reading with your baby toddler and preschool child

The Bookstart website also contains additional information about the National Bookstart Week and reading with your child in general.

Happy book sharing from The Small Steps Team