Reading to Superheroes!

As a working Mam, I cherish story time with my son. It is our time. Every night a new adventure. Each story a new place we get to visit together. It is truly my favourite part of the day.

Our bedtime routine usually begins with 10 minutes of an intense selection process. If my son picks a small book he feels he must have a second book which acts as a type of compensation, rightly so I guess. Or if we read an older book; we have to “make a deal” and have a newer purchase to read the following night. As I’m sure you know toddlers make wonderful negotiators.

Next we snuggle up in bed and start every book with the line “this book belongs to” …. this is when he loves to say his full name followed by every single book in his book collection. Curious by nature, he loves all kinds of books but some books excite him more than others- these are usually the books that take us on exciting adventures.

Together we have travelled to many places. We especially love visiting grandad’s island; arriving there on grandad’s boat that is hidden up in the attic. Some evenings we fly over Tibet on a supersonic rocket. We often meet all sorts of characters from a Gruffalo with knobbly knees to a giraffe who can’t dance. Most recently we found a poor whale who was lonely and lost from home. Together we wonder what that would feel like; to be lost? Or how could you teach a giraffe to dance. These characters have become part of our home. We chat about them often and tell strangers about the funny things that they do.

Recently I dropped him to off to my parents’ house and I kissed him goodbye. As I walked down the hill I heard him run up the stairs and shout grandad are you in the attic on a boat?  I smiled to myself knowing that although I may not be with him during every part of his day I am always with him in his imagination. Never underestimate the bonds that can be made through Storytime. For other thoughts on reading check out our blog 26^th July 2016 ‘Sweet like Chocolate: Encouraging a taste for reading’.

Elliott turned 3 in October and here are his Top 5 Books: (all purchased on Amazon UK)

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