When your child reaches middle primary school and is reading confidently on their own, it's easy to think that the time for bedtime stories is over. It's great for children to choose their own reading and to read themselves, but reading with them and to them is still valuable and important.
As well as providing a lovely, quiet, intimate time with your child, a bedtime story can provide lots of opportunities. You can read slightly more challenging books, classics that may have language that would put a child off reading the book to themselves even though they will enjoy the story. The Yorkshire accent in Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden, for example, looks difficult on the page, but comes to life when read aloud.
Some books for this age group raise issues and talking about those issues as you read the book together works a lot better than trying to discuss them at a different time. Roald Dahl's The Witches brings up fears and how being prepared and informed makes them easier to overcome. And even if the worst does happen and you do get turned into a mouse, life is still good. Anh Do's WeirDo series uses humour to lighten issues about being different and creates a great starting point for discussion as well.
Books that inspire imagination and creativity can be taken to any level. Rebecca Cobb's The Something is a great starting point for imagining a whole world hidden beneath the garden, and Anthony Browne's Willy's Stories uses subtle references to classic stories to inspire the exploration of those tales or the creation of your own new ones.
Don't give up bedtime stories just because your child can read to themselves - they are just too good for both you and your child to miss!
By Naomi
Check out our Story Time with Naomi every Friday morning at 11am. For more details ring
9331 6642 or email shop@pottspointbookshop.com.au
"And even if the worst does happen and you do get turned into a mouse, life is still good."
Some books for this age group raise issues and talking about those issues as you read the book together works a lot better than trying to discuss them at a different time. Roald Dahl's The Witches brings up fears and how being prepared and informed makes them easier to overcome. And even if the worst does happen and you do get turned into a mouse, life is still good. Anh Do's WeirDo series uses humour to lighten issues about being different and creates a great starting point for discussion as well."There is nothing wrong with reading a book just because it's fun"Even picture books can be read and understood on a different level. Imagery that was taken literally by a four year old can now be understood metaphorically, especially when the book is quite familiar. The metaphor and symbolism of classic fairy tales from Hans Christian Andersen or The Brothers Grimm become clearer as a child gets older. And there is nothing wrong with reading a book just because it's fun.
Don't give up bedtime stories just because your child can read to themselves - they are just too good for both you and your child to miss!
By Naomi
Check out our Story Time with Naomi every Friday morning at 11am. For more details ring
9331 6642 or email shop@pottspointbookshop.com.au