#GiveTheGiftOf reading with Miles Kelly this Christmas

Lara is turning into a fountain of knowledge - she just LOVES devouring facts about life, the universe and everything and then sharing her new-found knowledge with us in the evenings. As Lara's reading improves, she becomes even more eager to explore new types of books where she can learn new facts for herself. Lara recently received a Miles Kelly science book as a gift from her Grandma and she just absolutely loved finding out all about the human body, electricity, the solar system and lots more besides.

This Christmas, specialist children's publishers, Miles Kelly, are helping everyone give the gift of reading (or in our case... the gift of knowledge) with their special themed gift sets which bring together a collection of different children's books in a special set which offers phenomenal savings of around 60%.

Miles Kelly sent Lara a very special gift set which they tailored to her interests so that she could experience a little bit of Miles Kelly Christmas magic. Lara had great fun opening up her surprise parcel which was wrapped in colour-me-in Miles Kelly wrapping paper featuring the familiar cartoon characters of Miles Kelly picture books.

Lara's books were all themed around the planet earth; a set of beautiful hardback geography books for children around 7 years upwards. This set of three books is known as The Earth Gift Set and currently costs £20 - a whopping 63% saving off the cover prices of the three books if you buy them individually.

The first book that Lara unwrapped from her surprise bundle was the Children’s Encyclopedia Earth - it is a geographic encyclopedia with over 500 facts and beautiful photographs and illustrations of animals, landscapes and geographic wonders to really whet the appetite for learning all about the world we live in.

Next up was the Children’s Encyclopedia Ocean which is a similar book but all about the underwater world. From coastal geographic phenomena to the mysterious animals of the very deep oceans. From whale migration to polar animals and lifecycles. This is a really amazing book with some fascinating photos that I am absolutely sure Lara will want to show her friends at school. The patterns of animal behaviour that follow the movement of the oceans is something that I've always found amazing and I really hope Lara shares this feeling of wonder when she reads this book.

To complete out this brilliant book set, Lara unwrapped the Earth Book which includes 500 facts covering the most amazing things about the planet - from caves and coral reefs to volcanoes and earthquakes.  This book has the sort of images which children will go back to time and again so that they can get their heads around the magic of the real world. It is such a brilliant foundation in geography basics and touches on all of the topics that I remember from secondary school but presented in a format full of short sound-byte facts that younger children can digest and use as starting points for further investigation if they are interested.

The Earth Gift Set is available for a special price of £20 for a limited period in the run up to Christmas - a super saving for a fantastic selection of children's non-fiction books. If you'd like to find out more about some of the different Miles Kelly Christmas book bundles you can download their Christmas Gift Guide or follow them on Facebook and Twitter where they will be sharing some of their favourite gift sets in the coming days.

Leapfrog Cinderella Leapreader Book Review

Holly has really developed an interest in book, reading and exploring words.  I'm amazed at how, having just turned three, Holly has already grasped that the words on the page are there to be read...the fact that she can't read them yet doesn't seem to bother her! This is a big step in a child's reading journey and its one that should be encouraged and celebrated!  It is how I knew that Holly was ready to move on up to the big girl's Leapfrog Leapreader to start exploring the Leapfrog Early Readers range of interactive books.

I think I introduced Lara to the Leapreader a little too late in life - she had already started reading simple sentences but didn't often see the Leapfrog books as a reading opportunity, more of a play opportunity. She still does.  That said, the games always have a good learning foundation such as word play or story comprehension and Cinderella, The Heart That Believes is no different.

But for Holly I am keen that the Leapreader books are the start of a reading journey and so far she has seemed very interested in using the tip of the pen to point at the words as they are read back to her.  Holly has a very short attention span so she tends to flick quickly from one page element to the next so it is a good job that the sentences are short and simple; this also makes them ideal for first readers as it makes the sentences seem less daunting.

The girls haven't escaped the Cinderella fever that has swept the nation and have rediscovered their interest in the classic Disney animated movie.  They were very excited when I downloaded the companion audio onto their Leapreader pen.  This Disney Princess book has proven very popular with both Lara and Holly.  The Early Reader series is suitable for children of around 3-6 years old.

Cinderella, The Heart that Believes tells the story of the Cinderella animated movie.  As you place the Leapreader on the words, it will read them out loud to you.  You can also read it yourself and are encouraged to sound out the words.  On some pages there are interactive games to play...on others there are lots of different pictures you can point at to hear conversation, sounds and music to accompany the pictures.

Holly is very taken with her first Leapreader book and has enjoyed exploring her way through it; it reminds me very much of seeing Lara, shortly before she started school, experiencing the joy of the understanding.  I'm hoping that this is just the beginning of Holly's Leapfrog self-reading journey.

Leapfrog Book Club - Sofia The First

April sees the launch of the Leapfrog LeapReader book club on the Leapfrog UK Facebook page.  Holly and Lara are big LeapReader fans and they were asked to give their thoughts on the first of the books to be featured in the Book Club, Disney Sofia The First - A Princess Thing.

Sofia The First A Princess Thing is a book for the LeapReader Junior reading system - ours is a green hand-held console in the shape of Scout the dog.  As you press the reader onto the page, it reads out the words from the pages along with sounds, music and conversation from the story.  The book is part of the Get Ready to Read Series which is designed to encourage younger children to start to understand the concept of characters in a book and to listen and comprehend - they are designed for children from about 2 years to 4 years old.

My girls LOVE anything Disney Princess related and were both very taken with the story.  In the story, Sofia decides that she wants to train to appear in the Flying Derby race (flying horses AND princesses? it doesn't get more perfect if you are 4!).  Sofia's older sister thinks that the idea of a princess racing in the derby is terribly uncouth and tries repeatedly to convince Sofia to give up.

Princess Sofia is allocated an inexperienced flying horse called Minimus who needs a LOT of practice but they keep on trying and trying and eventually everything comes good for the race when even her older sister, Amber is proud of her.

This was my younger daughter Holly's first experience with the Leapreader Junior and she seemed genuinely fascinated.  She is very into ponies and horses right now so she loved turning to these pages and pressing Scout onto each of the pictures to find out more and to listen to Minimus speak to Sofia.

Lara is nearly 5 and most enjoyed listening and then answering the questions. The comprehension questions aren't taxing and are usually directly related to the story being told on the current page but it does give a sense of achievement when they answer them correctly.

Leapreader Books - Our Progress

Back in August, Lara first reviewed the Leapreader electronic reading aid from Leapfrog. That was shortly before Lara started school - she was eager to explore books but hadn't yet really learned to read. Seven months on, Lara's reading has progressed more than I could ever have imagined and this weekend I saw Lara sit down with one of the Leapreader books that she received in August and, without the aid of the Leapreader, she read the book to me herself.

The Leapreader from Leapfrog is largely designed to encourage a child's interest in books... not so much to teach them how to read. Through interactive page elements and recognisable characters, children are encouraged to engage with a book. On each page your child can touch the page to hear the Leapreader read the words of the story to them but now Lara doesn't NEED the words to be read to her. The stories Lara has for the Leapreader (such as Tangled, and Monsters University) are quite advanced books so she still struggles a little with the more unusual words and today she knew to turn to her gadget to help her when she needed it.

It's interesting to see the way that the inclusion of a favourite film or television character somehow makes a book seem more appealing to Lara. I'm not sure how I feel about that! Last week I felt a bit exasperated at all the activity on Facebook and twitter about dressing-up outfits for World Book Day (or British Book Day as I think it should more correctly be named). Some of my local friends with children at different schools had to dress up and I saw one child going as a character from Monsters University. It frustrated me that the point of World Book Day had been lost in the campaign for an acceptable dressing-up outfit and that movie characters were being chosen over book characters.

But, on reflection, I can see that the inclusion of a film character in a book such as Lara's Leapreader books does wonders for getting children more interested in books. And that's what matters. Growing an enthusiasm for exploring more books. And a movie seems like a sensible starting point. Think of all the people who have gone on to read the Harry Potter stories since first watching one of the movies.

Perhaps even more interestingly, Lara much prefers character stories (mostly with her Disney favourites) when she is looking for a book to read herself.  But, during the evening when we are choosing a bedtime story for us to read to her, Lara often prefers to go for something more traditional - maybe her other books feel a bit less accessible to her at present?

On World Book Day, Lara's school asked the pupils to bring in their favourite book to share with their class-mates and to inspire arts and crafts throughout the day.  Do you want to know what book Lara chose (from her rather enormous stash?)... she chose One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Suess.

Leapfrog LeapReader Review

Lara is a perfect age for the brand new LeapReader by Leapfrog.  The LeapReader builds on the success of the Leapfrog Tag reading system but now your child can not only start to learn to read with the LeapReader, but they can also learn to write and Lara, at 4 years old, is loving every minute of it.

Learning to read with the Leapfrog LeapReader

Lara starts school this September and I suspect she is a little ahead of the expectations in terms of reading and writing skills for reception but to be honest, I can't stop her!  She has this thirst for words that is uncontrollable and the LeapReader feeds that need while offering her fun at the same time.  For us, the melding of technology and books works really well; Lara enjoys the ownership and the maturity that she feels with her own piece of technology and yet she finds great comfort sitting, browsing through a book.

The Leapfrog LeapReader is a brand new toy which also works with original Leapfrog Tag reading books.  There are some shiny new LeapReader books such as Lara's favourite - a 3D Monster's University book packed full of games and fun which encourage her to interact with each page.  I love seeing how hard Lara concentrates when she is absorbed in her books.  Lara loves using her LeapReader pen to play "spot the monster" where the pen asks her a comprehension or observation question about the picture such as "which is the monster that has horns and fur and is sitting next to the red monster?" and then Lara has to point the stylus to the correct image.

Playing and Reading Monsters University 3D with the Leapfrog LeapReader

Lara has learned to place the LeapReader on the words of her story books to hear the LeapReader read the words to her. I realise now that the understanding that individual words, or groups of words contribute to a story is quite a big step on the journey towards self-reading.  The stylus nature of the LeapReader helps this process.  The LeapReader came with a sample book which includes some first readers examples and, with a bit of encouragement, Lara accepts the challenge from me to try and read the words herself, without prompt from the voice of the LeapReader.

The biggest difference between the LeapReader and the old Leapfrog Tag reader is that the LeapReader also offers your child the ability to interact through writing.  Lara received the "Learn to Write Numbers With Mr. Pencil" book with her LeapReader as part of the Leapfrog 2013 blogger panel; this book does feature story narrative but its main focus is to learn to write numbers and shapes.  I was astonished at how quickly Lara picked it up.  The book features paper leaves which your child can write on - they have to follow the instructions to trace the shape of a number, shape or basic mathematical expression.  As they practice more, the guides on the sheets become less until they should be able to write the shapes of the numbers unaided.  At first, Lara would get frustrated that the LeapReader would beep at her if she rushed the shapes of the numbers and I noticed, within minutes, that she slowed down and worked harder at getting the shape right.  The paper sheets are not re-usable but the book does come with a pack of additional practice sheets and you can buy further practice packs.  I'm definitely going to be buying Lara the matching "Learn to Write Letters with Mr. Pencil" book.

Learning to write with the Leapfrog LeapReader

I'm impressed with some of the improvements that the LeapReader has over the old Tag system; the most appealing of these being a built-in rechargeable battery which is charged through USB when connected to your computer (you need to connect it to upload audio onto the LeapReader so you can charge at the same time).  The LeapReader costs £40 and it is recommended for ages 4-8.  Books cost around £10-£15.

   

Leapfrog Tag Reading System Review

At Christmas we gave Lara a Tag reading system from Leapfrog (Note: Leapfrog gave her this as a gift back in august as part of the Leapfrog Motherboard but we saved it until she was ready for it). Lara has been using the Tag Junior reading system for a year now but we felt that she was ready to move onto the main Tag system for slightly older children.

Leapfrog's Tag system works as a hand-held 'pen' device that your child passes over the words and pictures on the page of a book. At present, Lara is not quite reading (although she can do letter sounds, she hasn't yet worked out how to string them together). The Tag system is perfect for her now because she understands that words and sentences mean something, she just needs someone to read for her and sometimes she would rather that it wasn't me or Daddy that helped her. The Tag system gives her some independence. Once or twice I have left Lara in her bedroom to 'read' before going to bed if she is playing up and the act of sitting quietly on her own with a book has calmed her down enough for bedtime.

We bought Lara a number of Tag books for Christmas to accompany the reader. Most of the Tag books are themed with various popular characters - many of them Disney. Lara's favourite books are usually ones with lots of puzzles in them. To me, this is the thing that makes the Tag books stand out... anyone could read a story book with Lara but the Tag books are more than just stories. Lots of the pages in the books feature quizzes or activities that allow your child to interact with the book. In many cases these are observational questions to make sure they've been paying attention to the story and sometimes they require your child to reference back to previous pages. Lara also owns one book which is entirely made of puzzles that practice maths and letters skills. There are awards and rewards to be gained by doing well in the quizzes.

As with most Leapfrog toys, you can connect the Tag reader up to the computer to see your child's Learning path. You can download activity sheets for some of the books and see the rewards your child has earned.

I love watching Lara interact with her books. I don't think the Tag reader will teach her to read but it is certainly cementing her love of books and extending her imagination as well as ensuring she continues to recognise words and their relationships. As she gets a little older, I'm excited to see how she adapts her use of the Tag reader and I'm looking forward to trying out some of the other products for the reader including some of the non-fiction books including an atlas and a book on the solar system.

  

Bigsby Story Buddy Review

Meet Bigsby.

Bigsby is a cute fluffy monster with a great big cheeky smile. Not only is he cuddly but he also likes to listen to stories! Bigsby is the latest Story Buddy character from Hallmark.

Bigsby sits with Lara and Holly while I read them his story book. He came with one book "Bigsby's Best Friend" but there are a couple of other books available to buy too. The magical think about the Story Buddy is that he interacts with the story as you read it. There are certain words and phrases throughout the book that Bigsby responds to and he seems to come alive.

The first time that we read the Bigsby story, Lara nearly fell of her chair. She was totally engrossed in her story when Bigsby said "Bigsby Bashful". She thought it was hilarious and Holly just gave him a look!

I had expected the novelty to wear off for Lara (it certainly did for me). After a few times of reading the story, she still seems to enjoy hearing him pipe in with his twopence worth. I think it helps that it is a story that she enjoys but I find myself reading the book hesitantly because I know what's coming (the words that activate his voice are marked in the book).

Mr. B. quickly worked out some of Bigsby's key phrases and sometimes shouts them just to confuse matters. Apparently Bigsby's vocabulary is extended in each extra book.  He has also tried lots of different speeds and accents and Bigsby seems to be very flexible and it is quite hard to catch him out.

To me, the entertainment factor is greatly limited by the number of books that the Story Buddy responds to. I'd love it if he could just sit there and respond to any story book that we read (but then I'm a techy and I know that that would be seriously complex to achieve).

Bigsby costs £19.99 and is available in Hallmark stores, independent gift stores and at www.hallmark.co.uk. The additional books for Bigsby are also available priced at £5.99 each.

Reading Eggs Review

Lara is just starting to learn to read. I love seeing her try so hard to understand the words in her favourite books and it brings me great joy to hear her say a word she has recognised (Menu, Exit, Toilet are a few she has surprised me with!). I'm eager to help Lara on her reading journey but I don't want it to be too much like hard work at present given that she doesn't even start school for another 11 months and so I was really excited to try out Reading Eggs.

Reading Eggs is an online reading resource for children from 3 to 7 years old (there is also Reading Eggspress for 7-13 year olds). You register online and you can get a free trial for your children to see if the games, tools and activities work for you. After that, you have to pay for either a 6 or 12 month subscription (which works out to be as little as £3.33 a month).

I signed Lara up with Reading Eggs and started her right at the very beginning of the very first lesson. For interest, I also signed myself up and took their reading test with the intention of trying to see some of the slightly harder levels!

Each section of Reading Eggs is split into "maps" which have lots of different levels. For each activity that your child completes within a level, they earn eggs! Lara's very first lesson was all about the letter M. She started by having to spot the "mmmmmm" and then had to pick out the letter from among others. Then she had to spot things that started with "mmmmm" before completing the level by dragging and dropping the correct m-words (such as mud, men, mop, mouse, mother) to match their pictures.

I was really pleased that by the end of lesson 1, Lara, at 3.5 years old was able to pick out the word "moss" from the word "mop" without my help. Level 1 was certainly challenging for her but she really enjoyed it.

Level 2 was much the same, but for the letter S. This is where it became a bit of a problem... Lara lost interest. I think it was too repetitive for her. Lara had already become frustrated with the repetition of the activities on Level 1 (each exercise seemed to go on for quite some time and in some cases was repeated, just with the words in slightly different places). While I understand that repetition is paramount in early learning, the levels of repetition really put Lara off. So much so that despite frequent attempts to get her to give it another go, her interest lasts no longer than two minutes and so we haven't managed to progress any further than the second lesson of Reading Eggs. I think that for Lara at least, Reading Eggs was too much like hard learning for her right now, and not enough about play.

And so I took a delve into the world of Reading Eggs myself to see whether Lara would grow into it. I'm really impressed. I think that particularly once they get to primary school age, the balance of play vs reading is good. I enjoyed playing the arcade games all by myself!!! Repetition though really is the key here and I think that as a child who can move more quickly through the exercises without struggling, the repetition of the types of games and reading challenges wouldn't be so draining... in fact it would more likely feel rewarding.

I will definitely be coming back to Reading Eggswith Lara whether that is in a couple of weeks, months or years.

I do have two other observations though - (1) I get FAR too many emails from Reading Eggs trying to convince me to sign up for a subscription once my free trial has ended. It is a bit off-putting. And (2) due to the drag-and-drop and interactive mouse elements of nearly all of the games and activities, I would recommend that ReadingEggs is probably best used with a computer mouse - Lara finds it extremely tricky to move the laptop's touch pad quickly enough and drag-and-drop requires a lot of concentration on her part.

Leapfrog Tag Junior Reading System Review

As someone who gets an enormous amount of pleasure out of reading a story to Lara, I was naturally a bit suspicious of an electronic book reader like the Tag Junior system by Leapfrog. However, the minute that Lara first tried her Tag Junior book pal, it brought an enormous smile to her face and you could see her imagination start to whirr and her eyes light up with eager anticipation.

The Tag Junior system is suitable for children from 2-4 years old (although some of the more simple books claim to be suitable for children of 1 upwards). You buy the reader (which comes with an example book) and then can buy the books separately. There is a vast array of books available, most of which feature favourite children's characters. We were sent a Tag Junior reader to review along with a Disney princess book and a Toy Story 3 book.

The familiar Leapfrog characters Scout and Violet are two new shapes for the Tag Junior book pal reading devices and I really think the chunky, smiley character makes a difference to your child's enjoyment of the device. When you connect the reader to your computer you can personalise it with your child's name so that when they switch it on, the little puppy greets them! The reader can store upto 5 books on it at a time – your child then places the reader onto different parts of the pages of the books to hear the reader speak the words back to them, or play music and speech relevant to the pictures on the page.

The book pal reader takes two AAA batteries and I was a little disappointed at how long the first set lasted before Scout started to tell us they would need replacing - just one week. This may of course be because of the fascination Lara took in those first few days with constantly switching him on and off again to hear him woof!

Of the Tag Junior Books we tried, my favourite was the Scout and Friends book which came with the reader because it had the best quality content, clearest voices and lots of content to explore on every page. I found the content of both of the other books to be a bit limited and Lara quickly exhausted the learning opportunities in them – Lara learned the answers to the puzzles (which she really enjoyed) in her Disney princess story book very quickly so that it quickly became a memory game rather than a puzzle. The Toy Story 3 book was more of a story book and despite the awful accents and voices, was good fun to read together with lots of tidbits to explore on each page.

As a parent, I find the technology behind the Tag Junior reading system fascinating. I'm loving the way that it has re-ignited Lara's passion for “reading” at this early age (something that can often be eclipsed by the magic of television). I think that the Tag Junior system is a good way of encouraging an interest in books and to start the process of exploring books and words as well as pictures. It is very rewarding to see Lara rush in to the house after nursery and settle down with a book and the reader; it is also great to see her explain the product and how to use it to anyone new who comes to visit.

I can follow Lara's learning progress through the Leapfrog Learning Path online, or on my own laptop by regularly connecting her Leapfrog book pal to my own computer. Lara's Learning Path shows me that she has already developed those building blocks she will need to start reading and may be ready to move up to the Leapfrog Tag reading system sooner than I had anticipated.

The Tag Junior reading system has helped Lara to search on the page of a book for the words, not just the pictures and to to pinpoint the parts of a page that are relevant to the story. I think it is a good starting point and leads well into the Leapfrog Tag system for older children.

  

Little Readers - A Meme

I have found myself looking for ideas for books to buy my pre-schooler Lara for Christmas. We own a lot of books already and we borrow loads more from the local library but every so often we come across a real gem that provides many many hours of entertainment. I'm on the lookout for more of those gems.

And so I decided to start a meme so that I can find out about the books for preschoolers that you've come to love. The books that genuinely bring your family together and which make your children's eyes light up. The books that have shown to offer the best value for money and have helped to inspire your little ones to get involved with books.

For example... my absolute favourite book that we own is called "The Baby Dragon Tamer" by Jan Fearnley. The Baby Dragon Tamer tells the story of a little baby who is rudely awakened by a fierce dragon, causing the baby to cry. The dragon tries to convince the baby to give him his treasure and then the dragon freaks out at all the crying and does everything he can to stop the screaming. Eventually the two make friends and all is well with the world.

There are lots of reasons (listed below) why I love this book and why Lara loves it too but the primary reason is the amount of joy that I get from listening to my husband read it to Lara as her bedtime story. Mr. B. really gets into the story and ever since we first received the book (when Lara was about 9 months old) he has always given 100% when reading it. EVERY SINGLE TIME I hear Mr. B.'s booming voice declaring "GIVE ME YOU TREASURE" it brings an enormous smile to my face because I know, tucked up in bed, it is bringing an enormous smile to Lara's face took. Shortly after that I will hear her little giggle as the baby says "Goo Goo".

The Baby Dragon Tamer:-

• Is a book with a real story but not so much a 'reading book' as some


• Has brightly illustrated images that excite little eyes


• Encourages noises and emphasis on different areas and sounds throughout the story such as "Crash", "Boom", "Woooosh".


• Has a happy ending"

To start the meme rolling I've tagged

Cafebebe
Him, Me & Three
Young & Younger
Brink of Bedlam
Mummy Matters

If you join in the meme you can add your link to the linky below so that I (and everyone else) can come and read your book recommendations. If you would like to use the badge above you can use the code

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.mellowmummy.co.uk" target="_blank"><img style="width: 206px; height: 206px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU22xOhc-mjS-351i_FpAfn7qnBOF_6kHXcbguFNjUty6z77ZIZt_9GfRw7Sd88cljenTwDssBgEZTP83L97qoL0hqaZuZmh5v4Z4mUVSDlU0WL-TP_tpIYpsWk4inuKS2ET9DKk7fN9g/s400/IMG_3172+%25282%2529.jpg" border="0" alt="Mellow Mummy Little Readers"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664556529117809154" /></a></div>

Did You Talk To Your Baby?

I'll admit that I never chatted to Lara when she was simply a bump inside my belly but I did start the minute she was born – to me, the simple act of talking to my child was instinctive - it was the only way I could engage with and learn about the new stranger in my life.

I clearly remember my 6-week health visitor appointment. She arrived holding my first Bookstart pack and was expecting to have to preach to me about the importance of reading to young children. Lots of new parents don't realise how the words and sounds that they share with their baby from a very early age contribute to their child's speech and learning ability. For me, it didn't need much explaining. When the health visitor came into my living room, she was a taken aback to find me reading out loud to Lara the instruction manual from my brand new laptop that had been delivered that morning. It may sound bonkers to be reading out the usage guidelines for your DVD drive, or the operating instructions for a web-cam, but really, at 6 weeks old, the words didn't matter to Lara. What did matter was the eye contact, the sounds and tones of the words and phrases I used and, most importantly, the interaction with me. Lara looked into my eyes and knew I was laughing with her at the sentences I read. She responded with wide open eyes. It was great fun and we both enjoyed it.

Talking to, and with your baby is an incredibly important part of your child's start in life. I find it hard to put into words how strongly I feel this. Can you believe that a recent survey by the National Literacy Trust as part of the Communication Trust's 'Hello' campaign found that as many as 1 in 5 parents don't see the necessity to communicate with their baby during the first 3 months and that 1 in 20 parents think that communicating with your baby is only necessary once they turn 6 months old?

If I hadn't chatted with Lara during those first 3 months I would have been a very lonely mummy. As it was, Lara and I had a ball together. I know that I was talking to her (it was instinctive) and it is demonstrated by the following inescapable truths...

1. When I used to take Lara out in the buggy I would often give her things to hold or grab and say “there you go”. I probably said those three words far too often because, alongside 'peppa pig', 'doggie' and 'daddy', one of the very first word noises Lara made when she was about 8 or 9 months old was “dehroohgo”.



2. Lara was given a horse-shaped rattle when she was born. We called it the 'clip clop horse' and would make the sounds and talk to her about it often when she was on her play mat or in her pram. Many many months later, when the rattle had been packed away as a 'baby toy' we were on holiday in Switzerland and were all flabberghasted when Lara, hearing the noise of a horse's hooves trot down the street, announced that there was a “clip clop” shortly before the horse came into view (at which point her eyes lit up!).

These may seem like little things but they are proof that every little moment you spend talking to, or reading to your baby can make a difference.

I know that talking to a baby isn't instinctive for many mums and dads. Lots of new parents feel self-conscious about talking to their baby. It can be a big step for people who had previously only been used to adult company to start jibber jabbering away to a baby who they know can't talk back. On the Talk to Your Baby website there are some tips on how to get communicating with your child (they call it TLR, Talking, Listening and Responding).

Talking to your child can fit easily into your daily routine. Why not:

1. Recite a nursery rhyme while feeding your baby


2. Talk about the things you see while you are out and about


3. Describe what you are buying while you are in the shop


4. Sing songs while you are bathing your baby


5. Share a book with your child before bedtime

The most subtle of the TLR concepts that the National Literacy Trust mentions is 'Responding'. I realise now that this is also the most powerful. How do you think that a child as young as 12 months old learns to ask a question? How do they learn to communicate pain? To tell you they're tired? To let you know what they want to eat or drink? All of these things require them to communicate with you, but for them to know the right way of communicating requires you to responds appropriately. In the past fortnight, Lara has learned that saying “No, Mummy” with the emphasis on Mummy is far more effective than just barking “No” at me. This must have come from the different ways to which I respond to each of these statements. It never ceases to amaze me how clever toddlers are!

I've make a pledge on the Talk to Your Baby website to continue reading bedtime stories to Lara, even on the busiest of working days. I love sitting with her as she 'reads' books to me, but I still feel there is value in me reading slightly more advanced books to her as she can learn from my words as she drifts off to sleep. You can make a pledge too, here.