It's never too early to start reading to children: Even young babies will enjoy the rhythm of being read to, and as they start to notice the colourful pictures, they will realise that the story or rhyme comes from the book. They'll reach out for the book to hold, and yes - at first they probably want to chew it...
Put books into the hands of babies and young children: The very young can start with cloth or board books. But don't be afraid to put paperback books into the hands of the very young, yes there'll be a few casualties along the way, but it's better for first books to be a bit creased and torn than to sit pristine on a bookshelf.
A cellotaped book is a loved book: Small children will have favourite books that they will want to read everyday, and like a favourite teddy, they will love them just as much after they've been mended. The value of a book is in releasing the words and pictures from the pages and sharing them, not in keeping the book in perfect condition, a respect for books will follow soon enough.
Use interactive books: Books with flaps and slots are great fun for pre-readers and make them feel involved in the book.
Find a book they can relate to: My best seller is; But I'm Not Sleepy - the words every parent has heard at bedtime.
Lucy isn't sleepy. She's feeling bouncy and full of energy.
She listens to Granny's bedtime stories, then jumps about pretending to be the characters.
Granny suggests counting sheep, but when the sheep start running around Lucy's bedroom, even Downboy the sheepdog can't round them up.
Finally Lucy gets tired, and finds her own solution to the sheep problem.
32 page full colour paperback ISBN 978-0-9560232-1-6
Read to, and read with: Don't make reading a chore - even once a child can read, they will still enjoy being read to. Read a page in turns, read together - make reading fun.
Early chapter books are set out like adult books: but the chapters are shorter, giving a sense of achievement when a chapter is completed. They often have black and white line drawings to help jog the imagination along and space the text out on the page.
I like my characters to be fun and a little bit mischievous: my most mischievous character is Iver No-Idea, a doodle who came to life, and was such fun to write that he is now featured in three books:
The first one, where it all began is Doodle Mayhem now in second edition and on kindle.
Eric would rather doodle than write a story, but when the words start to disappear off the page in front of him, and his doodle starts talking to him, he thinks he must be dreaming.
Eric's doodle has come to life, and he's getting bored; he jumps into Miranda's story, where he gets attacked by a rubber, then he's blown off his feet when Natasha sneezes. Miss Roper is getting angrier by the second. How will Eric ever finish his story, when his doodle just wants to have fun, and create havoc?
Step into a world where drawings come alive, meet Eric's doodles Iver No-Idea and his dog HB as they cause their own brand of trouble.
46 page paperback
Black & white line drawings
ISBN 978-0-9560232-4-7
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