Posted Friday November 6th 2009 by Dorothy, Booktime parent

Part one: This week, mum-of-two Dorothy got in touch with Booktime to give her thoughts on the programme. In part one of this guest blog post, Dorothy tells us about the books her children like to read and what her daughter made of Mr Big.


I'm Dorothy, mum of two girls aged four-and-a-half and nearly nine. The youngest, Evie, has learnt to write her name and likes to autograph anything that doesn't move, including the flyleaf of any passing book, to display her newly acquired skill (she just mastered how to write the v the right way up). Evie was 'very happy' with her Bookstart Treasure Chest of books first of all and her blue Booktime bag of books this term in Reception. I am hugely impressed with these schemes, which bring wonderful books to so many young children in such an imaginative way. Daisy was miffed that she'd missed out on these fab gifts this year, but consoled by the fact that she's a member of the good old Puffin Club, thanks to a generous auntie last Christmas.


Both girls like books and read, or are read to every day, though there's a lot of competition for their attention from TV and online, so they're not the bookworm that I was back in the 70s when we only had three channels, an Etch a Sketch, and a library card for entertainment. They also do far more extra curricular stuff than I did.


We've always read to them at bedtime, or snuggled on the sofa and they bring books home from school too, so they've had books around as long as they can remember. They both like comics – Daisy's a Beano fan. Evie's favourite pastime is role play games and you'll often find her playing teacher and 'reading' to a gaggle of dolls or Playmobil figures. Like many young children she loves books with animal characters, so Ed Vere's heartwarming tale of Mr Big got the thumbs-up. She was drawn to the quirky, vibrant illustrations depicting the sad and lonely Mr Big and all the other smaller creatures in town who were scared of him. When we talked about what was happening in the story she understood straightaway that Mr Big was unhappy because he didn't have any friends. Like many girls her age, (deep sigh) Evie worships at the altar of pink, so her favourite thing in the book was not so much the uplifting ending as the candyfloss-coloured motor Mr Big drove off in...


Other books Evie likes are Lauren Child's But Excuse me That Is My Book, Mo Willems' Knuffle Bunny and Lullabyhullaballoo by Mick Inkpen. Daisy, on the other hand, is a total tomboy and likes swimming, drawing and drama club. Her favourite books are Harry Potter, Horrid Henry, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and Horrible Histories and she's currently into Goodnight Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian.

 

> Read part two of Dorothy's post here

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