Parents' blog
What do Bookstart parents have to say? Find out more and add your comments.
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Milo gets his Bookstart pack
Posted Friday August 28th 2009
by Natasha Worswick
Milo and I picked up our Bookstart book pack last week. We were given it at his eight month review which he sailed through and it turns out he is very long for his age which is surprising as we are both quite short! Anyway, needless to say I was very excited by him getting his pack at last, and I think he was too.
The Bookstart bag is a common sight around these parts. I have been seeing mum’s wheeling their babies, toddlers and young children around with their bags attached to the buggy or slung over their shoulders for a while now. It sort of looks like they belong to a little club. Whenever I saw a mum with one, they always had an older baby and seemed so much more experienced at this parenting stuff than I was. Now I have an older baby, but I still feel like there is an awful lot to learn.
Instead of worrying about bad naps, development stages, percentiles and the like, I put a blanket down on the grass in the park, took Milo out of his buggy and sat him down to enjoy his new bag of goodies. We…
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Reading along at the library
Posted Wednesday August 26th 2009
by Natasha WorswickYou might remember that I’ve been going to our local library a lot since the summer weather went downhill. Well, recently we discovered a sing-and-read-along session that takes place every Wednesday in the children’s section.
It’s great and I went along with my friend Holly and her daughter Rebecca, who is just a month younger than Milo. We joined a group of about 10 other babies and their parents or carers. I think in any other circumstance (unless tipsy and at karaoke) singing in public is a little embarrassing, but for some reason with babies on board it really isn’t. And the children’s faces really light up when all the adults suddenly started singing nursery rhymes together!
I’m loving it at the moment especially as Milo’s just started bopping up and down to music and even just rhythm, like hand clapping. I’ve been singing to him since he was born and I’ve always known that he enjoys it, from the way he can relax if he’s upset or a small smile, but the bopping is a wonderful feeling for me! The other exciting development recently is waving and there was a LOT of waving during the singing and the rhymes.…
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Booktrust is pleased to announce the winner of the Booktrust Bedtime Reading Week competition
Posted Tuesday August 25th 2009
by Paula Sutton
Louise Lamb and her children aged five, three and six months are from Ipswich, Suffolk and they wrote in to tell us that they all like to share You Choose by Nick Sharratt and Pippa Goodhart.
'The reason we love You Choose so much is that it is a fun and highly interactive book that lets the imagination run riot. My girls love to choose which house, bed or job etc they are going to do by selecting from the hundreds of pictures. We also put a spin on it where we choose for each other which has the girls laughing endlessly as they pick the job of ballerina for their dad! It is a book that all ages can enjoy together.
We got You Choose from the My Bookstart Treasure Chest. So if it wasn't for the Bookstart scheme we would not have our girls favourite book, so for that alone THANK YOU!!!'
Booktrust had over 10,000 visits to our Bedtime Reading Week website and lots of entries for the competition. Many families voted for The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle and We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Micahel Rosen. Books by Roald Dahl were…
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Offsetting the weather with good books
Posted Tuesday August 25th 2009
by Natasha Worswick
If the weather has been anywhere near as bad for you as it has for my corner of London, you won’t have had the chance to get out to enjoy the sunshine much. Like a lot of my friends with kids in our area, we’ve often found ourselves indoors tucked up with a good book quite often recently.
So when it isn’t raining, we’ve been venturing out to the library to stock up – and it has turned into something of a social occasion for Milo and I. We are guaranteed to bump into someone we know. Often we’ll realise that a book we’re returning is sought after by our friends or vice versa.
At the moment we’re finding that we really depend on the library because we can’t really afford to keep buying things for Milo, and this seems to be the same for a lot of people I know. My friend and I were chatting about how much books aren’t just for reading but are also activities or toys - especially at the age our babies are at the moment (her little girl is just a couple of months older than Milo).
It’s true – lots of books…
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Bedtime Books Save the Day
Posted Monday August 17th 2009
by Natasha Worswick
We went to a wedding a few Saturdays ago - our first truly big occasion with Milo in tow. Needless to say, we were a bit worried beforehand about how it would all go.
For us it was a lovely day... the bride looked gorgeous and the groom was very handsome in his suit. The church was atmospheric and the reception was electric. And the baby...well, you'll be very pleased to hear the baby behaved himself for the most part!
Naturally, when you mix an eight-month-old with a big social event you expect some hiccups. And needless to say, there were a few. But you know what really made the difference between a confident mum and dad and strung out parents?
Milo's bedtime books, that's what. At the crucial changeover point between the ceremony and the reception, we took him to a quiet spot in the church and read to him his current bedtime story, The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. We always use his books before naps and bedtime and hope they work as a cue to sleepy time. And for a very over stimulated and overtired baby Eric Carle was there to relax him into a gentle…
