“That’s the thing about books. They let you travel without moving your feet.” My mum would often recall that I’ve always been “an avid reader” the exquisite thing about books is that they let you shift from one realm to the next: you’re a retired headmistress in chapter one, to a bouncing baby boy in chapter three, a few pages and books along you’re an orphaned child in the 17th century begging or selling matches for a living, and finally to a highly decorated war hero in the final chapter. The people you meet shape your world and adjust your thinking; you begin to understand and see life how they see life…..different from how you see life.
I use to love reading books to my young children; I miss their giggling, roaring and repetition….I daren’t miss a phrase or they would request “Can we go back some pages as you’ve missed a bit.” The look of joy, surprise and sadness as we met new characters and ploughed through their countless journeys. They would giggle, roar and quote – in parrot fashion – catch phrases. At times we’d jump up and do actions to accompany the words. Sometimes the same book – dog-eared – would be read for days that went into weeks (and I recall one being read for a whole month; if not more).
We have a whopping selection of some of the best children’s books in the land! Do you remember Wibbly Pig? Well, we have his selection: Wibbly Pig is Happy, Wibbly Pig Makes Pictures and so much more; a lovely selection of animal books: Animals in the Artic, Animals in Danger, Animals at Sea and if you want an enjoyable selection of the seasons we have a great adaption of Guess How Much I Love You – covering the 4 seasons. So as SaL often says….click away and read away.