Best Books to read to Kids for World Book Day in March
World Book Day 2024 is under two weeks today, and we've already been figuring out our costume! Given how expensive fancy dress items are and that this is a one-off day we have found a pair of dungarees on Vinted (a great way to avoid extra cost) and are making other items ourselves.
My little girl is going as Utterly Thankless in the great book Rumblestar by Abi Elphinstone. This is an amazing series which I enjoyed reading just as much as my children!
So as reading or being read to, is so important for our little ones' minds, which books have you read to your children?
A new study by The Works has revealed the children's books that parents are most likely to read to their children as their very first book and they aren't new books but classics.
They aren't surprising and take me back to when my kiddies were tiny. The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Winnie the Pooh all understandably make the top 10. However, The Gruffalo, that celebrates it's 25th birthday on March 23, that is the most popular, with one in eight UK children having it read to them as their very first book. We loved this story and I can still recite most of it after having to read it so many times!
It's a very interesting study and also explored the ages parents are most likely to start reading to their children and the books parents most remember reading first. You can view the full study here.
We are in the 44% of parents who read to their children from birth, being book worms ourselves. If however you weren't a book lover until your adult life, it's never too late to start helping your child. There are so many benefits such as improving children's literacy and academic performance.
Although The Gruffalo was the most popular, just outside the top 10 was Zog and Room on the Broom which is our absolute favourite. The author Julia Donaldson is a joy to read over and over.
So what made the final list?
Credit: Unsplash.
Top 10 first books parents read to their young children
The Gruffalo
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
That’s Not My…
Guess How Much I Love You
Peppa Pig
Spot
The Tale of Peter Rabbit
Dear Zoo
Winnie the Pooh
Harry Potter
It's great to see that 44% of parents read to their children from birth, and 27% of parents do from under the age of two.
The study also showed that 10% of adults today don’t remember reading their first book until they were in secondary school which is such a shame. If this happens you are 20% less likely to read to a child under the age of two.
However, less than one in five parents that don’t recall being young readers until after the age of 12 will still go on to introduce reading to their own children from birth. Planting that tiny seed of imagination and love for reading.
To read the full study and get all nostalgic, head here.
March Books
As the first day of spring is just around the corner this is the perfect time to get inspired with some March picture books, dr. seuss books, maybe with some little pigs and other fun bedtime stories.
You don't need a perfect plan to start introducing books to your children. We moved on to reading chapter books from around age 5, with us reading to them. As the warmer weather comes in the month of March, choosing a great story with a beautiful garden, the Easter bunny or a kite day will always be popular!
Our children are now 8 and 11 so books for tweens or older students could be Holly Webb stories. She has a younger reader range and around 8+ which we are going through now. With titles such as The Story of Green River, Sky and Luna. My son is becoming a Harry Potter-head! But also loves the Wolf Brother series by Michelle Paver and anything by Katherine Rundell.
World Book Day
Remember that World Book Day takes place on Thursday March 7, 2024. The Works are supporting the charity and are encouraging children and parents to bring their £1 book token into stores between February 15 and March 31 to exchange their token for a book from the World Book Day 2024 range. For further details on World Book Day and redeeming your tokens at The Works read more here.