This weeks’ fedbkgrp is based all around sharing books and stories. So whether this is books we like to share with familes, collegues, friends, book groups or children we’re discussing what our favourite ones are.
Sharing books and stories is an integral part of our culture and our history. Oral tradition dictates that stories are enjoyed and best enjoyed when we share them together. In fact we carry on this tradition every day. Maybe its recounting your journey in from work, or explaining why your homework wasn’t done, its telling stories (granted some may be more entertaining than others, I used to love coming up with interesting reasons why my homework hadn’t been done!) but the common theme is the act of sharing.
The multifaceted nature of books means that there is so many good things about them. For me one of the most important is the ability to bring people together. Whether this is talking to your neighbour about your latest read or discussing on the train what the person next to you is reading reading is one those things like the weather that we British can easily talk about. But beyond that it brings us together in different ways. As families we can enjoy reading together, bringing us closer. It can be the special time we spend with our children, a time in the day where nothing else matters but being together. The bigger picture in sharing stories is as a vehicle to communicate, to talk, to enjoy, to be together. Forget all the amazing things reading can do (these are so many it would be hard to name them all, again the power of reading) there is also so much more of that ‘bigger picture’ that gets missed out and not spoken about. It is part of our cultural history, part of our tradition and one that we continue to do everyday even if we don’t realise it but one that we should also treasure a lot more!
Sharing books is vital and something we should never stop doing, especially to our children. It’s how we grow, how we understand more about ourselves and our place in the world. It is part of what makes us and is certainly part of what made me!
The Book Guy 
I couldn’t agree more. I think there is something infinitely precious in reading to a child- after all, he or she has your undivided attention during the time you’re sharing that book. You can’t watch TV, or answer your phone, or check your email while reading. There’s usually a physical closeness too- the child is on your knee or sitting next to you, cuddling. I don’t have children myself, but when I was a teacher it was something I always advocated to parents, particularly once the child could read to themselves. Their language comprehension is usually in advance of their ability to read books, so it is important to continue to read and discuss books with children to encourage them to persevere.