Find out what Mumsnet users thought about the Egmont Reading Club

[JustineBMumsnet]

This is the feedback thread for the Mumsnet users who have taken part in the Egmont Reading Club with their child (or children!).

Participants were sent books they had selected with their child weekly and asked to read to their child each day over the course of 6 weeks, as well as completing diary entries on their progress.

Participants, please let us know what your thoughts were on reading to your child over the six week period, considering the following, as well as sharing any other comments you have:

• How your child responded to you spending time reading to them, and if this changed as the weeks progressed?
• Any changes you noticed as a result of, or anything that surprised you about reading to your child?
• Any impact you felt reading to your child had on their (and your) wellbeing?
• Whether you intend to continue reading to your child now that the project has finished?
• Some of you will also have received a magazine, if your child was in the relevant age group. If so, how did your child respond to the magazine and what are your thoughts?
• Whether you intend to replicate the new book part of the project by allowing your child to choose a new book regularly?

Thanks,
MNHQ

Insight Terms and Conditions apply

[MrsAlwaysRight]

Thanks Justine

[JustineBMumsnet]

Hi all - apologies for not getting back to you! The winner was chorusline79, and the winner for taking part in the follow up survey we sent out via email was PachinkoFreeFood

[MrsAlwaysRight]

Thanks Scoleah

[Scoleah]

Not sure @MrsAlwaysRight i don't think anyone had a reply

[MrsAlwaysRight]

Did anyone find out about the voucher winner in the end?

[PachinkoFreeFood]

@JustineBMumsnet Hello, any news on the winner yet of the voucher? Thank you

[Scoleah]

@JustineBMumsnet was anyone chosen for the voucher? X

[sally2489]

Hi. I never received anything for the last 2 weeks for some reason and didn’t receive the link for the survey or feedback page despite emailing mumsnet, so I am giving my feedback now.

• How your child responded to you spending time reading to them, and if this changed as the weeks progressed?
  

My child responded very well to the extra reading time together. It became valued quality time which we all looked forward to and enjoyed a lot.
Both children Talked about the books the next day and mentioned them leading upto bedtime too, which showed they were absorbing a lot.

• Any changes you noticed as a result of, or anything that surprised you about reading to your child?
  

I was surprised at how both children Looked forward to and valued this new quality time together, and although the books were good, the family bond together became a lot more strengthened, which surprised me.
It was also surprising to see the eagerness of each child wanting to read themselves, rather than have me read to them. I felt this improved their reading skills And vocabulary a lot.

• Any impact you felt reading to your child had on their (and your) wellbeing?
  

We all looked forward to this special time at the end of the day where we could slow down and get lost in a book together.
I feel this reading time made them a lot more calmer the next day and made them behave better, in anticipation for who would read the book in the evening.

• Whether you intend to continue reading to your child now that the project has finished?
  

Yes, definitely! I have seen a lot of positive benefits from reading together, so I will definitely continue this routine.

• Some of you will also have received a magazine, if your child was in the relevant age group. If so, how did your child respond to the magazine and what are your thoughts?
  

N/A, not received any.

• Whether you intend to replicate the new book part of the project by allowing your child to choose a new book regularly?
  

Yes, definitely! Reading new books was very beneficial in terms of holding their interest and being exposed to new words, so I will be buying new books when I can or Borrowing from libraries as soon as I feel it is safe to.

[YoureMyWifeNowDave]

I took part with my children DD9 and DS3

Both children have really enjoyed being involved, DD loved choosing her books each week and the excitement of having a book delivery each week! DS wasn’t really interested in choosing the books but he did enjoy being read to.

At first DD was a bit reluctant to sit and have me read to her as she had got used to reading in her head rather than out loud and I think she thought it was a bit babyish to be read to but after a few days she started to relax and just enjoy the stories. DS has quite a short attention span and it took a while for him to sit and listen to me read but by the end of the 6 weeks he was independently picking a book and asking to sit and read together! DD also started reading to DS and this is really lovely to see.

Both children have really benefited from reading together with me each night and to be honest it was great to have a routine that they looked forward to as both of them have felt the impact of missing school and nursery and our usual day to day routine.

We have continued reading together although it is more like 5 nights a week now rather than every night. DS is much more engaged now with actual story books, before we started he only really liked picture books and would lose interest very quickly. DD says she likes listening to me read and I think she appreciates the quiet time together.

We did get a few magazines for DS, he liked the toys that came on the magazines but wasn’t that interested in the actual magazine itself although I think if he was a year or so older he would get more out of them.

We will definitely continue getting new books although it will be once a month I think rather than once a week, DD also wants to rejoin the library once it reopens.

Thank you to Mumsnet and to Egmont for allowing us to take part and for all the lovely books, it was wonderful to have something nice for the children to look forward to each week and it has really helped both of them to cope with all the recent upheaval and uncertainty

[Maisiesaves]

What a lovely project this was, and came at the perfect time!

DS7 loved my newfound enthusiasm for reading to him each day, mostly at bedtime, sometimes whilst he was in the bath! When he was younger, I read to him every day but that habit died out with new bedtime routines. (Son has ASD.) However, receiving a new package each week with some new books in was very exciting to my son, who was very excited to have the books read to him/look through the books himself. Some days, he even reminded me to read to him. (I purposefully held off to see if he would notice as that was how I could gauge if he was really enjoying the activity, or whether he was just going along with it because I said so!)

We read a variety of books, from picture books to Mr Men books, to Roald Dalhl... One thing that surprised me was my son's ability to sit/lie and listen to me reading. Usually, his attention span is quite limited, but he enjoyed my voices and my enthusiastic reading! (I am a Primary teacher in training!!) Where there were pictures, he'd stop me so we could have a chat about the pictures, and he would copy words and phrases I read out. We were able to chat about what I was reading and it showed that my son was comprehending the story, which is fantastic! As we had a couple of books on the go, I was able to give my son the choice of book I read to him which was nice.

Our reading time quickly became my favourite part of the day (not least because it signalled bedtime which equals peace and quiet for Mummy time!!) My son enjoyed it too and sometimes sat on my lap for a cuddle whilst I read.

At one point during the project, we received a 'Fornite' magazine which my son wasn't too interested in as he doesn't play the game, but he did love the little bow and arrow toy that came with it. My son always prefers the toys in magazines anyway.

We will continue our daily reading times. I'm thinking of extending it and encouraging my son to read to me, as well as me reading to him, so he benefits from both the reading and listening!

Great project. We usually pop in to our local charity shop at least once a week (Pre-covid times) to have a look at the book section, and I now have a Kindle which I can get some children's books on too! :)

[Osquito]

• DS loves having a bedtime story, it was something we did pretty often (maybe 5/7 nights a week as standard), but I really noticed a difference when we stuck to it every single day... the lockdown (being around each other ALL THE TIME) had made me complacent in actually doing quality one-on-one time, this project made him (and me) very happy.
  

• DS was already a good reader for his year group, but we were astounded at how much progress he made with Egmont sending us slightly more advanced books... and it really was the thing that tipped the scales from us always reading /DS reading picture books, to DS reading full chapters aloud, and on his own! I had also signed up to the project because I had been concerned DS was starting to lose his passion for books, with not being sustained by picture books yet intimidated by novels etc. So pleased with how this has turned out.
  

• The compulsory daily reading together was so vital to us in the current situation. Whereas before, if we’d had a horrible day arguing etc I was probably guilty of trying to get bedtime done as quick as possible so I could de stress elsewhere, I realised this gave us a chance to just end the day on a good note, in a safe space with something we could both focus on. I know it helped DS go to sleep feeling better, too.
  

• We have continued nearly every single night, and have encouraged reading during the day as a natural choice of something fun/desirable.
  

• DS feels so much more confident about what ‘big kid’ books he can handle, so I definitely feel that he can select his own now (before he’d only pick picture books).
  

Thank you SO MUCH to Egmont and MN for this chance. My DP and I were amazed at the effect on our DS’s ability and enthusiasm, it was a brilliant experience.

[Starfish78]

• How your child responded to you spending time reading to them, and if this changed as the weeks progressed?
  

She has loved having me read to her.

• Any changes you noticed as a result of, or anything that surprised you about reading to your child?
  

I’ve noticed that she has become a lot more adventurous in which books she will read and happily discusses what we’ve read and what she thinks may happen next

• Any impact you felt reading to your child had on their (and your) wellbeing?
  

It was nice to have some dedicated time together reading a book. She has always enjoyed reading but usually likes to read to herself so to have some time together each day with a book has been very positive for us both

• Whether you intend to continue reading to your child now that the project has finished?
  

Yes we will continue reading books together

• Some of you will also have received a magazine, if your child was in the relevant age group. If so, how did your child respond to the magazine and what are your thoughts?
  

N/A

• Whether you intend to replicate the new book part of the project by allowing your child to choose a new book regularly?
  

I would love to do this weekly however it’s too expensive but I will do it as often as I can, maybe monthly instead of weekly

[MrsKCastle]

First, can I just say a huge thank you to both Mumsnet and Egmont. Both my daughters were selected for this project, and during the 6 weeks, the day when the new parcel of books arrived was their weekly highlight! It gave them and me something to look forward to and they were really pleased with each and every book. On the last week, they didn't have the books that my older daughter wanted, so someone at Egmont chose for her based on her previous choices, and she loves the one they chose as well.

So, I'll answer the questions for each daughter: first B, who is 11.

• How your child responded to you spending time reading to them, and if this changed as the weeks progressed?

She has really enjoyed it. At first she was a bit hesitant. As a confident reader herself, I think she felt a bit old for being read to - she chose to stop having bedtime stories a while ago. But she got more used to it as the project went on and looked forward to spending that time together. She would start reminding me.

• Any changes you noticed as a result of, or anything that surprised you about reading to your child?

Not really. B enjoyed the reading but I can't say it had a.major impact on her - but she was already a confident and enthusiastic reader, I imagine it might have more impact on reluctant readers.

• Any impact you felt reading to your child had on their (and your) wellbeing?

It was a nice way of spending time together. It made me feel better knowing that even when I was busy, I was setting aside a dedicated amount of time each day to spend with her.

• Whether you intend to continue reading to your child now that the project has finished?I

JK Rowling's Ickabog story came out online just as the project was coming to an end, and I am now reading this to my daughters every day. With the Egmont project, I was reading to each of them separately but with Ickabog it's a shared time for all 3 of us. The way the story is being released a couple of chapters at a time really helps because we are all eager for the next part!
I'm not sure if I will continue reading to B once we get to the end of Ickabog. I'd be happy to continue but I think seems prefers to read independently for the most part as she has more time to read than I do and she doesn't have to wait for me!

• Whether you intend to replicate the new book part of the project by allowing your child to choose a new book regularly?

Well, B pretty much gets to choose new books whenever she wants to already! But once the current coronavirus situation eases up, I might take her to bookshops more often and choose with her more often. I will also try and read more short stories or news articles etc with her.

Answers for J, age 9.

• How your child responded to you spending time reading to them, and if this changed as the weeks progressed?

She absolutely loves it. She now feels she has an entitlement to that time and feels very hard done by if it doesn't happen for any reason. She looks forward to it. I think it is partly about the story and finding out what happens next, and partly about spending the time with me.

• Any changes you noticed as a result of, or anything that surprised you about reading to your child?

I was a little surprised by how much she enjoyed the books, and how much she took in. She would sometimes ask questions as we were reading - about a particular word, or the context of the story. But she would also often mull it over and then being the story up a day or two later. We'd be doing something and she would say 'oh, this reminds me of x in the story, because....' Or she would suddenly ask a question that she'd clearly been thinking about for ages. I really enjoyed that aspect of the reading - the discussion.

• Any impact you felt reading to your child had on their (and your) wellbeing?

This was really good for J. She has found the lockdown hard, missing her friends and school. So this 20 minutes or so every day has been great for her, because she knows that she will always get that time with me when she will have my attention. I think she feels better for having that shared interest and I feel better (there's always that parent guilt about not being able to spend as much time as you want with your children!) So yes, definitely a positive impact there.

• Whether you intend to continue reading to your child now that the project has finished?

Yes, definitely. I have always done bedtime stories with J, but this project has really shown me the value of reading to her at other times as well. We are currently sharing JK Rowling's Ickabog story, with J's sister as well and we are all enjoying that. Then J and I also have a book we share every day for her home learning, and another one for bedtime. My husband has all started reading to her at bedtime as well. I don't think J will let us stop reading to her any time soon, even if we wanted to - it is too important to her!

• Whether you intend to replicate the new book part of the project by allowing your child to choose a new book regularly?

Well, J gets to choose which books we read together already, but she currently has lots in her bedroom that she hasn't yet read. At the moment we'll be working out way through those, but if she can't find one th ere that she wants to read, I would certainly let her choose the next one to buy.


Finally (sorry this is turning into a long essay!) I just wanted to say that as an Infant school teacher as well as a mum, I am really pleased to hear that Egmont are encouraging shared reason in this way, and I hope other publishers will do the same. The children I teach usually love books and reading, but some of the parents tend to see reading as homework rather than a fun and exciting shared activity to do with their kids. It's easy to forget to do it, or to just go through the motions, so it's great to see reading being promoted in this way!

[StuntNun]

Many thanks to Egmont and Mumsnet for the opportunity for me and DS4 (age 5) to participate in the trial. DS4 was distressed to find out the library had closed for lockdown but this was made up for by being able to choose books and get a parcel once a week for a few weeks!

- How your child responded to you spending time reading to them, and if this changed as the weeks progressed?
DS4 has always been read to but the club shifted the emphasis towards him reading books as well. He had been reluctant to read his school reading books but once the club started he began reading more than one book on some days, and seemed much more enthusiastic about the process.

- Any changes you noticed as a result of, or anything that surprised you about reading to your child?
I feel that I started reading to DS4 more often. He always has a bedtime story but receiving the new books made it more likely for me to suggest he choose a story to be read during the day.

- Any impact you felt reading to your child had on their (and your) wellbeing?
DS4's mood and behaviour definitely improved over the course of the six weeks, particularly with regard to willingness to read. I'm sure at least some of the change was in response to the extra attention and time given through extra reading.

- Whether you intend to continue reading to your child now that the project has finished?
I've seen the benefits of extra reading time with DS4 so I will try to make that a more regular thing, in addition to his usual bedtime story.

- Some of you will also have received a magazine, if your child was in the relevant age group. If so, how did your child respond to the magazine and what are your thoughts?
Didn't receive a magazine.

- Whether you intend to replicate the new book part of the project by allowing your child to choose a new book regularly?
We would normally visit the library regularly however I would be interested in joining a similar kind of book scheme. Perhaps weekly books would be too much but a couple of books fortnightly or monthly would be an ideal stimulus to keep reading at an increased level.

Other comments
This was a great opportunity to get excellent books that we may not normally have chosen or bought. If this were run as a regular scheme it would be nice to have a forum to chat to other parents. There was a bit of interaction on the Mumsnet threads but it was mostly about missing books! The selection process was flawed since we were having to select the next week's books before the current week's had arrived and, not being able to remember which five we had chosen each week, we ended up getting one book twice which upset DS4 a little. Also if this becomes a regular scheme it would be helpful to be able to search by age range as it wasn't always easy to tell whether a book would be suitable for DS4 or not just from the photo and description.

Overall we were very happy with the club and I feel it has had a positive effect on my child and on his interest in reading.

[SylvanianFrenemies]

Responding to this first my experience with my 3yo. How your child responded to you spending time reading to them, and if this changed as the weeks progressed? She really loved this. We already read every night, but she enjoyed having reading in the day, and picking books.

• Any changes you noticed as a result of, or anything that surprised you about reading to your child? She seems to gave a better grasp of narrative structure, and makes up more complex stories. We have been surprised by her vicab8a lit recently, seems to be borrowing from some of the new stories.
• Any impact you felt reading to your child had on their (and your) wellbeing? It has been a nice family experience. Her confidence in telling stories seems improved.
• Whether you intend to continue reading to your child now that the project has finished? Yes!!
• Some of you will also have received a magazine, if your child was in the relevant age group. If so, how did your child respond to the magazine and what are your thoughts? The magazines were great. I'm usually not very good at working through them with her, I was pleasantly surprised by how much she got out of the magazines with my being more active in supporting her.
• Whether you intend to replicate the new book part of the project by allowing your child to choose a new book regularly? Yes. Every week is too expensive, but will aim for once a month.

[SylvanianFrenemies]

I did this with both my daughters. Will talk about the 8yo first....

How your child responded to you spending time reading to them, and if this changed as the weeks progressed?

She has loved it! I usually just leave her to her own reading, but she has loved having ne and her dad read to her again.

• Any changes you noticed as a result of, or anything that surprised you about reading to your child? She falls asleep more easily. She has become more open minded about trying new texts. She has started reading regularly to her little sister. ❤
• Any impact you felt reading to your child had on their (and your) wellbeing? It has been a nice bonding experience. It seems relaxing for her.
• Whether you intend to continue reading to your child now that the project has finished? Yes. I'm really glad we are back to reading together!
• Some of you will also have received a magazine, if your child was in the relevant age group. If so, how did your child respond to the magazine and what are your thoughts? We didn't get any for an 8yo. Shame, because she really wanted a copy of Toxic and we can't go to the shops for it!
• Whether you intend to replicate the new book part of the project by allowing your child to choose a new book regularly? Yes, though cannot afford to do it as much as for the project.

[IWasThere4Aug12]

DS10 responded really well – he was happy to co-read and do his share but much preferred me reading to him. DS13 enjoyed listening in as well which I didn’t expect.

Really positive impact on everyone’s wellbeing – I’ve been working long hours so it was nice to have this as a fixed routine to ensure I had some quiet time with the DCs. If you don’t make the effort with these things its easy for time to slip away.

Definitely intend to continue reading with both DCs as long as they want it (5 days a week not 7 as routines are different at the weekend).

DS10 received a Fortnight magazine – he looked at it briefly but was rather scornful and said it was ‘way out of date’. He did like the cheap plastic toy attached though.

Yes we will allow DS to choose new books at the library each week once reopened. If he finds a series he really likes, I’m happy to buy them. He found a new series he loves by chance during this trial which I’m eternally grateful for – he now has something else to read over and over rather than just Diary of a Wimpy Kid!

We’ve really enjoyed the trial – thank you so much for selecting us.

[BookShop]

• How your child responded to you spending time reading to them, and if this changed as the weeks progressed?

We used to read together daily when DS was younger but as he got older and more independent I let him read alone. DS is a fluent reader and will come to me if he needs clarification or wants to talk about a book. It was a great excuse to have him read with me again. I think it invigorated his love of books and being together was enjoyable. The snuggling up together part was nice. We would make a cup of tea and sit down with focus and intent. Occasionally it felt a bit like a chore, especially with the lockdown - being another thing to have to do, but once we sat down and began reading it was always pleasurable.

• Any changes you noticed as a result of, or anything that surprised you about reading to your child?

DS is amazing at creating different voices for characters. He really did bring them to life. I always knew how smart he was but this reinforced that. I think he realised that the sound of his own voice can be interesting. He is much more likely to read aloud or to others now.

• Any impact you felt reading to your child had on their (and your) wellbeing?

He was calmer than usual - which is saying something as he is generally laid back! Finding time to read with him made him see how available I actually am. We definitely had more cuddles with the reading.

• Whether you intend to continue reading to your child now that the project has finished?

We are still reading together. It is instigated by DS much more now.

• Some of you will also have received a magazine, if your child was in the relevant age group. If so, how did your child respond to the magazine and what are your thoughts?

We were not keen on the magazine. I don't like all the plastic that goes with kids magazines. The actual magazine wasn't of interest to DS.

• Whether you intend to replicate the new book part of the project by allowing your child to choose a new book regularly?

Book buying is encouraged in our house. We are members in 4 different local libraries. We love reading and regularly choose different genres/authors/formats for any reading. I have always encouraged DS to choose freely and read widely. We will definitely continue. I adore books and am keen for my DCs to feel the same. Luckily they appear to have the reading bug.

Thank you for giving us the chance to take part. We have passed on a couple of books to friends and will pass on the others when they are no longer of interest to us.

[chorusline79]

How your child responded to you spending time reading to them, and if this changed as the weeks progressed?

Both my children really enjoyed the reading aloud, and seemed to look forward to it more and more as we got more into a routine of doing it. They loved the new books and looked forward to helping choose them, so I think they felt involved in the project.

• Any changes you noticed as a result of, or anything that surprised you about reading to your child?
  

I was surprised about how much I enjoyed it, especially making the time to do it. I think we all found it very calming, and I was surprised at the impact of that and on some days it just totally changed the mood ( for the better!) I was able to use the reading as a tool to diffuse arguments, something I had not really considered before.

• Any impact you felt reading to your child had on their (and your) wellbeing?
  

An increased sense of calm, and definitely an increased closeness, as both my children are quite young and like to sit on me when I am reading to them. The affection and extra cuddles certainly helped to improve wellbeing.

• Whether you intend to continue reading to your child now that the project has finished?
  

Absolutely. I will make the time to do so regularly. The benefits are worth it and we all enjoy it, and I would like to establish good habits of regular reading now whilst they are young!

• Some of you will also have received a magazine, if your child was in the relevant age group. If so, how did your child respond to the magazine and what are your thoughts?
  

The magazines were hit and miss. My daughter (3) did enjoy some of the activities and liked the colouring. My son (5) wasn't really interested in the magazines at all. I preferred the books, but did like elements of the magazines, but I probably wouldn't buy them as I think they are quite expensive for what they are.

• Whether you intend to replicate the new book part of the project by allowing your child to choose a new book regularly?
  

I think I will. I haven't yet as we are still reading some of the project books but we all enjoyed receiving them and having something new and exciting to read. It is also wonderful to hold a book with them, and not do everything screen based so I see it as money well spent and would encourage them to choose their own.

[MrsFrTedCrilly]

Thanks for having us take part in this project it has really helped us create a little piece of calm everyday during lockdown.

• How your child responded to you spending time reading to them, and if this changed as the weeks progressed?
  

Initially she was a bit nonplussed by it all as she definitely was a reluctant reader. She definitely changed over time and as asking when reading time was by the end of the 6 week period.

• Any changes you noticed as a result of, or anything that surprised you about reading to your child?
  

It really calmed her down on bad days and helped her settle, she was very engaged with the stories. Her vocabulary and reading fluency improved a lot. It surprised me that she wanted to read to me by the end of the trial period.

• Any impact you felt reading to your child had on their (and your) wellbeing?
  

It was a little bit of cuddles and calm every day.

• Whether you intend to continue reading to your child now that the project has finished?
  

Yes, although she now reads to us sometimes, I didn’t think she’d ever do this willingly as it’s too much like school reading!

• Some of you will also have received a magazine, if your child was in the relevant age group. If so, how did your child respond to the magazine and what are your thoughts?
  

We didn’t receive any magazines as part of the trial.

• Whether you intend to replicate the new book part of the project by allowing your child to choose a new book regularly?
  

Yes we are doing this, not weekly but as and when we finish a book.

Thanks again for including us in the project.

[Katiecoooooo]

• How your child responded to you spending time reading to them, and if this changed as the weeks progressed?
  

It was lovely to spend time together that put no pressure on him. There has been a lot of nagging and cajoling with the school work and this was a really lovely way to just be together.

• Any changes you noticed as a result of, or anything that surprised you about reading to your child?
  

He has a massive emotional intelligence that I hadn’t really picked up on before. One of the books had a really big impact and we have spoken a lot about it since. The reading gave loads of opportunity to talk about words make sure of comprehension.

• Any impact you felt reading to your child had on their (and your) wellbeing?
  

The time spent snuggled up together was lovely and I hadn’t read to him for ages. I loved the reading aloud as well and I think we both found it relaxing and soothing.

• Whether you intend to continue reading to your child now that the project has finished?
  

Definitely, not as often as life does get in the way but we have a book on the go now.

• Some of you will also have received a magazine, if your child was in the relevant age group. If so, how did your child respond to the magazine and what are your thoughts?
  

I am not a big fan of these magazines but he enjoyed it. I think they are expensive and often bought for the plastic toy and then discarded very quickly.

• Whether you intend to replicate the new book part of the project by allowing your child to choose a new book regularly?
  

I have promised to do this over the summer hols. The price spent on a new book is very little compared to the hours of entertainment and very good value compared to comics.
Thank you for the opportunity. We have loved taking part.

[Ostanovka]

• How your child responded to you spending time reading to them, and if this changed as the weeks progressed?

My DD is 7 and reads well by herself, I hadn't read to her regularly for some time. She enjoyed it, but I think on the whole she prefers reading to herself because she finds the story pace faster. She would listen to a chapter and then go and finish the book herself. I didn't sign up my 4 year old to take part but wish I had, she got a lot out of listening in. She now brings me books to read to her all the time, and when I go to tuck her in at night, her bed is full of books.

• Any changes you noticed as a result of, or anything that surprised you about reading to your child?

They became nicer children, from us sitting together every day. My 4 year old was previously completely uninterested in reading and writing and in fact got cross when I tried to teach her the alphabet, but she can now tell letters and numbers apart and wanted to try a phonics game again which she had rejected before. 7 year old writes stories about the book characters, she gets very involved. They both play games with Sylvanians and Playmobil using the book's storylines and characters

• Any impact you felt reading to your child had on their (and your) wellbeing?

They were more content and better behaved from the extra attention. I feel better for spending time with them. It was good to put my phone down!

• Whether you intend to continue reading to your child now that the project has finished?

Yes, definitely. I never say no to reading now!

• Some of you will also have received a magazine, if your child was in the relevant age group. If so, how did your child respond to the magazine and what are your thoughts?

We had a Disney Princess one, they were very excited when it arrived and enjoyed looking through it but didn't go back to it, whereas the books have been reread many times.

• Whether you intend to replicate the new book part of the project by allowing your child to choose a new book regularly?

Yes, we're looking forward to the library reopening but I'm going to try to buy the rest of the Tintin series we started as DD loves it.

Thank you for including us in the project, choosing and receiving the books was a lot of fun and we all benefited from reading together.

[leeloo1]

This was a brilliant project and one that we all really enjoyed taking part in.

-How your child responded to you spending time reading to them, and if this changed as the weeks progressed?

My dd(6) already loves being read to, but she felt more of a sense of ownership because she had chosen the books herself.

My ds(11) prefers to read to himself and choose his own books. He was sometimes happy to read together and we co-read some books, including with his sister. It did normalise reading together more though and I noticed he asked me to read with him a couple of times before the project ended. I just asked him if he enjoyed being read to and he said 'not really'.

• Any changes you noticed as a result of, or anything that surprised you about reading to your child?

I knew they are both good readers for their age, but Dd surprised me with her reading stamina - e.g. insisting on reading 3 pages solid of Land of Roar. She became very good at asking what words meant during the project. I was also surprised how much she enjoyed funny books, like the naughtiest unicorn.

Ds is less keen on reading aloud, he did it because he 'had to', but his reading expression improved as he competed a little with his sister. I was surprised he mispronounced a couple of words that he clearly knew from reading, but hadn't heard pronounced - or had, but hadn't cross referenced with the written word.

• Any impact you felt reading to your child had on their (and your) wellbeing?

I think we all enjoyed the snuggly time, especially at a stressful time like lockdown.

• Whether you intend to continue reading to your child now that the project has finished?

With dd yes. Ds less so, as its hard to persuade him to, we do occasionally read 'project' books together though that I think would be improving for him (this could be why he doesn't want to read with me!).

• Some of you will also have received a magazine, if your child was in the relevant age group. If so, how did your child respond to the magazine and what are your thoughts?

Ds got a fortnite one, which we donated, as he doesn't play. Both kids loved the free bow and arrow though!
Dd got 2 lol comics, which she disliked as she thought they were ugly and a my little pony one, which she didn't really enjoy. She liked the free stuff on them all though.
She got a Disney princess one which she really enjoyed, having recently learned about through disney+.

I think all the comics showed that unless you like the focus characters then there isn't anything intrinsically worth reading /doing in them - e.g. any stories that are interesting even if you aren't a fan of lol/mlp.

• Whether you intend to replicate the new book part of the project by allowing your child to choose a new book regularly?

Yes, definitely. I was pleased that they enjoyed choosing their own books.

Thanks for letting us take part, we all really enjoyed it and looking forward to the books coming was a fantastic part of the week.

[StillNoFuckingEyeDeer]

• How your child responded to you spending time reading to them, and if this changed as the weeks progressed?

I read to my children who are 4, 6 and 9 years old. They all responded positively to being read to. They enjoyed having individual attention and all responded well to the books.

• Any changes you noticed as a result of, or anything that surprised you about reading to your child?

They all became more engaged with reading and the older two started reading more to themselves as well.

• Any impact you felt reading to your child had on their (and your) wellbeing?

I think it made all of us feel happier and more relaxed.

• Whether you intend to continue reading to your child now that the project has finished?

yes, definitely.

• Some of you will also have received a magazine, if your child was in the relevant age group. If so, how did your child respond to the magazine and what are your thoughts?

the magazines were not as popular as the books.

• Whether you intend to replicate the new book part of the project by allowing your child to choose a new book regularly?

yes. definitely.

[pinkspideruk]

We took part with D (M aged 10) and H (F aged 6)

• How your child responded to you spending time reading to them, and if this changed as the weeks progressed?

Originally it was a bit of a struggle to get both of them to settle down to read however after the first week they were very keen to have their reading time and their attitude to reading changed. Both H and D at separate times asked to read their books outside of our reading time.

I also found originally H didn't really want to read one of the books, but midway through when we had finished the other books she was happy to go back and try the book again - something she wouldn't have done before.

• Any changes you noticed as a result of, or anything that surprised you about reading to your child?

Both H and D have become much more confident in their reading and in their willingness to sound out and try to read new words, I was surprised by how quickly they both started to enjoy reading and how they picked up new words and used the stories in other games together and separately.

I was also surprised at how easily they were able to link some of the things they were reading about to their own lives and the world around us.

• Any impact you felt reading to your child had on their (and your) wellbeing?

I think its had a really positive affect on both children's wellbeing. Having dedicated time where they were with me and allowing them time after reading to chat gave each of them their own space with me and they definitely appreciated that.

It also ave me some really good teaching tools to start discussions with them for example not judging people by how they look, how sometimes people are bullies or mean because of whats going on in their own life and it's nothing to do with you for H and for D it led to some interesting discussions around people's rights and how women were treated in Victorian times and how this changed and why. This has felt really pertinent as well in our current times.

• Whether you intend to continue reading to your child now that the project has finished?

100% will continue with reading however it has been really difficult to fit the time in every day for 2 of them. I think going forward I'll read to them on alternative nights 3 times a week and have a rest 1 day and spend that time catching up on my own reading :)

• Some of you will also have received a magazine, if your child was in the relevant age group. If so, how did your child respond to the magazine and what are your thoughts?

Both H and D receive a couple of magazines. H really enjoyed doing the activities in her magazines and all the toys that came with them. She did need a bit of help with some of the bits but mostly was happy to take them and do them by herself. D was also very happy with his mags which were around gaming his favourite thing and he was really happy to take them and read them on his own without my input.

The mags seemed good for keeping them occupied and the ones for H especially with the free gifts would have been good value for money if we were buying them.

They normally get a magazine once a month and I usually let them choose it themselves.

• Whether you intend to replicate the new book part of the project by allowing your child to choose a new book regularly?

I definitely will be - getting them involved in choosing the books was great as it meant they were excited to get their books and read them