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

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.

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.

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!

• 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

• 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.

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! :)

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

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.

@JustineBMumsnet was anyone chosen for the voucher? X

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

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

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

Thanks Scoleah

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

Thanks Justine