"Regardless of how you feel inside, always try to look like a winner. Even if you are behind, a sustained look of control and confidence can give you a mental edge that results in victory."
Arthur Ashe
“Properly, we should read for power. Man reading should be man intensely alive. The book should be a ball of light in one's hand.”
Ezra Pound
There are a myriad reasons why an investment in children's books really is an investment in their future learning and development.
Reading books can stimulate children of all ages, in highly different ways. For kids aged zero to two years, effectively babies and young toddlers, it's more about the visual stimulation, touch and bonding between parent and child that is most important.
Typically, baby books are brightly coloured, textured and chunky - making them perfect for getting baby's senses going. As they get older, they are more excited by books with button-activated noises, lights and lift-flaps, as different areas of their brain begin to develop and pay attention to what's going on in front of their eyes.
Two to three-year-olds become more interested in the actual words, as they explore the world of talking. They tend to find one page or book and focus on it, asking their mums and dads to read it over and over again - frustrating for adults but great for kiddies' memory skills! Their favourite characters, such as those from movies, are a particular favourite at this age, as they really feel they are engaging with the character's 'life'.
As your little ones grow and begin to reach the ripe old age of five, they can handle slightly more complex texts and character stories. By this stage, they can predict what might happen, repeat the words they hear and learn about the subjects portrayed in books. For this reason, it is crucial to introduce not only works of fiction, but perhaps creative non-fiction, allowing them to learn about subjects like animals, history and fantasies such as pirates and mermaids.
When children begin to get older, they can really expand their vocabulary and knowledge by reading aloud from books, rather than just to themselves. This is also an excellent way for them to feel more grown-up, particularly if you are pro-active in asking them to read you a bedtime story!
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Louis Sharman is a freelance author writes article on various topics. To learn more about various bookstores and Online Bookshops he recommends you to visit http://www.foyles.co.uk
“Real leaders forever need bigger and more irresistible challenges.”
—Mark Victor Hansen
“We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future.”
—George Bernard Shaw
"Successful people make decisions quickly and change them slowly if and when at all."
Napoleon Hill
Author of Think and Grow Rich
“Forgiveness does not mean that we suppress anger; forgiveness means that we have asked for a miracle: the ability to see through mistakes that someone has made to the truth that lies in all of our hearts.
Forgiveness is not always easy. At times, it feels more painful than the wound we suffered, to forgive the one that inflicted it.
And yet, there is no peace without forgiveness. Attack thoughts towards others are attack thoughts towards ourselves. The first step in forgiveness is the willingness to forgive........Marianne Williamson
"Better do a little well, than a great deal badly."
-Socrates
