Cut-Out Characters

Photocopy or draw the main character(s) from a favourite storybook. Cut them out and write their name on the back i.e. Little Brown Mouse. If possible laminate it so it will last despite all the handling. Now your child can use this character to join in the story moving from page to page as well as using the written names to develop a sight vocabulary. The children can also develop language skills by creating their own stories using the cut out characters. The laminates make handy bookmarks too!

- Laura, Glasgow

DIY Talking Books

My daughter loves books and particularly enjoys listening to story tapes in the car. Now that she has a little cousin on the way she is busy recording tapes of her favourite stories and rhymes complete with sound effects for him to enjoy! My daughter is 6 years old and her favourite story tape at the moment is The Twits by Roald Dahl which is read by Roger Blake who she finds hilarious to listen to - it really fires up her imagination! When she was younger she really enjoyed Tales of Trotter Street by Shirley Hughes, which is read by Ian Holm.

- Erin, West Lothian

Dahl-mania!

Silverwood Primary in East Ayrshire celebrated World Book Day in March by putting the author Roald Dahl under the spotlight. Fun and games centred on his books were enjoyed by all, especially Mrs. Kalkan who terrorised everyone dressed up as Miss Trunchbull from Matilda. Children shared their favourite stories and bought bargain books and every class heard a Dahl extract from a surprise visitor. There was a hunt for a Golden Ticket (the prize was a huge Easter egg) and even school dinners got a Roald Dahl makeover with such delicacies as Big Toe in a Bun and Monster's Eyes washed down with Willie Wonka's Jumping Juice!
Silverwood Primary raised £156, which was donated to the Roald Dahl Foundation to help children with blood disorders.

- May Baird, East Ayrshire

It's great fun to discuss what we read

My youngest son needs a lot of encouragement with his reading and together we like to sit down with books or magazines about animals, cars, planes and other non-fiction subjects. It's great fun to discuss what we read or the pictures we look at.

- Sandy Lyle, Reading Champion

Choice is key

I think children should have as much choice as possible so that they can find their own special books. If we start saying 'you should read this,' the obvious answer is 'I shan't read this!'

- Vivian French, Reading Champion

I Spy

I'd forgotten about I Spy until the other day when it suddenly came to me as a way of keeping my children occupied on a very boring bus journey. My son's just started at school and I was amazed at the way he got the hang of his sounds.

- Fiona, Aberdeen

Rory and his Magic Castle

My children really enjoy books that relate to things they have done, for example this summer we went to North Berwick and had a holiday by the seaside making sandcastles and fishing in rock pools and my Mum gave them Rory and his Magic Castle by Andrew Wolffe which was all about Rory and Scruff McDuff building a sandcastle and their enjoyment of the book was heightened by the fact that they had been doing the same things. In the same way my daughter really enjoys the Kitty Stories by Bel Mooney because as she says, 'I'm just like Kitty sometime'.

- Vivien, Ashtead

You can find out more about the Rory stories by visiting www.rorystories.com It's great fun with puzzles, games, stories and more and there are lots of other brilliant book websites to visit too - see our Useful Links page

Spread the word

I have sent details of the Read Together web site to my godson in Ohio, USA - he is the father of a six-month-old daughter and is 'into books'. No doubt he will spread the word too.

- Anne, Glasgow

Choosing books at the library

I download bookmarks from various websites and my children enjoy personalising them by colouring them in and using them for the particular book they are reading. It is possible to get themed bookmarks and then you can find a book to match your bookmark, great fun!
Some sites I would recommend are:
www.activityvillage.co.uk
www.rif.org.uk
www.dltk-kids.com/type/printable_bookmarks.htm

- Lorraine, Inverness

Mystery Bags

Janice Morris from Lincolnshire writes in the latest issue of Carousel children's books magazine about her Mystery Bags idea:
One Friday, determined to carve out some adult quality time, I hit on the idea of Mystery Bags. Both boys have enjoyed being read to since they were tots and still love reading and listening to stories (they are now 7 and 11 years old)... At the public library I borrowed eight titles for each boy... Each pile of books went into a pilowcase. When the boys came home from school we told them that if they were in their rooms by 7 o'clock they would receive a Mystery Bag.

Janice and her husband built up the excitement by doing a Thunderbirds-type countdown to the bags (Mystery Bags are Go!) and then leaving the boys to explore the contents for as long as they liked, while they settled down to watch a video uninterrupted! They thought it would only work once, but the following week at the same time the boys asked for the Mystery Bags again. This is an excellent idea and very simple to copy. It's the element of surprise, mystery and being trusted to stay up late reading that makes it such a winner. You don't have to put as many as 8 books into the bag, but you should try to have a variety of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, joke books, picture books and so on.

- Janice Morris, Lincolnshire

Not all children are the same

I kept wondering why my son didn't have the same books as the other children when I collected him from school - it really began to worry me. But the teacher said that he was doing fine, and that he'd learn to read in his own good time. And he has! It's taken a wee while, but he's really very good now. It's quite difficult not to compare your child with all the others but I'd certainly recommend it.

- Graham, Jedburgh

Don't Stop Reading Aloud

I am a librarian and it is wonderful to see libraries given such a positive place on your website. Children grow out of books as quickly as they grow out of clothes, and I do so wish that people would save their money for 'favourites' and use the library to experiment more. After all, they already pay for it! I also agree with the emphasis you put on reading to children, even as they get older. My daughter is 8 now, and although she is a brilliant reader she still loves to be read to just as much as my 3 year old. In fact she even enjoys the same stories - joining in with funny voices!

- Helen, County Durham

Choosing books at the library

"When we go to the library I always choose two books and he chooses two. Mostly he chooses two he's remembered from before. But that way I get new books to read - or I'd go mad!"

- Clive, Arbroath

Books on tape

I've got one really keen reader, but my second son wasn't so enthusiastic. Then I discovered that he's a great listener - he just loves story-tapes. Now he's better read than I am - and he's become a much more confident reader too.

- Caroline, Glasgow

Keeping in touch

I'm away quite a bit for my work so sometimes I record wee stories onto tape for the kids to listen to at bedtime. You feel a bit of an idiot at first, to be honest, but I really get into it now - with funny voices and sound effects. Saves my wife after a hard day, too.

- Davinder, Edinburgh

The voice of experience

I'm really not very up on books for kids - I wasn't that keen as a child - but when I asked at the nursery they put me in touch with one of the other mums. She's brilliant - knows them all, and tells you which ones her children have enjoyed. And then I just head up to the library and try them out with my wee ones.

- Aileen, Dumfries

Expert advice?

Sometimes the paper has reviews of books - I cut them out and take them to the library. If they don't have them on the shelves the librarian will order them for me. I don't always agree with what the newspapers recommend but it's a good starting point.

- Alastair, Isle of Skye

Snookered!

My Simon just wasn't interested in books. The teachers said there was nothing wrong but he would not read. Then I noticed him reading the sports pages of his Grandad's evening paper - and we were off! I found some football books for him and discovered that the wee monkey can read perfectly well - now he's got something that interests him. He's not that keen on stories, but facts - he could go on Brain of Britain about snooker.

- Liz, Inverness

Won't Read, Could Read?

I came across a leaflet from Barrington Stoke, which is a publisher of books for dyslexic children and teenagers. The stories are not dumbed down, but they choose the font very carefully - and even the paper colour, because they've discovered that dyslexic children find cream an easier background to read print from. I'd recommend them to any child who's not enjoying reading because they're finding it tough. But the leaflet - Won't Read, Could Read? Is mainly about getting teenagers reading and is full of really useful information for parents.

The leaflet is available free from Barrington Stoke, tel 0131 557 2020 or you can look up their website on www.barringtonstoke.co.uk

- Caroline, Edinburgh