Reading For Pleasure
As supporters of Save the Children’s Read On Get On campaign and partners with many reading charities, we think all children should have the opportunity to enjoy reading for pleasure.
Every issue of Storytime features classic, new and much-loved stories with beautiful original illustrations, plus storytelling tips and activities to help you bring our stories to life. You can read our stories out loud to your children or, as they get older or grow more confident, you can encourage them to read to you, depending on their reading level.
Magazines play an important role in improving childhood literacy and experts now agree that including them in the reading mix, alongside books, is crucial – especially for those children who feel overwhelmed when facing a whole book. Former children’s laureate and renowned author Sir Michael Morpurgo also recognises the important role magazines – Storytime in particular – play in building a lifelong love of reading. See what he says about Storytime here.
Storytime isn’t just for families. We offer discounted bulk subscriptions to schools, libraries and home educators. If you represent one of these and feel passionate about reading for pleasure, visit our Storytime for Schools website, and learn more about our discounted subscriptions for Libraries, Schools and Home Educators.
Why Reading for Pleasure Matters
Studies have found that reading for pleasure plays a huge role in your child’s confidence, personal development and reading ability. Even better, if you read Storytime to your children, you’ll engage them in a magical world of stories. Here are some more benefits:
- Reading fosters a love of stories and books that lasts a lifetime
- It’s fun, entertaining and relaxing
- It improves reading, writing, spelling, comprehension and vocabulary
- It increases general knowledge and understanding of other people and cultures
- It’s so important, reading for pleasure is now a part of the National Curriculum
Here’s how you can help your children to fall in love with reading:
- Value the importance of books, magazines and stories
- Put aside quality time to read together for 10 minutes a day
- Listen attentively when your child reads to you
- Join your local library to access a whole world of wonderful stories for free
- Subscribe to Storytime for amazing adventures delivered to your door every month!
Our Reading Expert
Jacqueline Harris is an education consultant with over 25 years’ experience of teaching and developing literacy skills in pupils ranging in age from preschool to Year 8. Jacqueline is a passionate advocate for the use of high quality children’s books and raising reading and writing standards in schools. She is an expert in phonics and an active campaigner for the importance of reading for pleasure. Jacqueline is working with us on Storytime to help us ensure that the stories are as accessible and engaging as possible and to provide expert advice on reading with your children and making the most of each story we feature.
