Stories at bedtime

Naughty_Sausage

Hi

I have 2 DDs and oldest (5 in NOvember) loves her bed time stories.

But, we read things like the Gruffalo, snail and the whale (stuff we can read in a night). But, at what age do you think I could start reading stories over several nights (Eg Roald Dahl, Jill Murphy)?

Thanks in advance

NS x

BitterAndTwisted

As soon as possible. When I was a full-time nanny my little darlings were 2, 4 and 6 and I used to read them a chapter of Roald Dahl every night. The youngest one sometimes needed a quick precis about what last happened but the other two used to help because they were so impatient to find out what happened next. Getting them ready for bed became an absolute dream and there was quite a lot of leverage to be had over threats of NO STORY if they were misbehaving. Oh, what fun we had! The Witches was special fun because I used to do different voices for each character.

Surfbabe

Same as BAT - as soon as possible. My children enjoyed a chapter a night of all sorts of books from quite an early age and they knew if they olayed up they won;t get the next instalment. you can have so much fun with longer stories (not that you can;t with short ones!) by doing different voices etc.

Have fun

tiamai_d

Right now. There are a number of children's books for this age group that have chapters. Try and get some with a clear chapter break, if they are anything like mine they will want proof that you have read a full chapter! :rotfl:

squibbs25

My dd (6) loves Horrid Henry! They are funny witty books to read and kids love them as Henry causes so much mischeif LOL
Before we started on full length books, i had a couple of books with 250 and 500 short bedtime story's and progressed from there.
You will so find that if the story is too long your dd will get bored easy.
I think you should be fine though.

mithras

LOL! Squibbs you beat me to it, was going to recommend Horrid Henry! Roald Dahl is also great - perhaps try one of his shorter stories like George's Marvellous Medicine and Fantastic Mr Fox first and see how the kids enjoy those?. Be prepared for some hair raising stuff with these though the kids usually love it

I agree, they're never too young for longer stories and it can turn bedtime into a pleasure instead of a chore and a fraught time of the evening. Just experiment, take into account your kids interests - ponies, Princess, farts (my middle kid is totally obsessed with farts and burps and anything of that ilk will have him in fits), unicorns, fantasy worlds, and try and find books that tap into those interests, but don't feel you ONLY have to read books like that as kids can have very wide and surprisingly sophisticated tastes. Also, don't feel you have to read fairy books that send YOU to sleep cause you should be having fun reading too Ask your local librarian, if you're a member, they're often very up on the most popular/ latest releases and give some great help

Oh and to get kids interested in longer books, try hiring audio book cd's from your library. I found these a life saver for long car journey's and they often led to the kids wanting me to read the books to them

Hope that helps

oligeo

My two are 3 & 4. We have just started on Harry Potter, a few months ago we read Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, which they absolutely loved. We rented the film after reading it. We had a break for a few months, with shorter books, rather than go straight onto another.

Sarah

Janepig

mithras wrote: »

I agree, they're never too young for longer stories and it can turn bedtime into a pleasure instead of a chore and a fraught time of the evening. Just experiment, take into account your kids interests - ponies, Princess, farts (my middle kid is totally obsessed with farts and burps and anything of that ilk will have him in fits), unicorns, fantasy worlds, and try and find books that tap into those interests, but don't feel you ONLY have to read books like that as kids can have very wide and surprisingly sophisticated tastes.

I'm glad I'm not the only one with a child like this - DD is 6 and thinks the most vile things are hilarious. She was lying on the floor recently and DS (3) farted in her face and far from being repulsed she was hysterical laughing!! Weird child.

Anyway, my two love Richard Scarry story books which don't really have chapters as such but are full of stories involving all the different characters such as Lowly Worm, Pip Pip Cat, etc... And what's nice is I remember enjoying Richard Scarry books myself as a child.

Jxx

Baileys_Babe

DS aged 3 loves Horrid Henry, but I refuse to read it at bedtime as he gets quiet excited by the stories so we save them for day time stories. We have read Mrs Pepperpot and the like. I started off reading him books which had longer stories than picture books, but had illustrations on every double page, usually black and white line drawings). OH is reading him Lion, the witch and the wardrobe a chapter a day. We still read him shorter books and stories as well, so he still gets to share old favourites.

Surfbabe

Try the Just William books - they may be old but my two love them - we have them on Audio for the car and despite DS being 20 and DD 18 they still sometimes listen to them!!!!

janninew

Hi

I don't have any kids yet, but i can't wait to have them so i can read bedtime stories!! I love Roal Dahl, Harry Potter etc. I'm just a big kid really and can't wait to share them with my own children.

My Mum use to read me all the old classics like Waterbabies, What Katy Did, Little Women and i use to love Enid Blyton!! Can't wait to have an excuse to read them again!!