Synopsis: A complete guide to the best books to read aloud to your child. With an introduction by Children’s Laureate Jacqueline Wilson and recommendations from celebrity parents, this indispensable addition to any household features reading tips from the experts and sample extracts from entertaining stories for all age groups.

Review: Contributing to Jacqueline Wilson’s crusade as Children’s Laureate to inspire parents to read and (crucially) go on reading to their children, Great Books to Read Aloud is part exhortation, part book-guide. Introducing the volume, Wilson enthusiastically extols the value of reading aloud as: “… the best gift you can give your child … a wonderful way of bonding together and simultaneously entering the magic world of the imagination … the easiest way of making sure your child is hooked on books for life.” Julia Eccleshare, children’s books editor at the Guardian, then enumerates the benefits of family reading and offers handy hints on getting started, before the book-guide proper begins. Divided into three helpfully-colour-coded, age-appropriate sections (0-5, 5-8, 8-11 years), it provides plot summaries, personal recommendations and bullet-pointed reasons to share over seventy popular children’s books. The selections include a rich mixture of tried-and-tested classics (especially in the 0-5 picture books) and newer titles, with the 8-11 choices encompassing a particularly impressive range of authors and fiction genres. My only disappointment was the scarcity of poetry (with only one or two volumes in each of the two older age-groups) and the total lack of quality non-fiction, reinforcing the lingering assumption that reading must equal stories. Cameos from celebrity parents punctuate each section of the guide, sharing their personal favourite books and enthusing about the rewards of reading to their own children. Contributors include authors, politicians and TV personalities (though sadly no sporting figures), and the balance of men to women helps to encourage both dads and mums to share the reading experience. Colourfully and accessibly presented, at the bargain price of £1, this guide would be excellent for schools to recommend to parents as part of home-school partnership in reading. It may also be useful for teachers seeking to broaden their own knowledge of children’s books, although the information provided on each text is quite limited and may need supplementing with more critical reviews of the texts’ classroom potential.

2007-04-12