Get Kids Reading: A Literacy Campaign by Sooper Books

Kids, Cuddles and Muddy Puddles are proud to support a new Literacy campaign called Get Kids Reading, by Sooper Books. The driving force behind the campaign is husband and wife team Simon and Charlene, who are passionate about raising standards of reading in children.

The Get Kids Reading initiative was launched in January this year, due to research that showed young people's growing use of social media is negatively impacting levels of literacy, and increasing levels of depression, sleep-related problems and cyber-bullying.

The campaign aims to help parents bridge the gap between modern technology and the need to get kids reading. The Sooper Books mission is to provide free bookshop quality children's stories to families all over the world using an online platform.

Image Credit: Sooper Books

Traditional tales and well-loved children's stories are creatively retold by Simon (there's some Sooper Books originals in there too!), and beautifully illustrated by the talented Charlene. Together they have already produced an extensive online library of bedtime stories for 5-12 year olds! Perfect for busy, modern families who want access to quality reading resources anytime, anywhere!

How to Encourage Positive Thoughts at Bedtime with The Dream Pillow™

(Review - Gifted)

From the first day you bring your bundles of joy home from the hospital, sleep patterns and bedtime routines seem to be a hot topic of conversation amongst parents...and even strangers! People love nothing more than to ask, "How does the baby sleep?" or "Do they sleep through the night yet?" Everyone seems to have an opinion too, don't they? "Ooh, don't let the baby sleep with you - you'll make a rod for your own back!" (That's my favourite... 😖)

And there seems to be no escaping it! As the children get older, parents can often find common ground by chatting about bedtime routines. "What time do yours go to bed? Do you read a story every night after a bath? Do you let your children have T.V or tablet time?"

As the children get older, they are more aware of their routines and become more independent in their choices - choosing a bath or a shower, picking out their own pyjamas and bedtime stories, choosing a cuddly toy or comforter for example.

Bedtime Worries

But what happens when they hit the nightmare stage? All your hard work can be undone in an instant. The fear, the tears, the long cuddles back in your bed. How do you reassure your little ones that they are safe, and it's okay to go back to sleep? How do you alleviate these big worries that fill their little sleepy heads? How do you encourage positive thoughts at bedtime?

Top 5 story books for children under 5: Our May picks

We love a good children's book in this house! Both my children, (almost 5, and 2 and a half), have always enjoyed listening to stories and looking at books. Our collection at home is growing rapidly, and each of the children have their favourites. However, since joining the library, they are finding it hard to pin down just one story book that they love the most! 

Inspired by the Bath, Book, Bed campaign run by BookStart, I have decided to write a round-up of my children's favourites each month. Here are our May picks for children under 5.

Dog Blue (Author/Illustrator: Polly Dunbar)

This is my son's favourite book of the moment! He's all about dogs since having puppies so I can see why he likes this story!

Easter holidays, part 3: Just the three of us!

So with Hubby back at work for the final week of the Easter holidays, it was up to me to entertain the kids...and the dog! Again, we stayed close to home because of the pup, but we had a lot of fun and managed to catch up with friends this week too. Here's what the three of us got up to.

Monday

Stan was beyond excited to have a birthday play date with two of his school friends. He had lots of fun, after an initial wobble, and his mum kept me updated with photos and videos! It was the first time I'd left him with someone who he's never played with outside of school before so was quite new to both of us! 

I took Rosie to get the car cleaned and we snuck off to the pub next door for a girls' lunch while we waited! We had a lovely little walk around Endon village and saw where they dress the well every year too.

Top 5 story books for children under 5: Our April picks

We love a good children's book in this house! Both my children, S (almost 5) and R (2 and a half), have always enjoyed listening to stories and looking at books. Our collection at home is growing rapidly, and each of the children have their favourites. However, since joining the library, they are finding it hard to pin down just one story book that they love the most! Inspired by the Bath, Book, Bed campaign run by BookStart, I have decided to write a round-up of my children's favourites each month. Here are our April picks for children under 5.