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Audiobooks are such a lovely way for children to listen to the magic of books. They’re also a great way to relax and for children to practice mindfulness. In fact, a study by the National Literacy trust found that audiobooks are proven to support children’s emotional intelligence and mental well-being, improve comprehension and widen children’s access to books. I’m a big fan of books, they’re one of my favourite things and I feel very passionately about passing this love onto my children. So they too can appreciate the wonder of disappearing into different worlds and following the adventures of wonderful new characters.
Earlier this year, we reviewed a Yoto player, which Bo still continues to love and listen to stories on regularly. Father Christmas actually put some new stories in his stocking for him. If you haven’t comes across them before, Yoto player is an audio player for children aged 3-12+ years. It is a rechargeable audio device for children that is portable and robust, perfect for little hands. What I love is how usable it is for small children. Bo, at 4 can easily change the cards and use the device and listen to stories all by himself and I often find him curled up on the sofa happily listening to his favourite stories, or giggling away at jokes.
As it’s World Book Day today, it’s the perfect time to talk about books and how audiobooks are a great way to foster a love of reading and stories with children. This year, Yoto is the official audio partner of World Book Day 2023, and this is the first time an audio partner has been chosen for World Book Day. Acknowledging the importance of audiobooks for reading skills in children, which is pretty cool.
Free Chapters from Yoto for World Book Day
To celebrate this partnership, Yoto have a selection of chapter of popular audiobooks available for free via the Yoto App. You can download the following stories for your little one for free:
- The Boy Who Grew Dragons (chapter one)
- Jolley-Rogers and the Monster’s Gold (chapter one)
- The Hodgeheg and Other Stories (chapter one)
- Roald Dahl’s Matilda (chapter one)
- And a full story from The Fearless Fairy Tales
£1 from Bestsellers to World Book Day
On top of this, Yoto will be donating £1 for every sale from a selection of 35 best-selling Yoto cards between the 16th Feb and 23rd March 2023. So it’s a great time to invest in some new stories and help raise money for charity at the same time. The books include popular favourites such as The Gruffalo, and Disney’s Encanto.
How to Foster a Love of Reading
I am such a lover of books it was such a natural thing that I would want to share this with my children and couldn’t wait to start reading books with them when they were babies. But if you want to encourage a love of stories and are not sure where to start, here are a few tips:
- Create a time to read with your child, for us this is at bedtime
- Be read to, let your children listen to audiobooks when they wish to, we have this as a relaxing thing and encourage it over screen time
- Encourage children to choose their own books, be it jokes, fact books, comics let them pick up something they love
- Make it fun, my children love a reading den with cushions and blankets which they often set up in the school holidays
- Keep a selection of books and audiobooks at home that children can help themselves too
Happy Reading!