Choosing quality literature
I've been surrounded by Book Week celebrations lately... at PlayLinks recently and at my own daughter's school. It's a bit of an Aussie tradition now to dress up as a favourite book character and parade around the kinder classroom or school hall. While some of the costumes definitely do not relate to books at all (think Elsa from Frozen), the idea of celebrating and getting kids excited about good quality children's books is win-win.
Book Week reminded me about the importance of choosing good quality literature for our children. Now, if you want help choosing good quality literature in children's books you can turn to the Children's Book Council of Australia. Each year they shortlist the very best in Australian children's books and a judging panel award prizes in different categories. Winners include classics such as 'Who sank the boat?' by Pamela Allen, 'Where is the green sheep' by Mem Fox and 'Go to sleep Jessie' by Libby Gleeson. And the shortlisted books are absolute treasures too... check out 'Rivertime' by Trace Balla or 'That's not a daffodil!' by Elizabeth Honey.
2018 Early Childhood ‘Book of the Year’ shortlist
But what about choosing good quality MUSICAL literature? How do you know if a song is worthy of being heard by your little one?
Here are my top tips for choosing songs:
Kids AND adults should both enjoy the song
This ensures that there is a level of musical integrity in the music that is bathing your child’s brain. But let’s be honest, it’s also just a smart move. Who wants to listen to 396 repetitions of Barney the Dinosaur singing anything!
It should still be delicious after 30 repetitions
Good songs get better with repetition. And as we all know, kids LOVE repetition - it’s how they learn and master new things.
There should be an element of make-believe
Great songs capture the imagination through a world of make-believe… they turn toes into piggies, knees into galloping horses and bedrooms into magical wonderlands.
Here are a few of my favourite albums:
What are your favourite songs at the moment?
