our family book recommendations

The children and I are avid readers, reading before bed every night, and then any opportunity that we have in the day. It is a huge part of our daily life, whether we are travelling or we're home. As a (now ex) primary school teacher, I cannot speak highly enough for the value of reading for children's education AND their mental health and wellbeing. It certainly dos wonders for my ageing brain, so I can only imagine the benefits to our children's.

Here are ten reasons why we (adults included) should read every day:

1. Gaining valuable knowledge (yes, even if all you read is fiction)

2. Exercising your brain

3. Improved memory

4. Increased focus

5. Reduced stress levels

6. Improved sleep quality

7. Provides a new perspective on life (and develops empathy)

8. Increased vocabulary

9. Provides a sense of accomplishment

10. It can be addictive- which gives you drive and motivation, something to look forward to

I could go on, but I am sure that those of you reading this are already aware of its many benefits, I just love reading so much that I could talk about it endlessly!

Adult Recommendations:

I absolutely love finding an author I gel with. Once I have found one, I tend to binge read their titles until I need a break. Currently, I am enjoying Colleen Hoover and Kristin Hannah.

Colleen's books are easy to read (so much that I inhale them in a day or two!), they are quite addictive and I find myself desperate to know what will happen, making predictions (and enjoying when I find those were wrong!)

Kristin Hannah is a stunning writer, with such a detailed, descriptive writing style that throws you deep into the scene and the emotions of the characters. I find myself dreaming of the story lines and equally heartbroken and in love with the events unfolding before my eyes. Kristin's stories are complex, taking me a while to process and accept what is happening- I love this, I am so invested!

Here are some of my highly recommended reads:

Recommendations from my 9 year old:

Rosie is just like I was as a child- sleep is for the weak, I'd rather be reading... (give me strength, what did I create?!) All jokes aside, although I wish it were easier to get her to sleep at night, I can't help but love her desire to inhale books. I read to Rosie in the womb, and she has had a hunger for stories, facts, knowledge, magazines, picture books, anything to be read, ever since she could pick up a book. She prefers to read comedy, though she loves to read about the world around her too.

Here are some of Rosie's recent recommendations:

Recommendations from my 7 year old:

Noah is a very different reader to Rosie. It took him a lot longer to grasp phonics (not helped at all by the COVID disruptions!) and becoming an independent reader took a lot more time and effort from all of us. I will always feel guilty for not giving him the time that I gave to Rosie to help with his journey into reading, as I worked longer hours and more days at work, I struggled to teach him at home whilst teaching online during lockdown, and of course my time with him was also shared with Rosie, whereas she was an only child in her early reading days. That being said, he is now an avid reader and a huge book fan! He loves both fiction and non-fiction, preferring comic style texts where the fonts differ and the text is intermingled with pictures. Noah is such a huge animal fan, so finding out new facts about animals in non-fiction texts is always appealing. Here are Noah's recent reads: