Reading and writing

Ethan's little library is growing fast and we've added a number of new reads to his collection of late.

Being a big fan of The Gruffalo, and knowing most the words by heart already, we've bought Ethan a few more of Julia Donaldson's picture books. New early favourites include A Squash and A Squeeze and The Smartest Giant In Town.

We've also got this lovely nursery rhyme collection from Parragon Books. Our latest #BookBuddies find is a beautiful compendium of classic nursery rhymes and it's come at a great time for us as Ethan can recite so many of them now, we need some new ones to learn!

I love a good picture book and a treasury too, and Cute As A Button: A Collection of Nursery Rhymes is a great addition. It would also make a lovely present for a friend or young child.

I've also heard about a recent storytelling event that took place at a Costa in Nottingham with children's author and Blue Peter veteran Janet Ellis for Save the Children and their 'Read On. Get On.' programme, which is striving to ensure every child in the UK is a confident reader by age 11 by 2025.

I wasn't able to go along but the initiative really interests me as reading is so important and I have encouraged Ethan to pick up books almost since he was born (you can read my thoughts on the importance of reading here). It's great to see businesses such as Costa training staff and supporting reading initiatives such as this.

Source

Later this month, it's Roald Dahl Day (13th September, if you were wondering). His books were such childhood favourites for me and I can't wait to introduce Ethan to them. His imagination was amazing and I'd love to visit his museum one day but for now, I might check out the first Roald Dahl app, Twit or Miss.

On the topic of writing, whilst I'm a big stationery addict, I've found an interesting way to combine the written word with the convenience of digital. Take a notepad, a Nu notepad to be particular, and mix it with an iPad or iPhone and you get the Nu:Notes app.

You can scan, save and share your handwritten notes in this app, organising them into virtual notebooks so you never misplace a shopping list or a special note every again.

I've started scanning messages in cards to store safely as well as meeting notes for work, so they're close to hand - you can even highlight sections and share your notes too.

It's fun to use and a simple idea.

Here's the video in case it's up your street too:

Although I love my iPad, nothing will ever replace a paper diary for me and yes, I went ahead and bought the new Cath Kidston diaries I mentioned in my pick of the new season post, until the year end AND for 2016.

I know.

Just call me geek.