Reading Aloud

Abi Allanson discusses the benefits of sharing stories with older children

I recently pulled a traditional nursery rhyme book off the shelf and my eldest son, now 22, happened to be nearby. He exclaimed as he saw the cover and began to leaf through it, gasping and squealing as he noticed illustrations, remembered tunes, and recalled his favourites, viscerally. I used this now spine-broken book on countless witching-hour occasions to dial down my three boys’ wildness, to anchor us to the couch and soften us all into a dreamy heap. End-of-the-day routines then followed with less drama. The rhymes were great on car journeys too.

Reading bedtime stories is often a ‘parenting win’, but the experience is so much more than that: reading aloud to children can be a superpower. Its benefits extend much further than you might think and it can be a gently radical intervention in our digital age. Let me explain.