World Book Day is on the 2nd March, and we will be be celebrating our love of books, reading and stories. This post is written in collaboration with Yoto, who are the Official Audio Partner of World Book Day 2023. GET 5% OFF A YOTO PLAYER OR YOTO MINI USING THE CODE AFF-WHINGE5 HERE
Did You Know? It turns out that Matilda was pretty accurate – research shows that reading for pleasure is the single biggest indicator of a child’s future success, above all other factors? It’s quite amazing really.
By encouraging your child to read, you are giving them the best possible start in life.
I’m very happy that my children are both avid readers. Luckily for me they have never needed much persuasion to read books to me or by themselves (even when they should be doing other things). Now that we are past the gruelling Biff and Chip stage I quite enjoy reading with them too.
Even so, at bedtime we tend to opt for audio stories on their Yoto players. The sleep timers mean that they don’t get carried away and stay up reading too late, and they don’t need the light on to listen so it’s less stimulating and leaves them more sleep-ready.
>>Find out why we love our Yoto Mini and the Yoto Classic players<< GET 5% OFF A YOTO PLAYER OR YOTO MINI USING THE CODE AFF-WHINGE5 HERE
I’m sure there are some purists out there who will be aghast at the idea of audio stories being included in World Book Day, but in fact they can support and encourage reading too, and the charity World Book Day has officially acknowledged this by inviting Yoto to become the Official Audio Partner of World Book Day 2023.
The benefits of audiobooks for children
Recent research by The National Literacy Trust has shown that, just like reading, listening to audiobooks can have significant benefits to children. They can be particularly good for kids who might be more reluctant readers, as getting them enthused about the world of storytelling is the first crucial stage in their reading journey, and they’re great for families where parents may also struggle with reading or lack confidence reading out loud.
Hearing a story being read can help the listener, whatever their age, to gain a better understanding of pronunciation* and tone, and help them better understand the story in a deeper way, meaning they’ll be more likely to enjoy it – and then maybe even try reading it! Audiobooks give children access to a wide range of reading material which important when trying to foster a love of reading. Anyone who’s tried to get into a boring or hard to get into book will know it can put you off reading entirely, so it’s great to be able to pick and choose so easily.
*As an aside, never make fun of someone for pronouncing something wrong. It means they learned it by reading! Segue, hyperbole; I’m looking at you.
As well as abridged versions of classics, Yoto have a selection unabridged audiobooks which you can read along to.
Reading while listening is a long-standing practice for learning a second language and has been shown to benefit those learning to read for the first time, too. My kids love the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, which they have in both book and audio format, and I often see them reading along with the story.
There are additional benefits of audiobooks too. Children who listened to audiobooks during lockdown reported that it had helped their mental health, and the biggest benefit is that a single audiobook can provide hours of unsupervised screen-free fun. It’s a godsend for busy parents and great for kids.
>>Here are some of our recent favourite audio books!<<
Celebrating World Book Day with Yoto
To celebrate Yoto becoming the Official Audio Partner of World Book Day 2023 they are making chapters from a selection of their most popular audiobooks available for free so that children can listen and ‘try before they buy’:
- The Boy Who Grew Dragons (Chapter 1: Battle on the Bongle)
- Jolley-Rogers and the Monster’s Gold (Chapter 1: Bottles)
- The Hodgeheg and Other Stories (Chapter 1)
- Roald’s Dahl’s Matilda (Chapter 1).
There’s also a full free story available from one of our favourite Yoto stories, Fearless Fairy Tales – Story 1: Sleeping Brainy and a Wake Up Meditations – Sunrise Stretch activity from the Mindfulness for Children audiobook.
Remember, if you have the Yoto App you can listen to your purchases on any of your household’s Yoto Players, or on any Bluetooth speaker device via your phone. You don’t even need a Yoto Player to download and use the app! Try it out here.
Yoto will also be donating £1 from the sale of a selection of 35 Yoto Cards sold until 23rd March. The money raised will support World Book Day’s charitable mission to promote reading for pleasure and give every child and young person a book of their own.
You can browse all of these cards and more in the extensive library over on the Yoto website.
If you don’t have a Yoto player already (and I have never recommended anything more – see my reviews here and here!) then check out the Yoto Player which costs £89.99 and the Yoto Mini which costs £59.99.
World Book Day outfits
If your children are dressing up for World Book Day, you can find a tonne of inspiration from Yoto Card stories.
Can you match some of our previous World Book Day outfits to our favourite Yoto card audiobooks?
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See my list of best kids’ audio players for 2023 here!