How to read fairy tales to children

Give rhythm and intensity to the story. Choose a comfortable place for reading and listening. Do it every evening for ten minutes, after dinner.

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children's stories why we don't read them to our children anymore 1

The story must have rhythm. Words must not be wasted: clarity and precision are needed. But first of all, when you read the tales, you must have the ability to capture the child's attention, without forcing it, and without giving the impression that he is continuing to do a demanding activity, similar to studying.

The importance of fairy tales for children

The fairy tale is a pleasure, and must remain so. This is why it must not lead to any evaluation and must arouse the child's curiosityIf not, it's better to change the reading. To this end, it's essential to provide an effective framework for the reading, and take the listener on a journey, an exploration, into a world of dreams that translate into real thoughts in their minds. Reading from an early age allows broaden experience and knowledge of the world, teaches language, rules and empathyIn a beautiful article reporting Anselmo Roveda's view on the importance of fairy tales for children, editor of the children's book magazine Andersen, we learned these and other reasons why it's essential to keep children reading. But it's not just in Italy that we think this way.Assisted reading in the family is still vital", warns James Clement, a former elementary school principal. And he adds: "It's a real shame that parents don't understand how ten minutes of reading a day with their children can be a powerful aid to their education.». This is what we read in a research published by Oxford University Press. Nowadays, unfortunately, reading is replaced too easily by cell phones, tablets, television.

Fairy tales and creativity

An interesting investigation by child psychologist Massimo Ammaniti reports the data of a research led by the pediatrician John Hutton from Cincinnati Children's Hospital, published in the Journal of Pediatrics. The researchers examined the brain activity of a group of children between the ages of 3 and 5 using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) while they listened to stories being told to them. And what did they discover? Increased brain activity, because when children listen to a story, a real movie plays in their heads, developing imagination and curiosity. In practice, it's a process of reconstructing a fact, a narrative, which fosters children's creativity. It's no coincidence, Ammaniti points out, that the American Academy of Pediatrics consistently recommends that parents tell stories and fables to their children from a very young age. And a search in Kansas has shown that between 86 and 98 percent of the words spoken by three-year-old children are directly linked to their parents' vocabulary, the length of conversations, and the style of dialogue. These are all good reasons to revive, as we often point out on this site, the good habit of reading stories to children in our homes. To pique their curiosity, from childhood to adolescence: they will surely become less reclining.

How to read fairy tales

"Keep reading fairy tales at least throughout elementary school.": This is the appeal launched to parents. The British study finds that we have lost this good and healthy habit: half of parents stop reading children's stories when their children are 7 years old. A report from the London School of Education He claims, for example, that children who are accompanied by stories while reading are better than their peers in math and English. They also have better emotional relationships with their families.

Reading tips

Collecting the English recommendations, we suggest five tips to encourage reading with your children at home:

  • Choose a comfortable place for both of you to read. And make sure your child can look at the book while you read: he'll follow along better and be more interested in the story.
  • Be natural; there's no need to force your tone with words or slip into pet names. Children appreciate this clarity, especially if you use words precisely, thus helping your child or grandchild build the foundation for good language skills from an early age.
  • Read with pleasure, changing the pace and choosing the right pauses to be captivating. These are small tricks that help children immerse themselves in the narrative thread of the story.
  • Reread a book your child loves every time they ask. It doesn't matter if you've already read it before: reading is a pleasure, and it needs to be discovered.
  • Don't impose time limits: this is a pressure that could discourage your child.
  • Have a method. Try, for example, reading fairy tales for 10 minutes a day, after dinner. A classic and still very effective ritual.

Children's stories on YouTube

The publishing house “Il Castoro”, on its YouTube channel, offers some splendid readings aloud:

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