Did you know: Picture books encourage conversations between young and older readers. While some children enjoy reading picture books on their own, it's often the case that an adult or older sibling reads to a younger child. Reading a picture book aloud prompts conversations about what's happening in the story, what the characters are feeling, meanings of words, how what's happening might relate to the child.

Did you know: Experiencing success and enjoyment with writing is something we all want for our youngsters. The computer can be a great encourager to start children writing. Here are some websites where you and your kids can make digital books, with links to more information about them. I always advise adult supervision when children use the Internet. Apart from safety concerns, our kids can learn such a lot from carrying out these activities with us.

Did you know: Put down your camera phone and log out of YouTube for a little while. The best way to capture the childish handwriting, made-up words and spelling, scribbled artwork and extraordinarily creative written voice and imaginative thinking your kids exhibit right now is an old classic: write a story. Go here for instructions...