Good?
Don’t call me good. I’m the scariest creature in these woods.
Just walk behind me and soon you’ll see, everyone is afraid of ME!
Today was World Book Day and of course Burton went as a character from The Gruffallo – yes he is the mouse (I know my costume making skills are not *that* good), can you tell?
This was my first experience of this annual event, having heard tales of it before I had children from co-workers, and remembering how stressed they were trying to cobble together a book character from what they had in their homes! I have to admit to initially worrying what on earth I could dress Burton up in, as we do not have many dressing up clothes at home and I do not own a sewing kit!! Anyway, in the end after purchasing a brown hoodie, some natural coloured knee high (tights) and some safety pins I don’t think my mouse outfit is too bad really.
I do think it is great that there is a World Book Day, because I am a firm believer that children should be encouraged to have a love of books and have access to them all the time. In fact I openly hint to my friends and family that if they wish to buy my two a gift for birthdays or Christmas, to please buy them books (or clothes) because I do not think you can have too many books. I also think that books and should be introduced to children as young as possible, and I know that with my two they have had stories read to them since they were about a month old, and had books (albeit soft material ones at the time to begin with) within reach to touch and look at.
Now that Burton has started school and is able to recognise and read words he is beginnig to read books to himself and me and it is just amazing! This week he has been reading pages from The Gruffalo which makes me proud and chuffed that his book worm journey is evolving so well, and I really cannot wait until he gets so engrossed in a story that he will not want to put the book down! That will make me very happy indeed.
Talking of the fabulous book that is The Gruffalo, did you know that it is 15 years old this year? I had never heard of it until I became a parent but it is a firm favourite (as is most of Julia Donaldson’s books, as we have quite a few) of mine and the boys and we read it (and watch the film adaptation of it) a LOT! I have already covered the book in a lot of my posts to date too, we have
had a Gruffalo Party (and another planned for July!)
and another Gruffalo Hunt 
I love that about a well loved book, that you can take the themes and charcaters out of the book and bring them to life and make them feature in your own. Having a Gruffalo Hunt is such a cheap and easy thing to organise and Burton and Jenson love it!
This year to help celebrate all things Gruffalo, the Forestry Commission will be holding events and activities going up and down the country over the next couple of years. Following on from the very popular Stick Man (another much loved book in this house) trails, the Gruffalo activities will be available in even more locations and over a longer time frame.
The fun-packed partnership kicks off with The Gruffalo activity trails in 28 forests across England, which run through to the end of September. In October, The Gruffalo’s Child activity trails take over and will stay in the forest right through the winter until February 2015. Characters from the stories will lead children through the trees with adventure and intrigue, learning about woods and forests as they go.
From June, 15 giant wooden sculptures of one of the world’s best-loved monsters himself will be hidden in forests across England, for families to track down. Standing 7ft tall and all different, the Gruffalos are being individually-carved in a secret woodland location out of three-ton pieces of timber, each carefully-selected from Forestry Commission sites.
There’s even a national picnic birthday party being planned in the summer – I cannot wait to pop along with my boys and get involved.
To find out more about the up and coming Gruffalo anniversary activities please visit http://www.forestry.gov.uk/gruffalo , and sign up for a newsletter to ensure you do not miss out on the events being held near you.
This post was brought to you as part of Flashback Friday
Remember – a flashback can be from any time whether it be yesterday, last week, last month, last year or yesteryear! It can be a flashback of your own, your children, your partner or your friends.
I am a
I can’t wait for G to be old enough to understand World Book Day, he LOVES reading and we adore Gruffalo 🙂
Your costume making skills are better than mine! Looks fab! I totally agree; you can never have too many books. I remember reading books to Z when he was just 4 weeks old. And The Gruffalo is a great book!
His outfit looks brilliant! You obviously have more skills than you give yourself credit for! I can’t believe the Gruffalo is 15 years old – it is one of the first books we bought when Ethan was tiny.
I love your post. It’s like a story in itself. Such a lovely way in seeing how books influence children. Really lovely post, made me think about books my daughter loved and ‘Room on the Broom’ is definitely the winner!
thank you so much we love Room on the Broom too x
love your photos – a Gruffalo tea party is brill, think I will be pinching some of these ideas for our summer picnics! x
Happy Birthday to the Gruffalo! #weloveforests | My Gorgeous Boys - a Parenting Blog
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