Are you sitting comfortably?

Now here's a trip down memory lane: Ladybird books. Who could forget Peter, Jane and Pat the dog and those first memories of putting sounds and letters together to make words. I remember standing at the teacher's desk and reading from the book I was on. We got a sweet if we read well. I loved reading - I got a lot of sweets!

And did you have the 'Things to Make and Do' books? I bet you did and I bet you would recognise all the activities if you saw the books again today. Check out the Vintage section of the ladybird site and you'll soon be 'ohhh-ing' and 'ahh-ing' at the pictures from your childhood - like this lovely little boy on, erm, stilts?!

My mother and father-in-law have kept all the classic Ladybird books which their children read, and we have brought them out of the attic, dusted them off and now their grandchildren are enjoying these tales all over again. How lovely is that? I also get a great kick out of seeing these books again - I vividly remember the illustrations - some I liked; some terrified me, like the picture of the wolf who ate all the kid goats. Shudder.

Of course, Ladybird also now have a brand new generation of books; just as lovely and just as excellent for helping your child to read. My five-year-old is just starting to read by himself and can now recognise simple words like cat, dog, rat etc. We have been helping him by reading the Ladybird 'Read it Yourself' series. This comes in a range of levels. He's starting, of course, on Level 1 and is loving 'Little Red Hen' The books are based on phonetic sounds and repetition of words to grow the child's confidence.

I am so excited that my little boy is starting to read, and so is he. In fact, he's so excited that we often find him sitting in bed, looking through his books by the light of his bedside lamp when we thought he was asleep ages ago. I kind of don't mind though - I remember doing the same!

This is a sponsored post on behalf of Ladybird books and gurgle.com

Are you sitting comfortably?