A tiny Gruffalo, Alice in Wonderland and even Batman made their grand entrance at Portavogie Community Centre to celebrate World Book Day.
The day was organised by the South Eastern Trust’s SureStart Team with a warm invitation extended to parents and their children to ‘turn the pages together’.
Mum, Charlotte McGuckin who attended with her little son Ollie, shared how much the pair enjoyed the event. Charlotte said, “It was lovely to see so much fun and activity. Reading is so important in terms of brain development for a child and it is nice to take a moment, take a book and bond with your child. It has been wonderful to see so many young kids engaging, reading and having fun. SureStart make such a effort and it has been lovely to see the Centre so bright and colourful. Ollie and I have had a ball today.”
South Eastern Trust, Speech and Language Therapist, Alison Parke explained how holding the book event, “Is a fantastic way of supporting early speech and language development as well as having that chance to bond with your little ones.”
Alison explained, “Sharing books at any time of the day is encouraged. At our Early Baby Group, we promote the books you can share with your little ones, from bath books, ‘lift the flap’ books, to textured books, it is how they learn about the world and a lovely way to support bonding and attachment. It has been fantastic to see families come and take home a little book as part of World Book Day.”
SureStart Early Year Co-ordinator, Andrea Kirk added, “Reading is so important for children. Reading helps them to explore their feelings, discover information and research has shown how important it is for children to read. We say to our parents how beneficial reading to your child is and how it helps with their speech and language, their development and vocabulary. The Community Centre is buzzing for World Book Day!”