Reading together: The Gruffalo

The stories you read to your child are their first introduction to the world of books and can demonstrate how fun reading can be. Taking the time to sit with your child and delve into a book is not only a brillant way to bond and share enjoyment of an activity together, but is also a great way to encourage the habit of reading.

Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's The Gruffalo, is one of 50 fun, colourful book titles featured on the Read Together section of Kumon's Recommended Reading List. This section is for children who haven't started reading independently yet, with books particularly suited to being read aloud.

The Gruffalo is amongst the favourite books of 3-year-old Kumon student, Ayden. It tells the story of a mouse who takes a stroll through the deep, dark, woods. On his journey, he encounters several dangerous animals but uses his cunning to escape potential trouble, eventually meeting the Gruffalo himself!

Ayden said: "I like The Gruffalo. I like looking at all the pictures." Ayden shared that his favourite character is the mouse: "This is because he's very good at tricking all the other animals. He tricks the fox, and the owl, and the snake, and the Gruffalo!"

Ayden's mum, Michelle, said: "I was so delighted to see The Gruffalo was one of the books on the Recommended Reading List, as I knew Ayden would enjoy reading it and looking at the colourful illustrations. He was so interested and engaged when we first read the book together that it was a lovely opportunity for me also. We've since read the book many times together, as well as the other books in The Gruffalo series.

"He loves reading and likes to be as independent as possible; he holds the book himself and turns the pages. He also loves how each line rhymes and will often finish the last word on each page! Both myself and Ayden are looking forward to the day when he can read the book by himself - it'll be such an accomplishment.

"Ayden recently had the opportunity to visit Thorndon Country Park in Brentwood to try out the Gruffalo trail with his day nursery and I went along too. We were all in the deep dark wood, looking for trails to not only find the Gruffalo, but the fox, the owl, the snake, the mouse and even the Gruffalo's child. It was an exciting day for Ayden and his peers and he thoroughly enjoyed it. We even buried some nuts so that we can hopefully find them at our next visit."

Ayden has been a student at the Kumon Palmers Green Study Centre since February 2017, and over the past six months has developed his learning on the English and maths programmes. Daily reading has inspired Ayden's love of books, as well as his literacy skills, and we wish him well as he continues his Kumon studies.