Parents in Touch - Reading Dads


Ladybird Launch READING DADS! This brand new initiative from Ladybird aims to inspire and encourage dads to read to their children. The National Year of Reading recently ran a survey that discovered only 42% of Dads are reading to their kids compared to a whopping 76% of Mums! Ladybird is keen to get involved and help turn this around by asking all dads to sign the Reading Dads pledge to spend ten minutes a day reading to their children.

Ladybird are also celebrating the start of the summer holidays by offering families 2 FREE Ladybird Tales to download. Two of the favourite tales; Dick Whittington and Heidi are both available as podcasts which can listened to in the car, on the train or even the plane to make those long journeys whizz by. Click here to go to the Reading Dads website and download these podcasts.
	Ed Balls, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families has supported the campaign.
He said, “Children miss out when their dads aren’t reading to them. Getting your children to be passionate about reading is something all parents can do. Just spending ten minutes a day reading to your kids can make a real difference .”
Ladybird recognises the vital role that dads play at storytime, from excellent, scary monster voices to the big, bad animal actions that dads are so good at. They are celebrating the contribution that dads bring to reading through the launch of www.ladybird.com/readingdads; a website specially designed for dads which will offer podcasts, top tips, book of the week and a flicker page where dads can upload pictures of them reading with their children. Center Parcs is also supporting the campaign and have offered one lucky dad the chance to win a family holiday, log on to find out how. To promote this campaign Ladybird have teamed up with Andrew Clover, The Sunday Times Dads Rules columnist, who is going to write a fortnightly blog on www.ladybird.com/readingdads, on which dads can respond to and interact with each other. For more information on Reading Dads, please contact Hermione Lawton, Ladybird Press Office on 0207 010 3471. hermione.lawton@uk.penguingroup.com www.ladybird.com/readingdads For your chance to win Ladybird books, see our competition page.
	The Ladybird Box for Boys - billed as 'The perfect gift for dads and lads' and it certainly is! My husbad and sons were fascinated by these books.
The box contains six titles, exact reproductions of the originals dating back to the 1960s and 1970s. Dads will be fascinated by the memories brought back and boys will find it almost impossible to believe how technology has moved on!
The Policeman Danger Men The Story Of Football How It Works: The Computer How It Works: The Motor Car Making A Transistor Radio
Reading these books together will give dads a great opportunity to support Ladybird's campaign to read together for 10 minutes a day. When you've read the books, you can try to make your own transistor radio. I thoroughly recommend this great set for fathers and sons to enjoy together - and when you've read these, there are Ladybird books galore covering all sorts of subjects. Have fun together!