The Erosion of Bedtime

Hello Everyone

I saw this article in the Daily Mail.

Now I am not going to enter into the debate about child discpline but I would like everyone to note the final two paragraphs of the article.

Child literacy expert Sue Palmer blamed parents relying on ‘electronic babysitters’, and claimed in her book Toxic Childhood that many children starting school had led a ‘very solitary, sedentary, screen-based existence’.

She added: ‘Many children now watch bedtime TV rather than sharing a bedtime story, songs and chat with parents. This is a serious erosion of important family time.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2106948/The-angry-generation-Lack-parental-discipline-blamed-aggressive-anti-social-children.html#ixzz1nfG7CNtm




I do think that bedtime is important. It is a time for interaction between parents and child. It is not a time for tv or dvds. There is nothing you can do if the child  sneeks on to the computer or tv after you have tucked them up for the night, except look in on them before going to bed yourself. I used to read under the covers with a torch so I know how kids can get around night time rules. Our kids used to play on the computer before going to bed so I am not a paragon of night time routine either. But I did read them bedtime stories. It was a wonderful bonding time where you could talk about the day and about the story. I also found it very restful for me. 


In reading bedtime stories you are keeping alive an age old tradition that has wonderful benefits.


I say this not as a shameless plug in the hope you will buy our stories (but won't mind if you do) but in the hope that you will be inspired to pick up a book and give it a go.


The Storyteller

Flapjacket

Hello Everyone
I joined Flapjacket yesterday (under my author name Carl Ashcroft) in order to meet and discuss everything about Children's Stories with other writers, illustrators, editors and publishers. If you are a fellow Flapjacket member please say Hi on my Profile page,
Regards
The Storyteller

The Bicycle Shop - Published

Hello Everyone

Just to let you know that The Bicycle Shop is now with Amazon for publishing. It should be available later this evening or tomorrow morning. I am very excited by this new story. Wonderful characters, magic and mystery with a little adventure thrown in.

Written in true Roald Dahl style I am sure this will be a hit with the kids and parents alike.

Please let me have your comments and take a little time to post a review on Amazon. 

Regards

The Storyteller

The Bicycle Shop

Hello Everyone


I am sure that everyone can remember their first bike. I certainly can. Your first bike is a rite of passage. It seems that you are old enough to be able to take control of something that gives you tremendous liberty. You can go as fast and as far as you like. There is an amount of trust being shown in you that you are old enough to take your destiny into your own hands for a change. Instead of being strapped into the back of a car and driven around, you are suddenly in control of where you can go and when.


That wonderful feeling of being grown up and the sense of trust lives with you. Part of that feeling inspired me to write my next book - The Bicycle Shop - soon to be published on Amazon. Wonderful characters, and mysterious ones too, abound. 


Jack wants nothing more than a bike. But, it has to be a certain kind of bike. When Georgie Gruel gets exactly the bike Jack would like, it is upsetting; but even worse is living across the road from the most wonderful bike shop in the world. Strange goings-on at the bike shop get Jack curious about the owners and who is the mysterious, truck driving clown? A story for children aged 7 and older. 

The Storyteller

The End of Bedtime?

Hello

I find the following article in the Daily Mail extremely sad.

Parents refuse to Read Classic Fairy Tales

The classic Fairy Tales have been honed for generations to give children insight into the adult world from the safety of their home, surrounded by the love of their parents. From this safe vantage point they can start to experience their own psychological development and come to terms with thoughts and feelings that they generate for themselves. 

The Fairy Tales allow children to dip a toe into the adult world and come back out again unscathed. They are given insight into how such problems may be overcome using their wits and their natural talents. How else can a person overcome a giant or a magical Genie other than by their wits? The Tales work at many levels and give something new to children of all ages. They are life stories.

In my view children are harmed much more by not being read these stories. Taken to extremes we should not teach children how to cross roads because the children will be afraid of being run over. We have to teach children about danger so that they can avoid it.

The most frustrating thing of course is that the article cites The Gruffalo as the favourite replacement. The Gruffalo is a wonderful story, one of the best modern Fairy Tales written. But what is it about? A small mouse who goes in to the dark woods and meets a wiley fox who invites the mouse for dinner. Why? You guessed it! The mouse is worried that he himself is the dinner so he imagines up a big friend - the Gruffalo who of course turns out to be anything but imaginary. Now taking for a fact that when reading or being read a story we all identify with the hero/ine of the tale we have a small mouse (the child) going into the dark woods (life) being faced with a bigger/older opponent (the fox) who he can only outwit using his/her brains. Now, tell me that isn't exactly the same as the old Fairy Tales.

I hope that people will continue to read these wonderful stories to their children, after all they all end up happily ever after,

The Storyteller

Bedtime Stories

Hello

Welcome to the blog site of The Story Telling Emporium.

We want to bring you lots of news about stories that we publish and much, much more. There will be posts about what we believe story telling means today, how important we believe it to be in the modern age, and especially how important bedtime stories are for children.

Together with our Youtube Channel we hope to bring you great ideas and stories to share with your kids.

With children spending more time by themselves and on computers, we believe it is vital to reclaim bedtime (and anytime) for stories. Stories help children grow and learn about issues that involve them in the best way that man has yet found. Stories do more than entertain, they educate and help children come to terms with subjects that worry them. The same story can mean one thing to a child at different ages. If you have not read some of your favourite bedtime stories for many years, you may be surprised that by re reading them to your own children, you gain new insights.

Just as children grow, so do stories. Why not grow with them and start telling stories to your children regularly? Children grow up far too quickly and their childhood is as precious to you, as their parent, as it is to them. Pack their childhood with fun and togetherness.

So grab a book, and spend 5 minutes at bedtime creating magical memories,

The Storyteller