Narrative boosts language skills and lays the foundations for reading and writing.

At the end of last year, when the Government threatened to withdraw all funding from the Bookstart scheme, there was public outcry, with the result that the scheme is to continue - albeit with reduced funding. Everybody knows, it seems, that books are really important for babies and young children.

In many settings babies, young children and practitioners share books every day. Attractive book corners mean children choose to look at books for pleasure. Practitioners talk with parents about favourite books, sing rhymes and tell stories, as well as sharing books with groups of children and sending storysacks and boxes home with parents.

However, there are still settings where the books are old and unloved, there are no books in the baby room, and storytime happens when a practitioner grabs something at random to read at the end of the day or before lunch, when all the children are restlessly sitting on the carpet. This sort of practice would not happen if the staff had the chance to reflect on why books and stories are so important for children's development and how sharing books with caring, knowledgeable adults can foster the development of literacy and a life-long love of language and literature.

THE EYFS REVIEW

The recently published EYFS review by Dame Clare Tickell has recommended separating Communication and Language from Literacy. This is because communication and language are the foundations of literacy. However, it does not mean that books should be banned in baby rooms. It is important that babies and younger children enjoy stories and books, as it helps them build awareness of how narrative and book language work, gradually introduces them to letters and sounds, and builds strong foundations for the development of reading and writing.

THE POWER OF NARRATIVE

Narrative is the telling of the story of an event. Human beings thrive on narrative - we revisit events in our heads and retell them to ourselves and others, we compare our narratives with those of friends and relatives and make sense of our world through them. Gossip - narrative about others, often retold many times and embroidered in the telling - is fascinating, particularly if it scandalises or confirms or refutes a strongly held opinion about another person.

People who can tell a good tale are always listened to attentively. They are the ones who realise that, although the order of events may be important, relating every detail can be tedious. A good story often contains elements of surprise and reveals the teller's feelings and speculations about human behaviour.

Narrative also helps us create and transmit culture. Riley (2006) explains, 'Traditional storytelling or folk tales relay the hopes and fears, triumphs and failures of the commonplace and everyday as well as of heroes, victors, kings and queens, to explain, console and offer hope through life's confusions, difficulties and pain.'

Stories help us to take our place in the human family. By taking us into other cultures, times or experiences, they help us understand the views and feelings of others and develop empathy. Alongside this, they also help us understand new vocabulary and the structure of language.

All this can be done without books. However, the writing down of narrative in books helps us to share and treasure stories and to develop knowledge about the spoken and written forms of our language long before we are ready to read or write. Books for babies and young children contain pictures to 'read' as well as words. The sooner that adults share the joy of books with young children, the sooner they too will realise the pleasure that comes from reading.

DIALOGIC BOOK TALK

Getting babies involved with books is easy - they love handling them (and sometimes chewing them) as they learn about turning pages and lifting flaps. The enduring popularity of the 'Spot' books and classics such as Dear Zoo bear witness to their love of repeated phrases and rhythms as well as physical actions.

The role of the adult is to encourage, support and model book behaviour, as well as to engage in dialogue. At this stage it is not important if the story is not read from cover to cover; it's more important to talk about what the pictures reveal and what the child is doing.

Dear Zoo

Here's a short example where a baby room practitioner is sharing Dear Zoo with a nine-month-old baby who is sitting on her knee at a low table.

Practitioner: Oh, look, here's the snake.

Baby shouts: Daaa daaaa.

Practitioner: He's in the basket ... Oh, he's upside down, let's turn the book round.

Baby: (grasping book firmly and raising flap, chuckles and lowers and raises flap several times, concentrating and breathing heavily).

Practitioner: Ssssss ... he was too scary (shakes her body and tickles baby).

Baby: (laughs and bangs both hands down on page then grabs book and turns next page).

Throughout the session with the book there is a lot of eye contact between the two and much shared laughter. The practitioner is relaxed, referring to the text and repeating the two main phrases, 'they sent me' and 'he was too', but also introducing ways to hold the book and letting the baby share control. Eventually the book is abandoned before the 'official' end of the story.

Regular interaction like this builds up babies' expectations of pleasurable experiences from books and helps them get used to the cadence of the language used.

The Bear Under the Stairs

The same sort of dialogue should be maintained as children get older and know more about how books work. The Every Child A Talker guidance for early language lead practitioners gives some examples of ways to plan and carry out dialogic book talk sessions with older children in order to acknowledge and extend their experience and to develop their vocabulary.

One of the examples given is The Bear Under the Stairs by Helen Cooper. It tells the story of William, who is scared because he imagines a bear living under the stairs of his house. His mum helps him overcome his fear.

Be prepared

The key to success with any book talk session is to prepare.

  • Choose a picture book that will appeal to the group.
  • If you want to read the whole story, make sure the text is brief; the main objective is to get the children talking.
  • Think about the kinds of questions and prompts that you will use to encourage the children to think and talk about the story.

Ask open-ended questions

  • Ask, for example, 'I wonder why William thought he'd seen a bear under the stairs?' 'Why was there a bad smell coming from under the stairs?'
  • Recast and expand what children say (for example, if a child says 'William throwed a pear under the stairs', reply 'That's right, he threw a pear to the bear under the stairs').

Relate the story to the children's experiences

  • The Bear Under the Stairs lends itself to discussion of children's own fears and worries, in the reassuring context of William overcoming his fear of the imagined bear. Prompts might include 'I wonder if you're scared of bears like William' or 'When I was little I was scared of ...'. Remember to end the discussion on a reassuring note about William learning that many fears are imaginary.


Extend the children's vocabulary

  • The Bear Under the Stairs is rich in verbs, such as scared, worried, noticed, slammed, threw.
  • It also contains some nouns that children may not know, such as lair, hazelnuts, haddock.
  • You can also explore children's understanding of 'under' and 'near'.

Design follow-up activities to consolidate new vocabulary

  • You could go on a 'noticing' walk in the setting garden or nearby park, getting children to talk to each other and adults about what they notice on the walk.
  • Set up a game of Over and Under with spoken instructions - for example, 'crawl under the bench', 'step over the stick', 'jump over the cushion', 'wriggle under the blanket'.

There are many other books that can be used in this way. It is important to avoid trying to teach letter sounds or names during this sort of session. The aim is to teach children about narrative and the way book language works, and to support the development of their vocabulary.

In Suffolk they have developed 'Book Talk Tags'. Early years consultant Claire Bates explains that they were created following a training session that she delivered on dialogic book talk. One of the staff at the children's centre thought it would be a good idea to create the tags for familiar books in the setting.

'The settings now have the tags with the books,' she says. 'They provide the staff with prompts for discussion. They are not designed to use all the prompts in one sharing of the book, but used to support discussion of the book following the child's lead. Other settings have also found them useful for supporting students and less confident staff when sharing books. Also, other settings have launched them with parents, informing how they can be used when sharing a book with children at home.'

The tags consist of eight small laminated cards hole-punched and attached to a key ring, so they are very easy to use.

STORYTELLING

Books are clearly very important in promoting a love of literature, and it is important that settings choose to borrow or buy the best quality books they can. However, there is also much to be gained from telling stories. Some practitioners feel worried without the 'crutch' of a book, thinking they might forget the story, or not tell it 'correctly'. But there is no one way to read a story - even when two people read the same book, they do it differently. Telling a story opens up all sorts of different and exciting possibilities:

  • You can use movement to help the story along. It's much easier to tell an action story like We're Going on a Bear Hunt when you are not holding the book, and you can involve the children in acting out the story with you.
  • Direct eye contact with the children means you can hold their interest more easily and create the 'mood' of the story.
  • You can assess the children's understanding and engagement and can tell and retell parts for dramatic effect, to reinforce a rhyme or rhythm or because some children need to hear something again to fully understand or enjoy it.
  • When you tell a story that the children know well from a book, their powers of recall will be helped if you pause and say, 'Oops, I've forgotten what happens next', or make up a different version, possibly including the names of children in the group.
  • You can consolidate vocabulary learned through reading stories. For example, after reading The Bear Under the Stairs, you might tell a story that involves verbs like 'slammed' and 'threw' as well as nouns like 'lair' and 'dream'.
  • You can use personal information to create a story about something that has happened in your setting. For example, a childminder who has been gardening with the children reminds them when outside pulling up carrots about the story of The Enormous Turnip then later she tells a story called 'The Enormous Carrot' which features herself and the children. They all have fun with the repeated lines such as 'They pulled and they pulled.'
  • You can use props and puppets to help the story come alive.

Puppets and persona dolls

There are all sorts of puppets available to buy, but you can make a puppet from almost anything - an old sock, a paper bag, a small box and a lolly stick. They are wonderful props for storytelling - they can take on a character, or can encourage listening skills by 'whispering' to the practitioner. Children can use the puppets to help them retell stories to each other. Puppets can also be used to introduce new concepts such as problem solving, sharing bananas when there isn't one each, or finding a lost key.

Persona dolls are different from puppets. They are large dolls that become a character in the setting with their own personal, family and cultural background. To ensure that the personas they create are detailed and authentic, practitioners work together to create an agreed script of each doll's background, including facts like where they live, the languages they speak and their likes and dislikes. They may include the length of time the family has been in this country, if relevant, and its refugee or Gypsy/Traveller experiences. Many settings and schools have a range of dolls to reflect all the children in the group, as well as those not present.

When using puppets and persona dolls, it is a good idea to:

  • keep persona dolls and staff puppets separate from those that children can self-select
  • keep puppets in their own bags or boxes to make them special and ensure children look after them
  • if persona dolls are kept in the staffroom or other places where children may see them between visits to their room, ensure the dolls are sitting 'comfortably' and treated with respect here as well as when they are with the children

  • take photos of your puppets and dolls in everyday situations and use the photos to generate stories that involve the children in suggesting solutions to problems or ways to behave to help each other.

Storysacks and boxes

A storysack is usually a drawstring bag that contains a range of items to support a particular book. It includes at least one copy of the book, possibly a CD or tape of the story or related rhymes and songs, some small soft toy or plastic characters from the story, and a non-fiction book related to the theme. They are often sent home with children.

Launching a set of storysacks is a good reason to invite parents to a session on using them at home. Many settings have found these sessions really useful in opening up a dialogue about books.

You can buy commercially produced storysacks and you might want to start with one or two of these, but one way to ensure a supply is to get parents involved in making them. This is not only cheaper but, more importantly, it gives parents a chance to think through how to use a particular story and which props might be useful, and then to be creative in finding and making resources. Many settings have set up storysack-making groups where parents meet regularly to create new sacks and to review the books they wish to use.

A storybox can be made from any reasonably tough box - shoeboxes are ideal - and the inside of the box is 'landscaped' and equipped appropriately. For example, a Three Billy Goats Gruff box might contain three goats of varying sizes, a troll figure and a bridge. On one wall of the box might be some textured green material stuck on either side of a stream made of shiny paper. The children can re-enact the story in different ways and create different endings and plot twists.

A storybox need not be explicitly book-related. It may contain a range of figures on a theme - for example, a collection of small astronauts, a rocket and a bumpy lunar landscape with a black sky, stars or planets; or perhaps some sand, shells, a small bucket and a plastic crab, two fish, a boat and a small sailor figure. This invites the children to use their imaginations and tell and develop the tales that occur to them.

Pause for thought

Do you think the parents with whom you work are confident storytellers and readers?

Many ECAT settings have invited parents in to watch or share story sessions with the early years practitioners, sometimes to launch a storysacks project and get parents interested in reading good quality books with their children.

Picture books and traditional tales don't need high-level literacy skills or fluent English to be shared and enjoyed. This is one easy way to value home language and encourage parents to share their cultural heritage with their own children and with others. Feedback from parents has been very positive, and practitioners have also enjoyed using their skills in an informal way.

In Bradford, West Yorkshire, 20 early language lead practitioners brought up to three mothers and fathers from each of their settings to spend a whole day with a professional storyteller who shared and practised techniques with them. They all gained in confidence, and both parents and practitioners talked about realising how they needed to slow down and interact more with the children, as well as reading and talking with more enthusiasm.

Adults as listeners

The experience of ECAT settings has been that, as practitioners and parents become more confident in telling and reading stories, they tune in more readily to the children's storytelling. In turn, the children become more confident to share the products of their rich imaginations.

It is in their play that practitioners see children applying their growing knowledge of how language shapes stories and the ongoing narrative of their lives. As the writer Vivian Gussin Paley says, 'It is in the development of their themes and characters and plots that children explain their thinking and enable us to wonder who we might become as their teachers.'

Helen Moylett is the president of Early Education (visit www.early-education.org.uk) and an independent early years consultant

More information

  • Bookstart www.bookstart.org.uk has information about the universal and targeted bookgifting programmes, including National Bookstart Week (6-12 June 2011), plus support for parents and professionals
  • Brock, A and Rankin, C (2008) Communication, Language and Literacy from Birth to Five (Sage) has lots of practical ideas and case studies
  • Bromley, H Fifty Exciting Ideas for Story Boxes (Lawrence Educational)
  • Campbell, Rod (1982) Dear Zoo. Reissued many times, the most recent edition is a board book by Macmillan Children's Books (2010)
  • Clere, L (2004) The Little Book of Bags, Boxes and Trays (Featherstone Education). A multitude of ideas for every sort of collection and container, like storysacks and boxes
  • Cooper, Helen (1993) The Bear Under the Stairs (Red Fox)
  • Gussin Paley, V (2004) A Child's Work - The importance of fantasy play (University of Chicago Press). Gussin Paley is a great storyteller and brings the children in her class, and in many others, to life. Try Wally's Stories, Mollie is Three, Bad Guys Don't Have Birthdays, You Can't Say You Can't Play or The Kindness of Children
  • Hampshire, V, 'Turning the page', Nursery World, 17 March 2011, provides an update on Bookstart and the implications of reduced funding
  • Hardy, M and Medlicott, M (2004) The Little Book of Storytelling (Featherstone Education)
  • Jones, M, 'Come on in', Nursery World, 24 March 2011, has top tips on improving your book area
  • www.lovereading4kids.co.uk - a mail order book service set up by parents includes book previews from the children's books editor of the Guardian Review and free downloads of the opening extract of every 'featured book' on the site
  • Madeleine Lindley Books, www.madeleinelindley.com - every children's book you have ever heard of, plus puppets, character toys, customised book packs
  • McTavish, A (2008) Sing a song, tell a tale (Early Education). Ideas for helping young children to enjoy songs and stories through drama.
  • Rosen, M (1989) We're Going on a Bear Hunt (Walker Books)
  • Tickell, C (2011) The Early Years: Foundations for life, health and learning. An independent report on the Early Years Foundation Stage to Her Majesty's Government, www.education.gov.uk/tickellreview