When building up a children's book collection it is important to include a range of high-quality traditional tales from around the world.
Some children will come to early years settings with many experiences of sharing books with family members and others. These young children will have already begun to develop positive attitudes to reading and see books as exciting, interesting and fun.
Other children will have had fewer opportunities to experience books in their home environments. However, they may be familiar with a few popular traditional stories, which may have been read or told.
Practitioners need to build on all children's home experiences by providing quality traditional tales which are familiar, and by introducing those which are less familiar.
When selecting books for a particular setting, it is important to discuss traditional tales with family members and purchase books which reflect the multicultural society in which children are growing up.
Many traditional tales have moral messages and offer opportunities to discuss issues and emotions in a non-threatening way. Children and adults can explore jealousy, laziness, fear, bullying, vanity, greed or loneliness in these retellings of age-old tales.
Perhaps the most powerful advocate for the use of traditional tales has been Bruno Bettelheim, who, in The Uses of Enchantment: The meaning and importance of fairy tales (1991, Penguin Books), argues that they help children confront and resolve fears and anxieties and allow them to work through their problems.
All children need opportunities to hear stories read and told, and traditional tales offer practitioners excellent opportunities to develop their own storytelling techniques. There is nothing quite like the magic of hearing a fantastic tale told in a small group with the lights dimmed to a soft glow. Many adults have fond memories of stories told by candlelight around a camp fire.
The repetition and patterned text within many traditional tales make retelling by adults and children a natural activity. The retold stories generally follow the same pattern, with familiar repetitive text and speech, but will evolve as different contributors develop the story.
It is important that practitioners support children as they retell stories and create their own versions. This will often begin as children create different endings for the stories, and as they gain in confidence, adapt the plot and involve new characters.
Some traditional tales also have the advantage of supporting children's early mathematical development. Many include three, five or ten characters or items. The Three Billy Goats Gruff, The Three Bears and The Three Little Pigs are wonderful introductions to the 'three-ness of three' and have the added advantage of reinforcing the concept and language of size.
Children understand more about numbers when they have opportunities to explore counting through active, meaningful experiences and role play as well as books and stories. Simple story props, such as three sizes of bears, bowls and spoons and magnetic story props can support children's retelling of traditional tales and exploring numbers.
Judith Stevens is early years adviser at Lewisham Education