Bedtime Stories: The first books we read to our children REVEALED
Reading a book to your child for the very first time can feel like a very ceremonial thing, and it turns out for many parents its a very similar ceremony with one in eight parents reading The Gruffalo as a first book to their child.
A study, put together by leading bookseller The Works, found The Gruffalo well and truly leads the way as the nation’s favourite first read today, while Julia Donaldson books as a whole make up for 18% of first books read to children.
The author, whose words are combined with the great illustrations of Axel Scheffler, first released The Gruffalo in 1999 and it’s proven a hit right across the country, with eight of the UK’s 12 regions parents preferring it as a first read for their children, with only Spot the Dog (North West, East Mids) and The Very Hungry Caterpillar (London, South East, Wales, West Mids) the most popular elsewhere.
Despite being released in the 1960s, The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a parent’s second most popular first read for their children overall, while the That’s Not My… series, also released in 1999, makes up the top three.
When it comes to the introduction of reading to children, 44% of parents are doing so from birth, with a further 27% of parents picking up a book for story time for children aged between one and two.
However, one in 10 parents are late bloomers to reading themselves, not remembering reading their own first book until after the age of 12. Only 19% of those parents then introduce their child to reading from birth, and are 20% less likely to introduce reading to a child under the age of two. Meanwhile one in 10 parents who are late to reading themselves don’t read their child their first book until after the age of seven.
You can view the top 10 books we’re most commonly reading to our children first below, while the full study can be found at: https://www.theworks.co.uk/theworks-blog/book-inspiration/the-first-book-we-remember.html
Top 10: First books we’re reading to our children
The Gruffalo
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
That’s Not My…
Guess How Much I Love You
Peppa Pig
Spot
The Tale of Peter Rabbit
Dear Zoo
Winnie the Pooh
Harry Potter
