I was really interested to find out why children love the same books over and over and over and over again. So I did a bit of googling. Turns out there’s been an experiment done on 2 groups of children. The first lot got the same book with a few made up words and had it read to them repeatedly. The second group had different books but the same made up words e.g. “Sprock” appeared in all of them. The group that had the same book repeated remembered the new words more easily. Think this will give me more patience when reading Bear on a Bike by Stella Blackstone (a lovely bedtime story about a bear going on adventures on various modes of transport) for the gazillionth time!!!!

www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/never-ending-story-how-repetition-helps-a-childs-vocabulary-2220647.html%3famp

And here’s a bear story for the day:

Brave Boris and the Bear

Kirsten Allen

Brave Boris woke up one dawn
And thought about adventure on this bright morn’.
He put on his trousers and favourite old shirt.
Found socks and shoes and got on his horse – Bold Bert.
With a whinny and neigh they went off on their way!
Through fields and forests they galloped and rode.
Through mud and rivers the gallant horse strode.
Now tired and hungry, Brave Boris sat down to rest
And eat his scrummy picnic – (he liked cake the best!)
When all of a sudden he heard a roar and a yowl!
Suddenly came a screech and a howl!
Brave Boris realised he was picnicking near a cave…
And all of a sudden he didn’t feel so brave!
But then he felt curious, he wanted to know:
What was making that noise.
Should he look?…Should he go?
He paused for a minute to try and decide
What he should do – investigate or hide?
He heard another loud “ROAR!” 
And “Someone help! I’ve hurt my paw!!!!”
Soon followed by a very big yelp! 
So Brave Boris went right in to help.
He looked inside and saw a bear crying.
“Please help me!” He said “I’ve been trying and trying!”
“What’s the matter?” asked Brave Boris, (who was still not too sure.)
“Please help!” said the bear “I’ve got a thorn in my paw!”
“A thorn in your paw? No wonder you cried!”
The bear said “It won’t come out – I’ve tried and I’ve tried!”
Brave Boris looked and scratched his head.
“I’ll get it out for you. First sit on your bed.
Now hold out your paw…be brave! Just a little bit more…”
With a heave and a ho
It came out in one go!
“As a thank you” said the bear.
“I’d like you to take 
A very big slice of my honey cake”.
Brave Boris was happy as happy could be and gobbled the honey cake up for his tea!

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