What bed time story do you tell your children?

Philippines
December 13, 2009 8:12am CST
When my youngest sister was young (because she is 21 now) my dad used to tell her this story about ants named Pulay, Itaim, Puti and Dilaw. The ants have a goal of running away from the cat named King Ysma, which was so funny because my dad's name is Ysmael, where the cat's name was derived. I believe that telling stories provides entertainment to children. It also sparks creativity through role playing, acting out, dramatization and finally, reading out letters and words. Kids find it exciting to discover a new word, for example the word "pandemonium" which means a mess or chaos.
1 response
@oldchem1 (8132)
30 Nov 10
It has to be The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. It's now over 40 years old - I read it to my kids and now they read it to theirs! This was all of my children's favourite first book, and I can remember reading it to all of them - with the same response, they would all recite the words that were to come from each page just before I turned it over and they would be so happy when they heard me read the words that they had remembered. All of them would push the tips of their fingers through the holes while I was reading it to them. I suspect that anyone who has read the book will remember the first line of the book "In the light of the moon a little egg lay on a leaf." that little egg hatches one sunny Sunday and what should come out but a VERY tiny and a VERY hungry little caterpillar. The caterpillar starts to look for some food and we turn the page for each day to see what he eats; on Monday he eats through one apple , but this doesn't help he's STILL hungry; on Tuesday there are two pears that he eats - but, NO, he's still hungry; Wednesday sees him eat three plums - still hungry; Thursday he eats through four strawberries - STILL hungry; on Friday he eats through five oranges - even they don't fill this greedy little chap!!. On Saturday (always my kid's favourite page) he eats through - pause for breath - one piece of chocolate cake, one ice cream, one pickle, one slice of cheese, one slice of salami, one lollipop, one piece of cherry piece, one sausage, one cupcake and one slice of watermelon. On Saturday night he pays for his greed with a pain in his tummy!! Sunday again and our chunky caterpillar eats through one nice green leaf that makes him feel much better. No longer a hungry caterpillar, he is now a big fat caterpillar. The caterpillar builds himself a cocoon and after two weeks he nibbles through it to become ................................well I think we all know what, don't we? It is an ideal book to read to babies and toddlers, an ideal first book for reading. It is also a great teaching aid teaching nutrition, counting, science - (introducing the various stages of a butterfly) and learning the days of the week.This is will surely continue to be a children's favourite for many, many years to come - deservedly so, there's one wrapped up from me for my new granddaughter for this Christmas!!