This week sees the launch of a brand new children's magazine, quite unlike anything else currently available on newsagent shelves - Storytime. Lara is one of the first people to have got their hands on this first issue Storytime and I'm delighted with it - I plan to subscribe (there's a whopping discount when you do!)
Storytime is a thing of beauty - it is filled with classic children's tales and amazing illustrations. Each issue features around 6-10 stories or poems including fairy tales, myths and legends, folk tales, fables and rhymes from all over the world. Many of the stories are ones you will probably know and love already but for instance, in this first issue there was a beautifully illustrated Irish folk tale about the fairy bride which I had never heard before.
Lara was instantly captured by the magic of Storytime; she begged me to take it in to school to show her friends and teacher. Lara has enjoyed trying to read some of the stories herself but I think, at present, Storytime is probably more designed for me to read to her. In fact, there are tips and tricks for parents within the magazine to make storytelling a fabulous experience for everyone in the family.
At the back of the first issue of Storytime magazine there are a few puzzles, a board game and a colouring page - all activities to make your children think about the stories that they have heard; however, it feels like the stories are the main focus of the magazine.
The biggest hit in this first edition of Storytime magazine, within our house, was an extract from the start of Lewis Carroll's "Alices Adventures in Wonderland". I'd never thought of reading it to Lara before (partly because I thought the turn of phrase was a bit hard-going for a 5 year old) but when I read this passage in Storytime, Lara was totally absorbed and very disappointed when the excerpt was finished!
Storytime prides itself on the fact that it doesn't contain any advertising and it doesn't come with cheap plastic toys or sweets stuck to the front of it - this is a magazine your children will hopefully treasure for a long time. I really hope my girls do. I have wonderful memories of a similar magazine from my own childhood (called the StoryTeller) whose stories I still remember fondly. I would say that there is one thing I think that Storytime is currently lacking if it is going to be a thing of memories and that is a couple of modern, brand new stories mixed in with the family favourites and classics.
Issue one costs £3.99 and Storytime will be issued monthly.
Storytime is a thing of beauty - it is filled with classic children's tales and amazing illustrations. Each issue features around 6-10 stories or poems including fairy tales, myths and legends, folk tales, fables and rhymes from all over the world. Many of the stories are ones you will probably know and love already but for instance, in this first issue there was a beautifully illustrated Irish folk tale about the fairy bride which I had never heard before.
Lara was instantly captured by the magic of Storytime; she begged me to take it in to school to show her friends and teacher. Lara has enjoyed trying to read some of the stories herself but I think, at present, Storytime is probably more designed for me to read to her. In fact, there are tips and tricks for parents within the magazine to make storytelling a fabulous experience for everyone in the family.
At the back of the first issue of Storytime magazine there are a few puzzles, a board game and a colouring page - all activities to make your children think about the stories that they have heard; however, it feels like the stories are the main focus of the magazine.
The biggest hit in this first edition of Storytime magazine, within our house, was an extract from the start of Lewis Carroll's "Alices Adventures in Wonderland". I'd never thought of reading it to Lara before (partly because I thought the turn of phrase was a bit hard-going for a 5 year old) but when I read this passage in Storytime, Lara was totally absorbed and very disappointed when the excerpt was finished!
Storytime prides itself on the fact that it doesn't contain any advertising and it doesn't come with cheap plastic toys or sweets stuck to the front of it - this is a magazine your children will hopefully treasure for a long time. I really hope my girls do. I have wonderful memories of a similar magazine from my own childhood (called the StoryTeller) whose stories I still remember fondly. I would say that there is one thing I think that Storytime is currently lacking if it is going to be a thing of memories and that is a couple of modern, brand new stories mixed in with the family favourites and classics.
Issue one costs £3.99 and Storytime will be issued monthly.
