Story Champions

“Hearing and reading stories has taught me so much and brought me so much enjoyment from my
childhood to the present. It is because of the potential of stories to unlock imaginations and
encourage learning that I launched the First Minister’s Reading Challenge. The ‘Every Day’s a
Story Day’ campaign dovetails perfectly with that initiative while highlighting that stories need not
always come from the pages of a book but can come through films, play acting and other channels.

“All generations can get involved with this campaign and help realise the shared ambition of opening young minds to the potential of storytelling. I want Scotland to be the best place to grow up and I am delighted to support Early Years Scotland’s work in helping achieve that.”

“Some of my earliest and fondest memories are of being read to. Story time is such a valuable space for parents to build relationships with their children and stories can feed young minds, fire the imagination and even change our lives. We include two books in Scotland’s Baby Boxes to encourage families to read with their babies from the earliest ages. The ‘Every Day’s a Story Day’ campaign has a key role to play in helping more children get the best start in life and make sense of the world around them.”

“Storytelling is a memorable and important part of children’s lives.  It helps them make sense of the world around them, helping them feel secure and build their confidence, and strengthens the bond between the storyteller and the child.Through the Play Talk Read campaign and our work with the Scottish Book Trust we are committed to getting more children reading and being read to, more often.  But great story-telling can happen without a book – be that at home, nursery or playgroup, in the supermarket or on a walk. 

“I’m honoured to have been asked by Early Years Scotland to become one of their Story Champions, and will continue to work to find new ways of encouraging children and adults to love storytelling.”

“What a wonderful campaign! Stories are vital to our lives. They’re how we make sense of the world and the choices we have to make in life.”

‘Cuddling up sharing stories with my children when they were wee, is one of my most special memories.

Our daughters still remember and talk about our story times.  Many stories I made up as I went along - others were from children’s story books. I remember one of my daughters asking me to ‘please read a story from your throat!’. This was her way of voting for a made-up story!

It’s because of the joy, learning, closeness, excitement and love of stories that they developed, that I feel impassioned about our responsibility to ensure that children have their own special story experiences. 

“The quiet time when you sit with your child and read to them is magical. I remember telling them everything from 'Messy Baby' to 'Little Women'. But afterwards do ask your child to tell you a made up story of their own. That will feed their imagination even more. And what is so wonderful is that it’s free! “ 

“Storytelling is such an important part of every child’s life. It creates a bond between little ones and parents, making memories that last a lifetime. As someone that now tells stories for a living, I’ll be forever grateful that storytelling was such a big part of my childhood!

Every child in Scotland should hear a story. Let’s all do what we can to make that happen!”

"Brilliant campaign. Reading to children is a total joy. I love reading to my kids and they love hearing stories. It’s like taking them on a new adventure every day without leaving the house."

“I whole-heartedly support this campaign because Story is the essential tool that builds healthy, well-balanced, creative and knowledgeable brains - most especially among the young. A story that fires, is a story that wires!”

“Every parent will have happy memories of reading their children a bedtime story….or even better - making one up! 
 
Question: If I added up all the times I did this with my children, do you know what it would come too? 
Answer: Not enough.
 
Make some memories…..read your children a story.”