Book opens up joy of reading for young children
A new type of book with which children can interact with their parents could find its way onto gift lists this Christmas.
Author Debora Tobin — who set out to make books more attractive to young children and get them interested in books at an early age — has devised the concept, Bee the Book: Farm Friends, for parents and children to share.
The design consists of a face space for the narrator to look through and a fold at the end of each page to read the story. This allows the reader to become the characters in the book.
The parent first reads the book and becomes all the farmyard animals in the story. This is highly entertaining for the children as they watch their parents suddenly become a duck, a sheep, a horse, a pig, or a cow.
“It is then the child’s turn to become the characters in the book and parents’ hearts melt away as their child is suddenly transformed into the cutest of farm animals,’’ says Debora, from Tralee, Co Kerry.
She spends time travelling around preschools doing storytime with children and demonstrating her book.
Ms Tobin recently got a patent on the design of this book as a new way of reading to children and believes she has a sound business idea.
‘’In a preschool or home setting, the book allows the parents, or teachers, to maintain eye contact with their audience which is highly important when communicating with young children,’’ she said.
‘’The ability to use facial expresses really enhances the storytelling and brings it to life. It is also great fun.’’
Currently working with students and teachers at the Tom Crean Centre at the Institute of Technology, Tralee, she has also formed a start-up company to further develop her ideas.
She has teamed up with Bee for Battens, the national charity for children with Batten’s Disease, and 50% of profits from her book sales this Christmas will go to the charity.
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