In the past, I spoke about the storytelling power of the designer's picture books. That each one has its own colour and is really wonderful.

I came across a wonderful reading session today.

Today, there was a storytelling party by members of a group called "Kuma no Pocket" (Pocket Bear).

After saying the title, and who the author was, we waited a moment, slowly opened the cover, and begun the story. And at the end of the story, they showed off the back cover. The author's thoughts are summarised on the back cover, impressive!

There are as many colours as there are readers…

Whether it's your mum or dad reading, its always different.
In other words, reading a picture book is wonderful, no matter who it is!!

The rules I have learned reading picture books are: Do not ad-lib, don't move the book, don't interrupt by explaining the picture or answering questions, don't omit, don't change sentences, and don't ask for feedback.

Choose a good place to sit so that your voice can be heard, and speak loud enough to draw the child in, and use inflection to convey the world of the picture book.

I believe that "raising children" with picture books nearby will lead to "growing children"!

Try saying your first words together when reading your favourite picture book. Reading a picture book to a crying child will calm them down, reading before bed will help them sleep in the world of the story before you finish reading.

I think the power of picture books is really amazing…