Young And Old Share Love For Reading On World Book Day

Proving that age is no object when it comes to a love for books, children from Paper Moon Day Nursery, Compton Acres, Nottingham joined the residents at Ruddington Manor in Wilford, near Nottingham, for an inter-generational afternoon of fun and storytelling.

The event coincided with World Book Day, which takes place annually on 5 March, and saw a group of six pre-school children aged three and four from the day nursery visit the care centre to share stories with the residents and enjoy an Alice in Wonderland-style afternoon tea party with mini sandwiches and cakes.

The afternoon was great fun for all; with residents from Ruddington Manor enthralling the children with readings from their favourite books and the children surprising and delighting the residents by dressing up as characters from their favourite stories and performing songs and dance routines.

Wellbeing coordinator at Ruddington Manor, Amy Simpson, commented: “You are never too old or too young to appreciate a well told story, and our residents continue to be avid readers, sharing and swapping books with each other on a regular basis. This special activity for World Book Day gave them the opportunity to delve back into some classic children’s favourites and take delight in reading to the youngsters who really loved their storytelling session.”

Nursery manager Kerry Sheppard commented: “We join the residents at Ruddington Manor on a regular basis and to be able to celebrate World Book Day was a great opportunity that we just couldn’t miss. Our pre-schoolers love books, listening to and telling stories is a daily occurrence at nursery. The children carefully chose their favourite books with staff to share with the residents who really enjoyed immersing themselves along with the children into the imaginative world created by the books. Seeing the children and residents together sharing their love of books was just magical. Sharing and reading of stories is such a beneficial inter-generational activity, imagination and a creative mind is all that’s needed. We know that visiting the residents in our community is having a positive impact on our children and gives us the opportunity to discuss respect and understanding for older people in our society”