HUW Lewis, the Education Minister for Wales, is encouraging parents to take part in National Story Telling Week (January 30th – February 6th) in a bid to help improve children’s literacy skills throughout Monmouth.

National Story Telling Week promotes the creative imagination and the tradition of story-telling. It encourages people of all ages to participate in sharing their anecdotes at story telling events held across a spectrum of venues, ranging from theatres and museums to schools and homes.

The Welsh Education Minister, said: “Reading together for a short period of time each night can have a big impact on a child’s literacy skills.

“It can improve a child’s academic performance by the equivalent of up to 6 months through increasing their logical thinking, expanding their imagination and enhancing their concentration and discipline.

“National Story Telling Week is the perfect excuse for parents and children to form a stronger bond together by picking up a good book and getting lost in the magic of reading.”

He added: “It is the extra little things parents do at home, such as taking time to read a bedtime story, getting children to bed early on school nights and teaching them numbers that can make a big difference to a child’s performance at school.

“This is something that we’re actively promoting through our campaign - Education Begins At Home - and we’d encourage parents and grandparents to visit our social media pages to find out how they can help support a child’s learning.”

In celebration of National Story Telling week, the Education Begins At Home campaign has compiled a list of the best books for parents to read with their children by age range.

For more information, visit facebook.com/beginsathome (facebook.com/dechraucartref) and follow the campaign on twitter @edubeginsathome (@dechraucartref)