Poetry sometimes struggles against fiction to attract a young child's attention, and yet there is an amazing wealth of fabulous poems, rhymes and ditties that children will love – all they need is to know about them. This brilliant app contains

'll plump for a lakeside picnic with poetry recitations from family and friends. To help things go smoothly, it's a good idea to think about your baby's routine  – choose the time of day when your baby is most likely to be awake. Keep things short, flexible

invention, the park bench, where you can feed your mind with a few lines of choice prose or poetry rather than tales of Thomas The Tank Engine.3. Train children to serve youRather than the parent serving the child, it should be the other way round. As soon

and Latitude to The Original Cornbury Music Festival and Camp Bestival – the Hay Festival has become a favourite for those with a literary bent. But don’t think this is a sober affair – it’s more a celebration of literature, storytelling and poetry, with hands

, apart from English! In fact, I hated school so I have to be really careful what I say when I make visits to read my books to the children. My writing started when I was a bit older – I joined a band and began writing lyrics.Do your sons, Elijah, six

Soul, Dreadzone, The Human League, Lo’ Jo and Paul Ewing.For the children There are circus and dance workshops, magic shows and street theatre. The Roald Dahl Museum will be offering storytelling and craft workshops, while the Sunday parade features

nonsense poetry and chugging rhythms, but it’s also a great way to persuade young children that they may actually like a new food! Sam-I-Am is desperate to get his chum to try green eggs and ham and suggests all kinds of scenarios that might make the dish