By Marie-Louise Gumuchian
LONDON (Reuters) – British children’s TV presenter Andy Day has taken young audiences around the world, across oceans and back in time with his animal and dinosaur adventure series.
The CBeebies host is one of the most recognisable faces of pre-school TV in Britain and is also known for his “Andy and the Odd Socks” band and “Dino Dad” children’s books, the third of which “Dino Dad: Big School Talent Show” was released last week.
In an interview ahead of World Book Day on March 6, Day spoke to Reuters about “Dino Dad”, how presenting has inspired his writing, and getting youngsters reading.
Below are excerpts edited for length and clarity.
Q: How did the “Dino Dad” books come about?
Day: “I love dinosaurs and I’ve got three kids and Ruby, who was about three at the time…I read to her every night…and the more I read to her, and obviously being in children’s TV, the more I thought I would love to get a children’s book written and I’d love to get my kids in it. And I’d love to sort of mix it up with some dinosaur knowledge and the stuff that I used to love as a kid.”
Q: Has presenting inspired your writing?
Day: “Hugely, because my passion for dinosaurs, the prehistoric world, although started when I was a kid…when I started the show I just learned more about them…and so I tried to integrate that into the books as much as possible.”
Q: What are your tips for parents to get young children reading?
Day: “It’s just opening up, unlocking that imagination in kids, you want to do it as much as possible. Books…take you into a different realm and…depending what the book is, you can learn so many different lessons through the characters. And that’s really what I want to do with ‘Dino Dad’ as well. I want them to learn something…have lots of fun with it, also imagine the world themselves. So reading to them is the biggest thing. Just read to them as much as possible.”
Q: What is it like reading your books to school children?
Day: “I love reading to the kids. I love to see their faces. You know what works, what doesn’t…words like ‘Poopa’, I know for some people, they’ll be like, ‘Oh, this is a bit lazy using just funny words’…but I just love it. Kids love fart sounds, they love silly words and it has a meaning to it as well, being ‘Protector Of Our Prehistoric Allies’…The more entertaining it is and the more fun it is, the more engaging it is and the more they’ll want to read.”
(Reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
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