Remember “Janet and John?” Probably I’m showing my age, but when I grew up you read “Janet and John” books from Nursery school upwards. You (or your teachers) could tell what stage you were at simply by the colour of the book you were on. They were mostly about the ubiquitous “Janet and John” who led an increasingly more complicated life the older you got.

These days Children’s nurseries hope to get your babies hooked on books from a very young age. Nurseries in Essex join together with nurseries from all over the UK in helping children through what are designated “Key Stage 1” and “Key Stage 2”. The former takes the children to the age of seven and the stage 2 goes up to age 11. [Read more...]