ABSTRACT
The roots of story writing lie in building up a bank of well-known tales. Young readers move through a phase when they alight upon a favourite. This often happens when children are read to at home. Parents who read regularly to their children will recognise this phase. The child insists on the same book again and again. This continues until the child knows the story inside out. Indeed, children soon reach a point where they know the tale so well that if the weary parent dares to miss a word there are screams of indignation; ‘You’re not reading it properly!’
