# Stories that connect us: How books foster belonging in the early years

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-voice-of-early-childhood-6315746/stories-that-connect-us-how-books-foster-belonging-in-the-early-years
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-voice-of-early-childhood-6315746/stories-that-connect-us-how-books-foster-belonging-in-the-early-years.md
Podcast: [The Voice of Early Childhood](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-voice-of-early-childhood-6315746)
Published: 2026-01-05T06:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/stories-that-connect-us-how-books-foster-belonging-in-the-early-years/
Audio file: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/decd6f39-4851-4730-ba8f-070dbd282579/Laura_Henry-Allain.mp3?dest-id=3970080
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Duration seconds: 2599

## Resource

In early childhood, stories are more than words on a page. They are bridges—between experiences, identities, and possibilities. This idea sits at the heart of a powerful conversation with Laura Henry-Allain MBE: award-winning early education specialist, author, and creator of the ground-breaking CBeebies series JoJo and Gran Gran . In this podcast episode, Laura shares her insights on the transformative potential of books in early childhood settings, and how storytelling can offer every child a sense of belonging. Read the article here: https://thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/ s tories-that-connect-us-how-books-foster-belonging-in-the-early-years/ This episode is sponsored by Ladybird Books: We make growing up the best story ever! From your baby's first book to starting school, at Ladybird we publish something for every milestone. Discover a range of your little one's favourite characters, from Peppa Pig to Topsy and Tim, and much more. To find out more visit: https://www.penguin.co.uk/discover/ladybird Our 2026 conference info & tickets: https://thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/early-years-conference-2026/ Listen to more: If you enjoyed this episode, you might also like: · The value of storytelling, by Olivia Corbin-Phillip, https://thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/the-value-of-storytelling/ · Extremely early literacy, by Dan Berman, https://thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/extremely-early-literacy/ Get in touch and share your voice: Do you have thoughts, questions or feedback? Get in touch here! – https://thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/contact/ Episode break down: 00:00 – 2026 Conference: Laura Henry-Allain MBE as keynote speaker 02:20 – Introducing Laura Henry-Allain MBE 06:10 – Why books matter: emotion, curiosity, access, and "windows" for children 08:30 – Representation and belon…

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