MINIHAUS München receives the “Book Nursery” quality seal for a second time

For the second time in a row, MINIHAUS München in Menzinger Strasse has won the coveted “Book Nursery” quality seal [Gütesiegel Buchkita] – one of just four nurseries in Munich to do so. The Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels [organization promoting and supporting the German book trade] and the Deutscher Bibliotheksverband e.V. [German Library Association] award this seal to those nurseries in Germany which are especially active in promoting early-years reading and in developing children’s reading and speaking skills. The presentation was made to the management team of MINIHAUS Menzinger Strasse at the Frankfurt Book Fair.

Nursery manager Bianca von Lewinski is thrilled: “I’m so incredibly proud of my team!”, she says, adding that staff put so much heart and soul into their daily routine of experiencing books that it was “just fantastic” for this commitment to be recognized with a second “Book Nursery” quality seal. Deputy Head of Education Silvia Wick is also delighted with the award, saying “I can’t describe how it feels to be awarded this quality seal a second time!”, adding that it is yet another clear demonstration of the versatility with which MINIHAUS delivers language education to its children.

Since the nursery opened in 2010, the focus of MINIHAUS Menzinger Strasse has been on “The house of young readers”. Experiencing books in different ways has always been integrated and “lived” in the nursery routine, explains Ms von Lewinski, citing projects like “Stories in a Shoebox”, “Kamishibai” picture stories, “Book of the Week”, “Picture Book Cinema” using a projector, a book exhibition and parents reading aloud as examples. Involvement in the “kita.digital” (Digital Nursery) project integrates digital media education in the process, too.

Nevertheless the “Book Nursery” quality award gave things an extra boost right back in 2019. It was particularly fascinating to see how the MINIHAUS library has grown since then, says Ms Wick. Whilst this is a space which gives children the opportunity to experience books, it also enables teachers to use specialist literature to prepare for their tasks.

Feedback from parents is positive throughout. “They know how important language education is, particularly in the pre-school years”, says Ms Wick. Parents even got involved themselves, coming into particular groups to read, says nursery manager Ms von Lewinski. “We’ve even heard books like “The Hungry Caterpillar” being read in Russian, and another book in Bulgarian which the son, one of our Minis, translated. How incredibly proud of himself he was!” says Ms von Lewinski.

MINIHAUS München in Menzinger Strasse will not be resting on its laurels, however. “The impetus of the “Book Nursery” quality seal has motivated us to get more involved in buying newly-published books, and we will be doing more work with lecturers and authors in future” says Ms Wick.

Of 260 participating nurseries throughout Germany, 108 were awarded the “Book Nursery” quality seal this year, with MINIHAUS München in Menzinger Strasse one of just four nurseries in Munich and 15 in the whole of Bavaria to win it. The award is valid for three years. (ks)