Bookstart

Yesterday my youngest son had his 8 month check and we were given our Bookstart baby pack, a lovely canvas bag filled with two free books (we got Tickle, Tickle by Helen Oxenbury and Peepo Baby by Georgie Birkett) plus a rhyme sheet and lots of other information about sharing books with babies. I thought I'd write about them here just in case there were people who didn't know about these fabulous free resources.

Bookstart aims to provide a free pack of books to every baby in the UK to help create a love of reading. There are three packs; Bookstart for babies (given out in the first year), Bookstart+ (for toddlers 18-30 months) and My Bookstart Treasure Chest (for preschoolers) which are currently available in almost every part of the UK. There are also a special Booktouch pack that aims to give a love of books to blind and partially sighted children of 0 to 4 years and two bilingual Welsh / English packs available in Wales.

You can get your Bookstart packs from your health visitor / local health clinic, early years settings or your local library - so go and get your free books and tell us which ones you enjoy.