Wokingham

Parents in the Wokingham borough are being urged not to miss out on free packs of books for the babies and children.

Bookstart book packs provide the perfect way to start reading with babies and toddlers and they are available free of charge at three stages of children’s development.

The first Bookstart pack contains two board books, a book of nursery rhymes, advice on sharing books and information about libraries. Health visitors give these packs to parents when they carry out a baby’s eight-month development review.

But the second pack, the Bookstart Plus pack, which contain two books, a colouring pad, a pack of crayons, a bedroom frieze, stickers for toddlers’ books and a list of great books for toddlers, must be collected from a borough library or children’s centre. The Bookstart Plus packs are available free between a child’s second and third birthdays and to collect them parents or guardians need to take their child’s red health record book to any borough library or children’s centre.

Wokingham Borough Council executive member for community development, Cllr Dianne King, said: “Reading is one of the greatest gifts to give a child – it is free, fun, educational and lasts a lifetime – so Bookstart packs are a wonderful thing for families to receive. It is important that parents and guardians realise that the second Bookstart Plus pack – which is available at a vital age for children’s reading development – is only available from libraries or children’s centres and so they must go and get them. We do not want to see piles of Bookstart Plus packs in our libraries; we want to see scores of children in them enjoying their books.”

The third pack, the Bookstart Treasure Chest,which contains picture books, stickers and a pad and pencils, is given to parents by their child’s nursery or pre-school before the child’s fourth birthday.

Wokingham Borough Council has produced posters and flyers to publicise the Bookstart scheme and more information is available from the Council’s Bookstart officer Ellen Phillips on 0118 974 3711 or via email at bookstart@wokingham.gov.uk.

Ellen Phillips said: “Bookstart aims to inspire, stimulate and create a love of reading that will give children a flying start in life. Many parents are not aware that they can collect the Bookstart Plus pack. It is really important that all parents with a child aged 24 to 36 months goes into their library or children’s centre and claim this pack that they entitled to.”

Parents and guardians could combine collecting their Bookstart Plus pack with a visit to one of the borough libraries’ many baby and child events, which include baby rhymetimes and storytimes.

Wokingham Borough Council