National Bookstart Week kicks off in Middlesbrough

Families in Middlesbrough have marked the launch of National Bookstart Week with a day of fun on Saturday 3 June at the town’s Central Library, where they were encouraged to develop a love of shared reading.

Supporting the goals of the Middlesbrough Reading Campaign from the National Literacy Trust and Middlesbrough City Council, Booktrust’s annual National Bookstart Week celebrates sharing books, stories and rhymes with children from an early age. Reading together every day for just 10 minutes is enough to make significant improvement to a child’s development.

The theme of this year’s Bookstart Week, which officially runs from Monday 5 to Sunday 11 June, is Let's Explore Outdoors. Lots of outdoor children’s activities took place at the library to celebrate on Saturday, including a small animal petting zoo, planting seeds and bubble blowing. Every baby, toddler or under-five in attendance was given a copy of this year’s chosen book, Everybunny Dance! by Ellie Sandall and Penguin Random House’s Peter Rabbit and Friends.

Each of the attendees’ names was also entered into a free prize draw that offered the chance to win a hamper of books donated by the National Literacy Trust’s Middlesbrough Hub.