Pearson Gifts its 10 Millionth Book to Children to Encourage a Lifelong Love of Reading
November 6, 2013 /3BL Media/ - Booktime (www.booktime.org.uk) – now in its eighth year – aims to inspire a lifelong love of reading. It will give two free books to 765,000 reception-aged children in England and Wales in the 2013-2014 year of school. This year’s books for children in England are Charlie and Lola’s But Excuse Me That is My Book, published by Puffin, an imprint of Penguin Children’s, and Tom’s Mad Mop, from the Bug Club series by Pearson UK, part of Pearson's education business. Four to five-year-olds in Wales will receive Charlie and Lola’s But Excuse Me That is My Book as well as a Welsh language title. In addition, every primary school and library can also access free guidance and activity sheets on the Booktime website, with extra resources for libraries and parents also available.
It is widely recognised that one of the most important things a parent can do to help their children learn is to read with them and inspire a love of reading and books. But, recent research has revealed that up to one third of children are not read bedtime stories, and only 13% of parents read to their children every night[1].
The books, picked by an independent panel of experts because they are brilliant to read aloud to children and have wonderful illustrations, make it a joy for readers of all levels.
This year marks a very special milestone for the Booktime initiative with its 10 millionth book being gifted to a child this term.
Peter Hughes, head of corporate responsibility at Pearson, the world’s leading learning company, said: “The more we read, the more we know and as we learn, so we progress and grow. So what better gift to give our children starting school, than 10 million chances to start to read, learn and grow?”
Viv Bird, Chief Executive of Booktrust, added: “At Booktrust we know that just one book can make all the difference to a child’s life – just think how much of a difference ten million books have made! Thanks to our strong partnership with Pearson through Booktime, we are extremely proud that so many books have given pleasure to so many children.”
Given digital technology is becoming more dominant in the family home, this year, for the first time, children, together with their parents and carers, can log onto the Booktime website www.booktime.org.uk for free e-books to read online from Pearson. They will also be able to listen to the books being read aloud as well as access free games and activities.
[1] Littlewoods survey – September 2013
