Booktime is the national free books programme for reception-aged children, providing a free book pack for every child aged 4-5 years to share and enjoy with their family and friends. Booktime aims to promote the pleasure of books by encouraging families to have fun reading together.
Booktime is run by Booktrust, the independent charity dedicated to inspiring a lifelong love of books for all, and Pearson, the world’s leading learning company.
Booktime is run by Booktrust, the independent charity dedicated to inspiring a lifelong love of books for all, and Pearson, the world's leading learning company.
No - Booktime is a charitable programme, and book packs are a free gift from Pearson, the world’s leading learning company, for children to enjoy sharing with family and friends shortly after they first start primary school. The programme is managed by independent charity Booktrust and supported by central government funding.
Booktime book packs are intended for reception-aged children to take home and share with family and friends. Booktime will aim to provide book packs for:
Every eligible child (4-5-years-old) starting primary school in England during the school year 2011-12. This includes state, independent, voluntary, private or special needs schools, and covers second and third intakes throughout the school year.
All eligible children (aged 4-5 years) who may not currently be attending mainstream education, such as: Elective Home Educated, Looked After, and Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Children; and those in children’s hospices or attending hospital schools.
To order packs for children who are not attending mainstream education please use this form.
To order book pack for children with additional needs please visit our Additional Formats section for more information and an order form.
We have enough book packs for reception-aged children and cannot provide book packs for any other year groups or purposes. This means we cannot provide packs for Nursery or Year 1 children, even if these classes are mixed with reception, or we risk running out of packs.
Schools should receive enough book packs for all the children who are expected to start reception this school year (2011-12).
We ask that teachers store any spare book packs needed for further intakes or for new arrivals during the school year, and give them to new reception children shortly after they first start school.
If you have not received enough book packs for your later intakes, please see the question below, 'What do I do if there aren't enough book packs in my delivery?'
Booktime aims to encourage reading for pleasure by providing free book packs for all eligible children, including those with additional needs. We offer a range of additional titles and formats to complement this year’s book packs. To find out about the range of materials available from Booktime on request, please visit our Additional Formats page.
All reception-aged children (aged 4-5 years) are entitled to receive a free Booktime book pack. Book packs are delivered through local primary schools. If you are home educating your 4-5 year old child you can request your child’s book pack directly from Booktime by completing this online form.
Please check the delivery label: bigger schools will receive their book packs in several deliveries. For example, if the label on the box says ‘1 of 3’ and you have only received 1 box, another 2 boxes will be arriving shortly.
Please make sure your books are being given to the right age group. Booktime book packs are only available for reception-aged children. To ensure the sustainability of the programme, and to make sure every eligible child receives their book pack, we cannot provide packs for other year groups or nursery children.
If your school has not received the full expected delivery of book packs for every eligible child, please contact the Booktime Helpline to order extra books packs.
If your school in England has a reception class and has not received a book pack delivery by Friday 6 January after the holiday, please contact the Booktime Helpline. If we need to arrange a new delivery to your school, we will do so as quickly as we can.
Please check the delivery label: bigger schools will receive their book packs in several deliveries. For example, if the label on the box says ‘1 of 3’ and you have only received 1 box, another 2 boxes will be arriving shortly.
Please make sure your books are being given to the right age group. Booktime book packs are only available for reception-aged children. To ensure the sustainability of the programme, and to make sure every eligible child receives their book pack, we cannot provide packs for other year groups or nursery children.
If your school has not received the full expected delivery of book packs for every eligible child, please contact the Booktime Helpline to order extra books packs.
Book packs will be delivered to schools over several weeks in the autumn/winter school term of 2011. Schools will begin to receive their packs in early October and deliveries will continue until mid-December.
Your school details and order should be on our system, but if your school has not received a delivery by Friday 6 January after the holidays, please contact the Booktime Helpline. If we need to arrange a new delivery to your school, we will do so as quickly as we can. The helpline details are:
Schools do not need to order book packs. Your local authority helps us update school intake figures so that packs can be sent automatically to every primary school with a reception class. Book packs will be delivered to schools either directly or via local authority central delivery points (usually a local library). Your local authority decides on the best delivery method for book packs in your area.
Free library resource packs for 1,000 public libraries will be sent to local authorities during the first week in October, for authorities to arrange onward delivery to their libraries
Booktime has 1,000 free library resource packs available. We have asked local authorities to request resource packs for their public libraries who can commit to holding Booktime events and activities. Please ask the Booktime main contact in your authority if your library is to receive a pack (if you don’t know who that is, please contact booktime@booktrust.org.uk)
