In the UK’s biggest annual free book giveaway for schools, the charity Booktrust will be delivering more than 2 million free books to every pupil in reception and Year 7 by Christmas, through their Booktime and Booked Up programmes.

The Booktime programme for reception-aged pupils (4- to 5-years-oldand Booked Up programme for Year 7 pupils (aged 11-12), are both run by the independent national charity Booktrust, with the aim of encouraging reading for pleasure. The programmes continue to be supported in England by the DCSF (Department for Children, Schools and Families). Both programmes are free to all participating schools.

The Booktime programme, which is run in association with education and publishing company Pearson, will this year give a copy of Puffin’s Mr Big by Ed Vere and The Booktime Book of Fantastic First Poems edited by June Crebbin. The packs will also contain guidance material for parents and carers to encourage sharing books with children.   

The Booked Up programme allows each child to make their own choice of book from a selection of 12 titles. The programme encourages Year 7 pupils to read independently and supports reading for pleasure as children make the sometimes difficult transition from primary to secondary education.

The new Booked Up booklist:


Flood Child by Emily Diamond (Chicken House)

Read Me Out Loud! – Poetry anthology (Macmillan Children’s Books)

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (Puffin Children’s Books)

Once by Morris Gleitzman (Puffin Children’s Books)

Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key by Jack Gantos (Random House)

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney (Puffin Children’s Books)

Desirable by Frank Cottrell Boyce (Barrington Stoke)

WOW! 366 – Short story collection (Scholastic Children’s Books)

Blood Hunters by Steve Voake (Faber and Faber)

Underworld by Catherine MacPhail (Bloomsbury)

An Urgent Message of Wowness by Karen McCombie (Scholastic Children’s Books)

How Loud Can you Burp? by Glenn Murphy (Macmillan Children’s Books)

Picture book option:
Derek the Sheep by Gary Northfield (Bloomsbury)


All information about Booktime and Booked Up can be found on the websites www.booktime.org.uk and www.bookedup.org.uk.

Secondary schools can register for Booked Up by visiting the Booked Up website.

Other options will also be made available with the aim of catering for the widest range of needs. These will include further picture book selections and two audio book options

A Booktrust panel – including children’s book expert professionals from the library sector, booksellers, teachers, journalists, and children’s book reviewers – selected the books, which are ideal for reading for pleasure, represent a suitable degree of diversity, use language well and reflect various styles.

Public libraries and school library services are also being offered the opportunity to receive free sets of the books and supporting resources to enhance the Booktime and Booked Up programmes.


Quotes:

Viv Bird, Chief Executive of Booktrust:

‘Starting primary or secondary school can be an intimidating experience for many children. At Booktrust, we are immensely proud that the Booktime and Booked Up programmes with their gift of a free book introduce children not only to their new school but act as a reminder of the joys and simple pleasures of reading. We know that Booktime and Booked Up can help develop a real love of reading, as the books on the list are certain to excite, enthuse and entertain children of all abilities.’


Marjorie Scardino, CEO of Pearson:

‘When we launched Booktime back in 2005 our aim was simple: we wanted to help cultivate a love of reading in every child starting school in the UK, because we believed it would start them on a journey through a wider world. This year we hope that the gift of Ed Vere's beautiful story of Mr Big and Puffin's poetry collection will launch a few more children on that journey.’


***Images are available

Notes to Editors


•    About Booktrust

Booktrust is an independent national charity that encourages people of all ages and cultures to discover and enjoy reading. Booktrust is responsible for a number of successful national reading promotions, sponsored book prizes and creative reading projects aimed at encouraging readers to discover and enjoy books. These include the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction, the Children’s Laureate, the Get London Reading campaign, the Booktrust Teenage Prize and Bookstart, the national programme that works through locally based organisations to give a free pack of books to young children, with guidance materials for parents and carers. See www.booktrust.org.uk


•    About Pearson

Pearson is an international media and educational company. Its major businesses are: Pearson Education, the world's leading education business, providing print and digital learning materials and services used by more than 100 million students of all ages every year; The Financial Times Group, which has an international network of business and financial newspapers and online services that are read by millions of business executives and investors every day; and Penguin Group, which is one of the pre-eminent names in consumer publishing, with an unrivalled range of fiction and non-fiction, bestsellers, and classic titles.  Through its books, newspapers and online services, Pearson helps people of all ages to live and learn. See www.pearson.com