In 2009-10 Booktime gave away Ed Vere's Mr Big to nearly 760,000 children throughout England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The programme, which launched in 2006, has in previous years given away Lynley Dodd's Hairy Maclary's Bone, Allan Ahlberg's Funnybones and Ian Whybrow's Harry and the Dinosaurs go to School.
Reading together for fun and for pleasure
Booktime encourages family engagement and reading for pleasure by giving a free book pack to children starting primary school. It was set up by independent charity Booktrust in association with education and publishing company Pearson.
The programme is delivered across the UK in partnership with schools, libraries and local authorities.
Read more about Booktime in
> England
> Scotland
> Northern Ireland
> Wales (pilot)
Nearly 4 million books given away!
Since the launch of Booktime in 2006, over 2.5 million children across the UK have received nearly 4 million free books.
In 2009-10, the illustrated story book was Ed Vere's Mr Big, with children in England additionally receiving a copy of The Booktime Book of Fantastic First Poems.
Mr Big broke records for Booktime in reaching more children and families than ever – nearly 760,000 across the whole of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland with a pilot in Wales.
Classroom activities and family reading events are supported in England through the provision of free resource packs to over 17,000 schools and over 2,700 libraries.
> Read the 2009-10 library evaluation
New in in 2009-10: A new look and a families' website
Booktime has a bright new look with our refreshed branding and website with a new character Booky.
There's also a fun new interactive section on our website for families called Booky’s World, as well as dedicated information and resources for schools and libraries
New in in 2009-10: Increased targeted provision
- Booktime gave out over 7,500 packs to Local Authority Coordinators for children and families at risk of social exclusion, including Gypsy, Roma, Traveller, Elective Home Educated and Looked After children
- Over 5,000 children in 470 Special Needs schools also received book packs
- Three carefully selected titles for children with complex learning needs were available
- Free large print and Braille editions of Mr Big and The Booktime Book of Fantastic First Poems were available for children with visual impairments
> Read more about additional books and resources
Feedback about the programme
'We've used Mr. Big to teach all areas of the curriculum over a two week period and the children have produced some brilliant work.'
Teacher
'One girl said "I can’t believe this is for me!"’
Librarian
'This is a truly wonderful way to inspire children to love books and learn to read, and is much appreciated by this parent and I'm sure many, many others. The packs are imaginatively and thoughtfully designed and it is so lovely to get new books by the best children's authors.'
Parent
