Newsletter for Bookstart scheme coordinators November 2008 |
National Bookstart Day Overview
National Bookstart Day was celebrated on Friday 10 October with over 4,000 Pirates Ahoy! parties taking place across the UK in children’s centres, libraries and bookshops. Also, half a million copies of the free book Pirates Ahoy! were given out on high streets and shopping centres to spread the message about Bookstart.
The national press event at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich was a great success with 45 children attending from Robert Owen Children’s Centre in Greenwich and VIP guests Gail Porter and the Mayor of Greenwich joining in the fun with entertainment provided by singers, storytellers and Rhymetime sessions before joining 100s of families in another part of the museum for more singing and rhymes.
Pirates led invasions and mutinies all over the British Isles, with their swashbuckling costumes, resources and Rhymetime sheets, getting involved in activities, having loads of fun and getting excited about reading again. The children were all engrossed in the stories. One council wrote to us about their event: ‘There was a little boy who really needed to go to the toilet. After waiting some time to ask, he stood up and made his way out of where we were sitting but then stopped. When I asked him if he was alright he said “Yes but I really need to wee…. please can you stop the story for a minute, just a minute, just wait there, I don’t want to miss any.”’ A perfect example of what National Bookstart Day is all about.
Next year's Bookstart day will be on Friday 9 October and the proposed theme is 'My Favourite Nursery Rhyme'.
Feedback
‘Keep up the good work! Our parents really appreciated the high quality and accessible resources.’
‘Carry on doing the brilliant work – Bookstart is a real success – particularly as it is delivered by health staff in our district, so it is a universal service for all.’
‘Bookstart is very much valued by all our service users and staff. It is pivotal in enabling us to promote reading and imaginative play. This has also enabled us to develop our links with our local library. For example, we now run a storytime session at our local library. This was well attended by parents/carers and local childminders. At the time this service was started, none of the attendees were registered with the library. All have since joined.’
‘We all know how vital it is that children's language skills, creativity and imagination are nurtured, supported and developed, and all of your work helps with this. Thank you.’
‘Our families receiving these wonderful gifts are really appreciative, staff very much welcome Bookstart packs as we have a prolific number of families attending our sessions.’
If you have any feedback, stories or photographs from the day, we’d really like to see them. So email them over to Nikesh@Booktrust.org.uk
Regional Focus: National Bookstart Day Washes Up on the Shores of Dudley 
Avast ye mateys.
Dudley was awash with pirates celebrating National Bookstart Day on 10 October 2008.
The response from children’s centres in Dudley this year was staggering with everyone working tremendously hard to promote Bookstart with their own storytime sessions, pirate parties, activities and treasure hunts for families. Even babies visiting their health centres got to sail the high seas, becoming pirates for an afternoon and going home with their very own pirate Rhymetime sheet.
The week ended with a pirate party at Greenfield nursery in Stourbridge where there were lots of wonderful pirate costumes; all the children had made a pirate hat and a treasure map to hunt for hidden treasure. There were face-painting and fake tattoos, plenty of pirate food and exciting swashbuckling stories told by storyteller Julie Cooper. At the end of the day our weary pirates were gifted their very own Bookstart Treasure Chest before going home to relive their pirate adventures.
A great day/week was had by adults and children alike and everyone was reminded what fine treasure stories and books arrrrrr!
Regional focus: South Gloucestershire
Staff from South Gloucestershire Libraries had fun dressing up as a motley crew of pirates to celebrate National Bookstart Day. 500 copies of the specially written story book Pirates Ahoy! were given out to families with babies and young children for them to enjoy reading together. Shipmates included staff from the Children’s Information Service, Community Learning Service and the Leisure Trust. They gifted 115 Bookstart+ packs. All the parents were delighted with their packs and one commented, ‘I can’t believe you get all this for free and we’re going to the library for lots more books and to join in Rhymetime.’
Pirates of Penzance 
Bookstart in Cornwall and Waterstones worked in partnership to have a wonderful National Bookstart Day. Heather Hunt, Library Officer for Bookstart and Early Years promoted the event in the week before by sending flyers to local pre-schools and advertising in Truro Library. Mothercare and Boots also gave out flyers on the day. On the morning of the event she went out and about in Truro city centre talking to parents about Bookstart and inviting them to the event.
At story time Waterstones was full of parents, children and obviously the inevitable buggies. Stories and rhymes were read by Waterstones staff; National Bookstart Day books and Rhymetime sheets were given out also. Library staff were on hand to gift Bookstart packs to parents who had not yet received them and recruit new members to the library, encouraging all new under fives to join Book Crawl.
New Bookstart resources
Regular visitors to our website may have noticed some new resources appearing. Fear not- because in case you missed them, here they are in their resplendent glory:
• 'What Babies Love!' - a colourful leaflet about different things you can do to develop your baby's language skills
• ‘You Have the Power’ – a guide for health professionals on how to support parents and carers who need help with their literacy, language and numeracy
• Bookstart small bags – party-sized plastic bags, perfect for giving away at events full of information, resources and treats.
Please note that in December we will be updating the booklist for some of our packs so check back then. Also, bear in mind when making any orders to direct it to the right email address, orders@booktrust.org.uk
Holidays are coming!
Christmas is soon upon us. The nights are drawing in, Jack Frost is nipping at our toes, and the presents are gathering.
Bookstart has embarked on a Christmas campaign in support of independent bookshops.
Our ‘Book in Every Stocking’ campaign provides posters, stickers and bookmarks which have been specially designed by the illustrator Annabel Hudson, best known for her bestselling Witch Wendy series.
The materials will be sent to over 1,000 independent bookshops on Monday 10 November. Bookstart head, Rosemary Clarke, says ‘We wanted to do something special to thank the independent bookshops who have shown such sterling support for Bookstart. As well as accepting Bookstart £1 book tokens, which are redeemed at the bookseller’s own expense, many of the independent bookshops hold Bookstart Rhymetime sessions and events on National Bookstart Day and encourage parents to pick up their free Bookstart pack.’
So be sure to check out your local independent bookshops this winter to see what events they are running.