Find information to encourage you and your child to love reading.
Inspire Libraries
Register at your local Library for free and you and your child will be able to borrow a wide range of story and information books. Inspire understand life is busy for families, that is why there are now overdue charges for children and young people up to the age of 19.
Libraries have a range of activities and events aimed at under fives, from weekly Rattle, Rhyme and Roll sessions, to creative workshops, adventures in music and family theatre.
Libraries also have a range of activities and events aimed at primary aged children, from reading challenges, family theatre, concerts to Code Cubs, for children interested in learning how to make computer games.
Each year the libraries run the Summer Reading challenge. The challenge invites children, aged 4 to 11, to read six or more library books over the summer. There are stickers to collect along the way and a medal and certificate for every child who completes the challenge. This is a great way of getting your child interested in looking at books. There is even a mini challenge for children aged 3 and under.
Find out more about the fantastic range of services available, go to, Children and Families (Inspire Culture, Learning and Libraries)
Bookstart
Bookstart packs are given out free to babies and children to inspire a love of reading and books at an early age.
Packs can be collected at your local library from your health professional or early years setting. Two packs are available to every child:
- Bookstart Baby pack for babies aged 0 to 12 months
- Bookstart Treasure Gift for children aged 3 years
There are also packs available to support children with additional needs:
- Booktouch for children who are partially sighted
- Bookshine for children who are deaf or hearing impaired
- Bookstart Star for children who have a condition or disability that impacts on or delays the development of their fine motor skills.
Find out more about all the Bookstart packs at Bookstart (Inspire Culture Learning and Libraries)
Phonics
Phonics is the way children will learn to read and write at school. Learning by connecting sounds (phonemes) to letters or groups of letters (graphemes). It helps children break down the words by understanding the relationships between sounds and their written form, enabling them to read unfamiliar words and improve their spelling.
To find out for more about Phonics, go to Everything you need to know about phonics in schools (The Education Hub)
Further reading advice and activities
- What is phonics? (National Literacy Trust)
- Phonics - letter sounds - Early years English (BBC Bitesize)
- Phonics (Oxford Owl)
Activities and support for parents
- Supporting Parents, Carers and Families (BookTrust)
- Activities (Words for Life)
- Improve your child's learning at home (Words for Life)