Three year-old Kaia Richards got a real surprise on one of her regular visit to Chatteris Library when she discovered a bear hidden among her favourite books.
Bookstart Bear
Cambridgeshire County Council’s Library, Archive and Information Service provides free Bookstart book packs to all babies, toddlers and pre-school children and to promote the scheme Libraries throughout the county organised a series of ‘bear hunts’ with Bookstart Bear as the first prize.
Kaia, from Chatteris was the lucky finder of a bear hidden on the shelves at Chatteris Library. Her name was entered into a countywide draw to win the Bookstart bear that has now been presented to her and she has named Fred!
The youngster’s family joined her to celebrate her success and her mother Carley White, said: “Kaia loves coming to the Library to choose her books each week and she has particularly enjoyed receiving the Bookstart gifts. It is great to see her win the Bookstart bear as she is such a fan of books and bears!”
National Scheme
The Cambridgeshire Bookstart programme is part of a national scheme to encourage children and their families to share and enjoy books from the earliest age possible. Funding for the scheme is provided by the Department for Children, Schools and Families and sponsorship from booksellers and publishers.
Cambridgeshire County Council’s Bookstart Co-ordinator, Joanne Frusher, said: “The partnership between the Library Service, Primary Care Trust, the Early Years and Childcare Service, as well as many nursery and infant schools across the county has enabled approximately 18,000 children a year to receive the free book packs. This is an incredible achievement and one that will be continued in 2008 which is the National Year of Reading.”
For Children 0-4
Anyone who wants more information about the Bookstart scheme which is aimed at children from birth to four years of age, should ask at their local Library.
In addition to receiving the free book packs, pre-school children can also take part in the Bookstart Bookcrawl. Children can collect Bookstart Bear stickers on each visit to the Library and for every five stickers collected the children receive an attractive award certificate.
Adopt the Library Habit
There are 10 certificates in total to encourage the children to adopt the Library habit and to become life-long lovers of books. Many Libraries also hold special themed events as well as regular story and rhyme times for pre-school children to enjoy with their families.
For more information on the services provided by Cambridgeshire Libraries, call 0845 045 5225 or visit: www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/library.