Families get a Bookstart into the New Year (From Keighley News)
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Families get a Bookstart into the New Year
11:00am Saturday 29th December 2012 in Keighley
Two-year-old Aroush Habib decorates a tree at the Sangat Centre, with her aunt Zatoon Akram and Bookstart Bear
A mascot for a national project designed to get parents to read with their young children visited a Keighley community centre.
Bookstart Bear was at the Sangat Centre to meet parents and youngsters during a health clinic.
He was accompanied by Susan Brewster-Craig, from Bradford Council’s Libraries Service.
She explained: “This is Bookstart Bear’s winter tour. We generally visit toddler groups, health centres and libraries.
“We’re encouraging parents to come to their local library and share books with their children.
“This helps to develop speech and language skills and it helps youngsters bond with their parents. Children learn without even knowing it – and it’s lots of fun.”
She added that children aged five and under could be enrolled in the Bookstart Bear Club at their local library.
The young club members receive a ‘passport’ which is stamped every time they borrow a book or attend a story time or rhyme time session.
Children who gain six stamps are rewarded with a certificate, and sometimes receive a gift.
