Today marks the start of Book Week Scotland 2014, the national celebration of reading, and to mark the occasion Scottish Book Trust is to gift three free picture books to every Primary 1 child in Scotland.
The books, all by Scottish authors or illustrators, will be gifted in the Bookbug Primary 1 Family Pack and comprise the Bookbug shortlist for the Scottish Children’s Book Awards 2015.
The titles include: Robot Rumpus by Sean Taylor and Ross Collins, Princess Penelope and the Runaway Kitten by Alison Murray and Lost for Words by Natalie Russell.
Also included in the Bookbug bag will be a Scottish Children’s Book Awards pack full of games and activities, along with a voting slip to enable children to declare which of the three picture books is their favourite. The pack will also contain Ziggy and Maggie Start School, a children’s book about road safety created in partnership with Road Safety Scotland.
Marc Lambert, Director of Scottish Book Trust, said: “The beginning of school is the point at which books start to become associated with learning in a child’s mind. This pack has been designed to help teachers, librarians and parents show children how pleasurable books can be, at a crucial point in their learning journey.
“This association of books with enjoyment will in turn lead to a more positive educational experience for the child, helping them to get more out of school and hopefully inspiring them to seek out and devour more and more books.”
For more information about Book Week Scotland 2014 visit
www.bookweekscotland.com
where you can find information about all the events taking place in your local area, vote for your favourite character from a Scottish book, make a Reading Pledge and discover a whole host of resources and ideas to help you celebrate and share whatever it is you love to read.
Follow @Bookweekscot on Twitter, check out#bookweekscot or like the Book Week Scotland Facebook page.
Initiated by the Scottish Government and supported, along with a Readers in Residence programme in libraries, by £250,000 from Creative Scotland, Book Week Scotland will be delivered by Scottish Book Trust, the lead agency for the promotion of literature, reading and writing in Scotland. For more information on Scottish Book Trust go to www.scottishbooktrust.com.
Creative Scotland is the public body that supports the arts, screen and creative industries across all parts of Scotland on behalf of everyone who lives, works or visits here. For further information about Creative Scotland visit
www.creativescotland.com
Follow @creativescots and www.facebook.com/CreativeScotland
Book Week Scotland in libraries is funded by The Scottish Library and Information Council.