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Free books for all children in your reception class arriving September - October

Time To Read returns this autumn - the free book gifting programme for all reception class children in England.

Working in conjunction with BookTrust, Kent Libraries have ordered a book pack for every child in a reception class, on behalf of all Kent schools.

Now in its third year, BookTrust’s Time to Read campaign encourages families to make time to read together, share stories every day and find the fun in reading. BookTrust wants to make sure that every Reception pupil in England has their own book to treasure and share with their family at home. That's why they are giving out 700,000 free copies of this year’s featured book to schools across England.

This year’s book is the wonderful Little Monkey by Marta Altés - an empowering story that’s funny, colourful and appealing too. Little Monkey is the smallest monkey in a big troop, in an even bigger jungle. Monkey has enough of missing out, of being too small for big adventures, so she bravely heads off all alone to climb to the top of the tallest tree in the jungle. This picture book shows us that the world is a big, wild and wonderful place, where anything is possible.

Your school’s Time To Read packs will be delivered direct to your school between September and the end of October 2018. The quantity you’ll receive matches your school's PAN figure, so there’s one free pack per child. Each pack includes a copy of this year’s featured book and a letter for parents and carers, all in a specially designed Time to Read envelope for children to take home. If your intake is higher than expected in September, there will be a chance to order additional packs (see bottom of this article for how to do this).

Time to Read is a great opportunity to engage families with your pupils’ reading development. Make links with your local library - a valuable partner offering a fantastic source of free books and other resources (including story sacks) and bring your pupils for a visit if you can. Encourage everyone to get a library card (it’s free) and make time to read all year round. Invite parents in for a Time to Read book gifting session too (at your school or a local library).

You’ll be able to sign up as a teacher contact and get all the latest updates - resources too in due course - as well as find out more information via the Time To Read website

For queries about your delivery, or the no. of packs ordered for your school, please contact timetoread@booktrust.org.uk.

Contact Details

Karen Sillifant
Telephone: 03000 41 44 39
Email: Karen.Sillifant@kent.gov.uk