Jump into your PJs with BookTrust
Published on: 06 February 2019 Author: BookTrust
BookTrust launches its brand-new nationwide Pyjamarama campaign to give every child a bedtime story.
On Friday 7 June, children across the country will wear their pyjamas all day long and raise money for BookTrust, so that no child misses out on the magic of the bedtime story.
We want everyone to ditch their normal clothes and wear their pyjamas for the day, and we’ve enlisted the help of some of our favourite book characters including Matilda, Horrid Henry, Tracy Beaker and Ben and Holly.
All money raised will go towards funding our work in supporting more families. For just £25, we could provide 15 pre-school children living in women’s refuge centres with their own book pack; £50 could provide six families with additional support through their children’s centre to develop a reading habit.
Children who don’t have access to books and stories in the early years start school a year behind their peers, a gap that widens as they get older.
Diana Gerald, CEO of BookTrust says:
'We want to make sure that no child misses out on the life-changing benefits of a bedtime story. We hope that children across the country will join their favourite characters in wearing pyjamas for the day and bringing in £1 so that we can reach families who so desperately need our support.
Wearing pyjamas all day is a wonderful way to show support for reading and, importantly, it’s incredibly easy for schools, nurseries, children and busy parents!'
Pyjamarama in your community
We’re also working with libraries and community partners on the campaign.
To ensure as many children as possible have their very own story to read before bed, we are giving out over 450,000 free copies of the picture book Car, Car, Truck, Jeep by Katrina Charman and Nick Sharratt (Bloomsbury Children’s Books).
Libraries, children’s centres and other community partners will be holding brilliant Pyjamarama-themed events and giving the books to families in their area from 3-9June.
Pyjamarama is supported by Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake’s Matilda (Penguin Random House), Tony Ross and Francesca Simon’s Horrid Henry (Orion Publishing, part of Hachette Children’s Group), Jacqueline Wilson and Nick Sharratt’s Tracy Beaker (Penguin Random House Children’s) and Ben and Holly from Entertainment One’s Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom.