BookTrust reveals this year’s new Bookstart Baby title
Published on: 18 November 2024
The book will be given to new babies born in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
BookTrust have announced the brand new book which will be given to all new babies in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland as part of Bookstart Baby.
The new title selected this year is Usborne's Baby's Very First Lift-the-Flap Peekaboo, written by Fiona Watt and illustrated by Stella Baggott.
With an eye-catching bright yellow cover featuring a friendly panda, this adorable first book for babies has sturdy flaps for the animals to hide behind, and finger trails and cut-out shapes for babies to explore on every page.
Babies will enjoy playing peek-a-boo with monkey, koala, lion and other friendly animals before seeing themselves in the mirror on the final spread.
Getting families reading together from the earliest age
Bookstart Baby has supported families with newborn babies for over 25 years. Through the programme, every year, health visitors, librarians, registrars, and many other early years professionals give out more than half a million Bookstart Baby packs, reaching 90% of all newborn babies in England, Northern Ireland and Wales (with families in Wales receiving a Welsh-English bilingual edition of the same book).
The Bookstart Baby programme provides a reading intervention during a baby's first year and provides a first step to helping parents read with their children at home. Every baby born is entitled to a Bookstart Baby pack, normally gifted at the 6-month health check. The book included in the packs is selected by expert early years professionals with input from families themselves to make sure they meet the needs of parents, carers, and children.
Research from BookTrust has found that children who benefit from high-quality early years support are more likely to achieve their early development goals and have better mental health, educational outcomes, empathy and creativity in the long term.
Sharing books, stories and rhymes as a basis for playing, talking, singing and exploring in their early years provides the biggest boost to children developmentally, enhancing cognitive, physical, social and emotional growth and development during a period of significant brain growth. Shared reading also supports bonding between children and their parents.
Diana Gerald MBE, CEO of BookTrust, said: "It's never too early to start sharing stories and reading together with children.
"Starting when they are babies is the best way to lay the foundations for a lifelong reading habit, giving them the chance to experience the life-changing benefits of reading.
"Having bright, colourful and interactive books that appeal to all families, even those who don't see themselves as readers, is key to encouraging families on their reading journeys. Shared reading from the earliest days can be an engaging and multisensory experience for all babies that can kickstart a love of books."
And Jenny Tyler, Publishing Director at Usborne, said: "I have admired and supported the aims of BookTrust's Bookstart Baby programme since its inception and I am delighted that, for the first time, an Usborne title will be the one gifted to all new babies in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
"Using books with babies and toddlers as often as possible is so important. It is lovely for a baby to have quiet time with their adult to share a book, look at it and talk about it."
BookTrust also offers Bookstart Toddler and Preschooler packs for children aged 1-2 and 3-4 respectively, with 425,000 families receiving packs and 4,000 storyteller resources provided to support those working closely with families.
