Identifying families

Identify the families who can benefit the most from Bookstart Corner at your setting.

Bookstart Corner is for families with children aged 12-30 months who can benefit from additional support and encouragement to develop a love of books, stories and rhymes.

It is a targeted offer, with each setting identifying the families in their area that would most benefit from this support.

Download a Bookstart Corner family invitation letter

Who might benefit?

• Referrals from health, social services, GPs or other local professionals
• Children who have never attended a health check
• Children entitled to the free 2-year-old early education grant
• Expectant parents participating in the Family Nurse Partnership
• Where there are concerns around domestic violence, drug or alcohol misuse or parental mental health
• Families on low incomes or living in poor-quality or overcrowded housing
• Where a child or at least one parent has a longstanding illness or disability
• Children with a disability or special educational needs
• Lone parent families
• Families where a parent is serving a custodial sentence

Families with English as an additional language

Bookstart Corner can enable families who have English as an additional language to share books, stories and rhymes in English and their home language. You can contact [email protected] for a discount on dual-language books from the publisher Mantra Lingua, or speak with your local Bookstart Coordinator.

Children with additional needs

Bookstart Corner can support families who have a child with a disabilitiy and help to identify and respond to their specific needs, such as speech and language. BookTrust also provides tailored packs for children aged 0-5 who have a hearing impairment, visual impairment or a fine motor skills disability. Your local Bookstart Coordinator can help you access these packs.