For the love of reading
Thanks to the Children's Book Project, thousands of children in Hammersmith will be given their own books this year.
Many of us can easily reel off our favourite childhood stories, from the Tiger Who Came to Tea, to Harry Potter, the Faraway Tree and The Cat in the Hat. And yet today, almost 20% of children aged five to eight don’t own a single book. As well as impacting their love of reading, this can have far-reaching consequences.
According to the OECD, reading for pleasure is even more important for children’s educational success than their family’s socio-economic status. Children from disadvantaged backgrounds who are doing well by the end of primary school are twice as likely to have been read to at home in their early years than those who are doing poorly.
The Children’s Book Project
The Children’s Book Project was founded by Hammersmith-resident Liberty Venn to get more books into the hands of more children. She says, “In the course of my work with literacy-oriented charities and with children’s publishers, I became aware of the positive role that early access to books plays in children’s development and in their outcomes. Children become immersed in stories and with characters; they enjoy themselves and, without realising, their literacy improves.”
Of course, as book lovers know, books aren’t only important for educational success. Kate Morgan-Evans is the Grants & Engagement Manager at the Children’s Book Project. She shares, “There’s a lot of research about the benefits of reading for mental health and wellbeing. You can escape into a book from real life. It broadens your imagination, introduces new ideas and can take you to new worlds. When you read with your child, their heart rate slows and there’s a release of endorphins. It’s a really, really powerful thing.”
Around 135,000 children across the UK receive books from the Children’s Book Project each year. The charity mainly distributes books through schools, but also works with food banks, refuges, community groups, prisons and women’s groups.
Barriers to reading
There are many barriers to reading, including the cost of books. As Kate points out, even £2 for a book in a charity shop can be unaffordable for families who are struggling with the cost of living. Not all parents grew up with a culture of reading and not all have experienced the benefits or joy that a book can bring.
Libraries do play a vital role in promoting reading, but hundreds have shut across the country in recent years, and the most disadvantaged areas are four times more likely than the richest to have lost a publicly funded library. While primary schools loan books to children, the books are usually from a specific reading scheme and designed with phonics in mind, rather than just pleasure.
Kate says, “With the Children’s Book Project, children get to choose their books, take them home and keep them. There’s no time limit on them, so those books can be enjoyed time and time again and shared with the rest of the family. Giving a child a book shows the child that they’re important, that they’re valued, that they’re special.”
New homes for old books
The books distributed by the Children’s Book Project are all pre-loved or surplus, having been donated by families or publishers. Rather than just handing the books out, the schools host book gifting events, where children can look through all the books available and choose the ones they want to take home.
Kate shares, “We’ll be gifting more than 500,000 preloved and surplus books to children this academic year. We aim to work with each school over multiple years, which helps to create a book-rich environment. We provide bunting and tokens so the school can mimic a shop experience, as many of the children will never have been to a bookshop.”
Working with schools in Hammersmith
The charity recently received a £3,000 grant from Hammersmith United Charities. It will use the grant to deliver books to around 1,200 children in total at Brackenbury Primary School, Flora Gardens Primary School and Wormholt Park Primary School. Every child in the three Hammersmith schools will be able to choose up to six books to take home and keep.
According to one teacher at Wormholt Park Primary School, “The pop up book shops are eagerly awaited. The children take great delight in looking at, sharing, recommending and choosing a book to take home and keep. For many children, this has been the first time they have had the experience of visiting a ‘book shop’. Books make the difference, books can change lives.”
Liberty adds, “All children should be able to access a book without the cost being a barrier and so we are incredibly excited to be supported by Hammersmith United Charities and expand our work in the borough.”
Donate books
Do you have books needing a new home? The Children’s Book Project accepts fiction and non-fiction books suitable for children. It can’t accept:
- Old or damaged books
- Encyclopaedias, textbooks, revision books or religious texts
- DVDs or CDs
- Ex-library or reading scheme books
If you’d like to donate a book, you can drop it off at several locations in Hammersmith and Fulham, including Bute House Preparatory School for Girls and Winkworth estate agents. Find your nearest collection point and register your details here.
Volunteer for the Children’s Book Project
The Children’s Book Project relies on volunteers for a number of roles. You could help to sort through books, liaise with schools or promote the charity’s work on social media. Find out more at www.childrensbookproject.co.uk
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