Frequently asked questions
How are packs delivered?- The Bookstart for Babies and Bookstart Plus packs are usually delivered to families by their health visitors, for babies at around 7-9 months and toddlers aged between 18-30 months respectively. My Bookstart Treasure Chest is then gifted to 3-4-year-olds at early years settings such as nurseries and playgroups.
Parents and carers can also obtain all three packs from their local library.
- Where does funding come from?
- It is a three-way partnership. Central funding in England comes from the DfES and DWP via the Sure Start Unit (the devolved administrations fund Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales). We have sponsorship support from a range of children’s book publishers and booksellers and Bookstart is delivered via libraries, health visitors and early years professionals who give the packs to the parents and carers.
- Is funding equally spread across the UK?
- The devolved administrations decide their own level of provision so it varies in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
- How does our partnership with our funders work?
- Booktrust, Bookstart sponsors and the government all share the core Bookstart aim which is to give every child a lifelong love of books. Children with a familiarity and confidence with books have better communication and listening skills and enjoy stories, songs and rhymes. A love of books helps children to have a far better start at school and goes on to benefit them throughout life. This is an agenda that we all share.
- What are the benefits accrued from Booktrust being an independent charity?
- As a charity Booktrust does not make a profit so materials are sourced at very competitive prices and this keeps our costs very low. For instance, central funding from the taxpayer is only 25% of the retail cost of delivering Bookstart. This is thanks to our sponsors and to our charitable status.
- Are books sourced locally?
- Booktrust does not publish books. Publishers in the UK are invited to submit books for consideration of inclusion in the packs. These books are produced in a number of countries. Bookstart packs contain a number of printed items eg guidance books, book plate stickers and number friezes - all of these components are produced in the UK.
- How are the books chosen?
- There is a Bookstart book panel made up of book experts librarians, health visitors and early years professionals.
- How many publishers are involved and how are they chosen?
- All publishers, however small, are invited to submit books for consideration. At the last panel we had books from 26 publishers.
- Are books available in other languages?
- Bookstart provides dual language books and guidance materials which are available in 26 languages.
- Does Bookstart offer anything in between the three packs?
- The three Bookstart packs all contain invitations to join the library and many libraries offer Bookstart Rhymetimes and the Bookstart Book Crawl. Babies just one day old can join a library! So if parents join their children to the library, there are plenty of opportunities and activities available to parents and children between the packs.
- Does Bookstart complement the national curriculum?
- Bookstart is about enjoying books from babyhood. It is about the importance of the home learning environment in building a positive attitude to learning. Books help to develop imagination and a curiosity about the world. All of this is complementary to the curriculum but it also about celebrating parents as the child’s first and most enduring teachers.
- Which packs contain book tokens?
- A £1 book token is available in the two additional packs not the first baby pack.
The Bookstart Plus for 18-month-olds, and My Bookstart Treasure Chest, aimed at three year-olds, are distributed via early years settings. -
- Are these book tokens accepted in all bookshops?
- Waterstones, Ottakars, Borders, Books Etc, WHSmith and Blackwells all accept the tokens, as do hundreds of independent shops.
