A FREE book-gifting scheme which aims to help youngsters develop language and literacy skills celebrated its first birthday with a special party for families.

Better Start Imagine is funded by Better Start Bradford and is part of Dolly Parton’s international Imagination Library.

The scheme provides a free book per month to every child, born after January 1, 2016 in the Better Start Bradford area - Bowling and Barkerend, Bradford Moor and Little Horton - until their fourth birthday, to support literacy skills development.

And since January last year, more than 1,200 babies have been signed up to the scheme and have received books featuring a wealth of popular characters including Peter Rabbit, Spot the Dog, Meg and Mog, the Funnybones and Peppa Pig, with each book carefully selected and designed to suit the age of the child.

The Better Start Imagine project builds upon the success of a similar scheme in Canterbury, Bradford, and is being delivered by BHT Early Education and Training.

Leanne Souster, Better Start Imagine Coordinator, BHT Early Education and Training, said: “It’s to upskill in literacy. We want to get the message out there that it’s never too early to start reading to children.

“The younger that children are introduced to books, it becomes part of their routine instead of becoming a chore.

“We have had an amazing response in the first year of running the scheme and we are really pleased with the numbers of babies already signed up.

“The Better Start Imagine team also have regular rhyme time sessions and storytelling at local libraries and children’s centres, that are open to everyone with families under four.

“Some of the early books that Dolly gifts are nursery rhymes so when they are being delivered that month, we do focus rhymes around that book.

“Parents absolutely love it. Some of the very first children we signed up, they are just about ready to turn two this year, so they are expecting them coming through the post now.”

While many babies and toddlers in the Better Start Bradford are signed up, it says there are still many more who are eligible to receive a free book every month and is urging parents to get involved. Visit www.imaginationlibrary.com or contact Leanne Souster on 01274 730415.