It goes without saying that children who are read to at home stand a better chance of gaining good literacy skills.

This week, as it was reported that Bradford has been chosen to take part in a scheme boosting low literacy levels, the charity Bookstart - which encourages parents to read with their children from an early age - launched a series of events.

National Bookstart Week has seen 30 events held at libraries, nurseries and children's centres across the district aimed at under-fives and their families, with activities ranging from dressing up as superheroes to storytelling sessions.

Bookstart aims to help every child develop a lifelong love of reading, starting from birth. Free books are gifted to children through libraries, health visitors, children's centres. In Bradford, over 2013-14, Bookstart gifted 36,324 books. Gift packs are also provided for children with visual or hearing impairments, learning difficulties or for whom English is a second language.

Bookstart in Bradford started in 2000, and will have worked with more than a quarter of a million families throughout that time gifting more than 500,000 books.

The scheme began with baby packs gifted via health visitors at the first seven to nine month check and now packs are also given out

at Bookstart Corner, a home visiting programme giving families two free books, puppets, rhyme CDs and sheets.

Other gifts are a two-year pack - two free books gifted via children's centres to two and three-year-olds; Treasure Bag - two free books for children aged three and four, and packs for children with visual and hearing impairment and for children with fine motor skills delay.

“The Bookstart session had a huge impact on my relationship with my baby," says a mum who got involved. "Until the session, I would never have considered reading to him. I tried him with the free books and he was transfixed. That inspired me to join the library when he was around eight-weeks-old. It really helped our bonding as I felt he was enjoying my voice.”

"Research shows that parents reading to children is highly effective in building family attachment, which in turn leads children to do better in life," says Bookstart development officer Susan Brewster-Craig. "Research by the Institute of Education shows that children of all backgrounds who have been read to regularly by their parents at age five perform better in maths, vocabulary and spelling at age 16 than other children. Other research shows that reading to children on a daily basis is the strongest predictor of childhood socioemotional development and cognitive skills.

"The aim of Bookstart is to encourage parents to read with their children from as early an age as possible - we even talk to pregnant mums about reading to their bumps!

"All professionals talking to the families are aware of the benefits of reading with children every day and take the opportunity to share this at the pack gifting. We're trying to ensure that parents know they are welcome in libraries, especially young parents. There are special rhymetimes for families in libraries and we don’t charge fines on children’s books. "

Susan says the library is one of the best places to help parents gain access to books for free.

"The Bookstart Bear Club is our library incentive scheme for under-fives. Children receive stamps for borrowing books or visiting storytimes, then exchange them for incentives such as books, a bag, swim vouchers, DVD loans and eventually their own Bookstart bear. "

Children taking part in library sessions this week have been handed a free copy of Super Duck, a new book by children's author Jez Alborough. 'Super Duck' has been dropping in at libraries, and there have been sessions with 'Lion Learners - the animal experience'.

Working with the Education Service for New Communities and Travellers, Bookstart has invited Eastern European families to listen to the Super Duck story in different languages and take part in a session at City Library encouraging children to join the library .

Organised by Bradford Council's Libraries Service, in partnership with Bookstart, events continue tomorrow and Sunday, when families are invited to star in their own superhero film in Bradford city centre. City Library and the Impressions Gallery are holding a photographic workshop in which families can dress up as superheroes in front of a digital backdrop. The images will be displayed on the Big Screen in Centenary Square as part of Bradford Festival on Saturday.

* For more about Bookstart go to bookstart.org.uk