This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Parents urged to read with their children
01/03/2006
Children's Laureate Jacqueline Wilson, one of the UK's most popular authors, is urging parents and carers to make time to visit the wonderful world of books with their children.
Ms Wilson, author of the Tracy Beaker books, is the latest recruit to the growing ranks of Reading Champions who are backing the Executive's Home Reading Initiative, Read Together.
Ms Wilson said:
"I'm a reading champion because I've been a bookworm since I was six years old. I still have a book a day habit. Books delight, entertain and inform - they're the most magical way of enriching our lives. I'd like every parent and carer to read aloud to their children and get them hooked on books for life."
Read Together co-ordinator Lindsey Fraser said:
"The most important thing about reading is that it's enjoyable - and that's why it's great that Jacqueline Wilson is backing the Read Together campaign. Because everyone enjoys a good story, making time to read with your child can be rewarding for both of you. Helping children to grow up with a love of books is a great gift to give them and World Book Day (March 2) is a splendid day to start.
"If children develop a love of reading at an early age, they're gaining skills that they'll use for the rest of their lives and having a lot of fun at the same time."
Jacqueline Wilson is the most borrowed author in British libraries and, in the UK alone, she has sold over 20 million copies of her novels. She writes at least two new books every year, tours extensively and she is currently the Children's Laureate.
The Home Reading Initiative encourages parents and carers to read with their child from a very early stage. The leaflet, Read Together, is given to children throughout Scotland in their final year at nursery school.
Reading Champions from all over Scotland promote the aims of the initiative. They include the authors JK Rowling, Julia Donaldson, Mairi Hedderwick and Alan Temperley as well as celebrities Richard Wilson, Fred Macaulay, Nick Nairn and Sandy Lyle.