Despite just turning one, Teejay Holland has earned his first Golden Certificate from the Bookstart Book Crawl Scheme. Teejay is only the sixth child in the county to achieve this award.
Book Crawl is part of the national Bookstart Scheme, where free packs of books are given to babies and toddlers. Book Crawl is promoted locally by East Sussex County Council's Library Service.
Teejay has been going to Hollington Library in Battle Road with his mum, Nicky, since he was a baby. Nicky said: “Teejay gets very excited when he knows we are going to the library. We always choose two books, a hard baby one for him to handle himself and a paperback child's one that I read to him, often at bedtime.”
Book Crawl is free to join and is open to children aged 0 to 4 years old. Children must be library members to take part in Book Crawl. Ask at the library for a Book Crawl collectors card and collect a sticker each time you visit the library. Once a child has collected four stickers they will be presented with a special Book Crawl certificate.
There are currently twelve certificates to collect, each one designed by a top children's illustrator. As an added incentive, a golden certificate will be awarded to children who collect any 10 certificates, just as Teejay has done.
Councillor Bob Tidy, Lead Member for Community Services at the County Council, said: “You are never too young to share a book. Sharing stories and rhymes together is fun for all the family and will help your child to develop a love of books and reading – a key life skill.
“All our libraries have a great selection of colourful board and picture books just perfect for babies, toddlers and pre-school children and, to put your mind at rest, there is no charge for accidental damage to books borrowed by under-fives if they use their own ticket.”
To find more information about your library service, including the online services that are available, please visit our Libraries section.
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