Warwickshire News Mine

The Warwickshire Bear launched the search with Warwickshire County Council Librarian Sandy Chapman, Warwick mum Clare Maclarnon, her 6 month-old son Patrick and 4 year-old daughter Kitty, in the Master’s Garden of the Lord Leycester Hospital.

Organised by Warwickshire County Council’s Library and Information Service, the county-wide search could find the people of Rugby going hickory dickory up the clock tower, Stratfordians row, row, rowing their boats gently down the river Avon and the people of Warwick going round and round the garden like a Warwickshire Bear. And people of Nuneaton and North Warwickshire could be busy winding the bobbin up to celebrate the area’s rich textile heritage.

Whether you are 3-months-old or 103-years-old, vote for your favourite by visiting your local library or logging onto http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/nurseryrhymevote by October 2.

The theme of this year’s National Bookstart Day on October 9 is My Favourite Rhyme and the result of the countywide vote will be revealed during Children’s Book Week from 5-11 October. The week will see hundreds of families from across Warwickshire taking part in a range of activities in libraries and children’s centres, to highlight the fun of book-sharing. There will also be a huge give away of nursery rhyme books, posters and stickers in celebration of Bookstart, which gives free books to every child in the UK. The nation’s favourite nursery rhyme will also be announced during the week.

The serious message behind the fun is that nursery rhymes are important learning tools.

Professor Peter Bryant, Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Education, University of Oxford said: "Encouraging young children to enjoy and remember nursery rhymes is a good way to prepare them for reading and writing. Our research has shown a clear relationship between how well children know nursery rhymes before they go to school and the progress that they make later on when learning to read and to spell. Children learn a lot about rhyming sounds through nursery rhymes and this eventually helps them when they learn how alphabetic letters represent spoken sounds."

Warwickshire County Council Library Service was one of the early ambassadors of the Bookstart scheme and, since 1996, has given over 96,000 packs of books to families across the county. Every child is entitled to a pack of books at 8 – 9 months, 2 years and in their pre-school year which they can get through their health visitor or library. If you would like to receive a free pack of books for your child and have not already done so please contact Warwickshire Bookstart, 01926 476940 or email sandychapman@warwickshire.gov.uk

Sandy Chapman, Bookstart Librarian for the County Council, said: “The Bookstart Scheme is a great tool for all of us who work with parents and carers of babies and pre-school children to foster a love of books and rhymes.”

Link to WCC