A scheme to improve Guernsey children's literacy in relaunching in 2025.

The Little Readers initiative provides the Health Visiting Team with free books to give children at their 9-month, 2-year and 3-year health checks.

The children can keep the books, including titles from a range of popular authors like Nick Sharratt, Lucy Cousins and Michael Rosen.

The scheme run by the Guille-Allès Library and the State's Health Visiting Team started in 2018 but is relaunching in 2025 thanks to new sponsorship from St Martin’s Community Centre Trustees.

The Library’s Head of Young People’s Services, Jodie Hearn, says every young child on the island should own some books.

“We’re absolutely delighted that this new partnership means the Little Readers project can continue to put books in children’s homes.

"Reading is vital in the early years, it develops language skills, fuels imagination and creativity, and boosts brain development.

"It also shapes children’s futures, research shows that reading for pleasure is the single most important predictor of a child’s future success, more important than their family background.

"It’s therefore vitally important for the whole community that we encourage reading and literacy from a young age.

"Sadly, many children don’t have books at home – in the UK as many as 10% report not owning a single book."