BookTrust, Britain’s largest children’s reading charity recently announced its partnership with the Rick Stein Group to encourage more children to read for pleasure.

The Rick Stein Group is giving away special editions of the book 'A Hole in the Bottom of the Sea' in 12 of the restaurants across Cornwall, Winchester, Sandbanks, Marlborough and Barnes.

The Rick Stein Group said “We are delighted to be giving out copies of the children’s book 'A Hole in the Bottom of the Sea' in our restaurants. We know how important reading and stories are for children and we are delighted so many more families who visit our restaurants will have the pleasure of reading this magical story over their family meal.”

Children’s reading charity BookTrust, supported by Barefoot Books, initially gave away over 450,000 copies of the book, A Hole in the Bottom of the Sea by Jessica Law and illustrated by Jill McDonald, as part of National Bookstart Week in June 2016.

National Bookstart Week is an annual celebration of BookTrust’s flagship reading programme, Bookstart, which gives every child in England and Wales a free reading pack in the first year of their life and again when they are 3-4 years old.

The aim of the programme is to remind families of the importance of reading for fun, even with babies. Diana Gerald, CEO, BookTrust said “Family time is so important, especially in this time-poor world but having young children and enjoying a peaceful meal out does not always easily go hand in hand. We’ve joined forces with Rick Stein to help take the pressure off parents to entertain kids at the table and encourage them to grasp those precious moments of reading together. Reading is such a portable activity and can be done anywhere. This years’ National Bookstart theme was ‘Under the Sea’ so it’s a perfect pairing with Steins’ seafood offering.”

Based on information supplied by Sinead Gosai.