November 9 marks the official 2011 launch of Booktime, the annual program that delivers free books to all 4- to 5-year-old children entering primary school in England. Starting today, Booktime will deliver 1.38 million books to more than 17,000 primary schools across the country to promote reading for pleasure by encouraging families to have fun reading together.

New research shows that 98% of primary school teachers in England are concerned that not enough reading for pleasure is taking place in some of the nation's homes, which is impacting the time pupils spend reading and talking about books in school. Teachers noted that they could see a clear difference between those children who are read with at home and those who are not, attributing reading at home to language development, reading skills, and positive behavior in class. The study, commissioned by Booktime, also found that reading time with young children is on the increase: parents and caregivers are now spending an average of one hour and 26 minutes reading with children each week, up from one hour and 18 minutes per week in 2009. Tiredness in parents/caregivers and children as well as stress are noted as the leading factors preventing parents and caregivers from reading with children for pleasure, while many parents opt to read with their children daily for "school/education" purposes (Booktime 2011 research by Opinion Matters).

For this year's Booktime program, each child will receive a free book pack including two free books: Tinga Tinga Tales®, Why Elephant Has a Trunk from the Puffin imprint of Penguin, and Face Painting from Pearson UK, the latter marking the first time a Pearson Primary title is included in the book pack. These books were selected to underscore Booktime's emphasis on sharing books for pleasure and making learning to read fun, too.

This is the sixth year of Booktime, a partnership of Booktrust, the independent charity dedicated to inspiring a lifelong love of books for all, and Pearson, the world's leading learning company. Booktime will also be delivering their six millionth book pack at the launch event in London, celebrating the milestone with children through face painting, traditional African drumming, and a special Tinga Tinga story time read live by none other than the voice of Elephant in the Tinga Tinga television series, Lenny Henry! Booktime books are supported by a range of downloads and games on the Booktime site: www.booktime.org.uk.