Margaret Mullane MP has welcomed the announcement by the National Literacy Trust that this year, in collaboration with the Queen, a new book gifting and reading programme has been launched to mark the Queen’s birthday.
The programme celebrates the National Year of Reading 2026 and will gift every year 6/P6 child in the UK a free special edition of ‘Impossible Creatures’ by Katherine Rundell this Christmas, complete with a personal message from the Queen.
Margaret said: “Reading and literacy are crucial for success in life. I think this is a wonderful scheme, and having spoken to parents who work in my office I know that ‘Impossible Creatures’ will be a big hit with Y6 children in Dagenham and Rainham.
“The National Literacy Trust do amazing work, and this couldn’t be timelier, supporting the National Year of Reading set out by the government. There is a wealth of evidence to show that reading for pleasure at an early age has a positive impact on the wellbeing of children and their relationships, helping to develop confidence and emotional intelligence whilst improving educational attainment.”
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is providing £300,000 in funding towards this campaign. This follows in the wake of the Education Select Committee report; Reading for Pleasure, which found only 36% of children say they enjoy reading and just a fifth read daily in their free time.
This investment marks a welcome effort by the Government to boost the reading enjoyment of children and young people aged 8-11 and 11-14 – the groups found in a recent Annual Literacy Survey to have sharply dropped in reading enjoyment from when the National Literacy Trust first started its records.