What is Books Together? 

The Books Together programme works to support parents of young children to read together regularly through a series of informative and interactive sessions. The programme will provide useful tips, resources and ideas to encourage families to discover the joy and fun of reading together.

The project is co-delivered by Coram Family and Childcare and Coram Beanstalk, drawing on our shared expertise as members of the Coram family, and supported by the Mercers’ Company as trustee of the Charity of Sir Richard Whittington. Books Together combines the unique peer-led model of our Parent Champions programme with Coram Beanstalk's extensive experience of providing effective reading support. 

Books Together aims to reach families with young children aged two to five who are most likely to start school with lower levels of emergent literacy than their peers. The sessions will focus on developing reading skills for both parents and children so that becomes a habitual activity in the home environment, increasing children’s literacy skills.

The programme will work with parents to co-design, co-market and co-deliver reading courses which engage local parents and their children. This parent-led approach will reach the families who face the most barriers, designed by the people who understand these barriers and how to overcome them.

Books Together will be delivered in local communities across three interactive sessions. These sessions will share useful tips and ideas to get children interested in books and reading with their parents at home.