CHILDREN, toddlers and babies from across Torfaen have joined in with story sessions, rhymes and crafts at borough libraries as part of national literature campaign.

More than 40 youngsters attended the sessions as part of National Bookstart Week, which celebrates the benefits of reading every day and sharing stories, books and rhymes with young children.

This year’s theme was Under the Sea and children were given a free book A Hole in the Bottom of the Sea by Jessica Law and illustrated by Jill McDonald, and a rhyme sheet to take home with them.

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 two years old.

In Wales, Bookstart is delivered in close partnership with libraries and health visitors, encouraging families to join their local library and to try to read every day.

For further information about activites taking place for young children at libraries in Torfaen, visit torfaen.gov.uk/libraries.