CHILDREN at a Carlisle school are improving their literacy skills by hiding books in their local area for others to find.

Youngsters at Kingmoor Nursery and Infant School in Lowry Hill made the most of last week’s lovely weather to hide their books in the local neighbourhood.

The idea took off in the summer holidays when Carlisle dad Mike Denovellis launched the North Carlisle Look for a Book site on Facebook.

During the holidays children hid books for others to find.

And now youngsters in Year 1 and 2 at the school, on Hether Drive, have been getting some fresh air and hiding their own books.

Headteacher Nicky Corfield said: “We were excited to see how the North Cumbria Look for a Book Facebook page was encouraging children to get out and about and be active while promoting a love of reading.

“We think it is an exciting way of encouraging children to engage with reading.

“We hope that children will perhaps read a book they would not normally choose and broaden their experience of books.”

The school has set up an outdoor library in the nursery and infant playground where children can borrow a book and then return it.

Mrs Corfield said: “It can be accessed when the gates are open before and after school.”

Experts say the more you read to your children, the more knowledge they absorb, and knowledge is important in all aspects of life.

There have many studies that show reading to babies and toddles gives them a head start and helps to prepare them for school later down the line. After all, reading with your children gives them the skills needed for when they start to read themselves.

The more words they know, the better. For children who speak more than one language, reading is an easy way to help their language skills and is important to develop their fluency. These skills alone show the importance of reading.

Shops like Bookends on Castle Street hold regular Saturday morning storytelling sessions for children at 11am.

Each week staff read from a different book and often hold activity sessions connected with the story. Events are also held in the library.