Ruth Kelly's £27m scheme to hand out free books to under-fives has been given a cautious welcome from literacy groups, but has already drawn criticism for the selection of books. Dina Rabinovitch called the list "pedestrian", with "some of least exciting characters around".
Emily Butt, communications officer for Booktrust, the charity through whom the scheme is being run, is quick to defend the selection. "The books are selected as part of an ongoing consultation process with publishers and children's book experts," she says. "The books are chosen with the objective of being as accessible as possible to all elements of the population."
She also stresses that the list is regularly changed, calling it a "rolling process". "The selection of books is reviewed every few months, therefore the current list will be rotated in due course," she says.
Below are the current lists. Who should feature on the next ones?
7-9 months Peek A Boo by Jan Ormerod I like it when by Mary Murphy Noisy by Annie Kubler Lullaby Lion by Vivian French Happy Baby by Sandra Lousada
18 months What do you do? by Mandy Stanley Snore by Michael Rosen and Jonathan Langley Who's Tale by Sam Lloyd Mr Magnolia by Quentin Blake Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell Come on Daisy by Jane Simmons
24-36 months Duck in a Truck by Jez Alborough This and that by Julie Sykes & Tanya Linch Kids by Catherine & Laurance Anholt Over on the Farm by Christopher Gunson Down by the cool of the pool by Tony Mitton & Guy Parker-Rees
