The 13-part “Bookaboo!”, for CITV, is a mixture of animation and live action, featuring drumming “rock puppy” Bookaboo, who is unable to perform his solo unless someone reads him a story. In each 10-minute episode, a guest celebrity will read a picture book to help Bookaboo regain his drumming courage.

The series, which launches in December, will be accompanied by the Bookaboo Book Club, live events and instore promotions, with booksellers and supermarkets set to support the club with stickering and point-of-sale promotions.

“Bookaboo!” director and producer Lucy Goodman of Happy Films hopes the new series will inspire confidence in children and parents to read together, and that it will give the picture books market “a helping hand”.

She will select books in the next few months, and is keen to consider first-time illustrators and authors. “I hope it can be a bit of a platform for new illustrators and authors, and that it will become a lasting part of ITV’s schedule,” she said.

Emma Tennant, controller of CITV, added “Bookaboo!” could “provide a much needed antidote to the recent decline in reading”.

ITV to launch new children’s book club! is a post from: Book Addicts Book Group

1. You can now vote for your favourite audio book from the list by clicking here and enter the draw to win �500 worth of National Book Tokens. Closing date for voting and to enter the competition is midnight, Friday 18th July 2008.

2. Amazon.co.uk and audible.co.uk are both offering a lot if not all of the 40 titles at a special reduced price – either up to 50% off or in the case of Audible, for �7.99 each.

3. Also Audible.co.uk is offering a free download of the unabridged version of Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte completely free! Usually retails at �19.99 and it’s 14 hours long.

Here is the list of the 40 best which are all available at a special price:

Children’s
A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond (HarperCollins)
My Completely Best Story Collection: Charlie & Lola by Lauren Child (Penguin)
Four Favourite Stories by Roald Dahl (HarperCollins)
Horrid Henry’s Stinkbomb by Francesca Simon (Orion)
The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson (Macmillan)
William’s Happy Days by Richmal Compton (CSA)
Snakehead by Anthony Horowitz (Walker)

Humour/comedy
The Wit of Cricket by Johnston, Blofeld & Bird (Hodder)
Summer Lightning by P G Wodehouse (CSA)
I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue Anniversary Special (BBC Audiobooks)
Flight of the Conchords (BBC Audiobooks)
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Primary Phase by Douglas Adams (BBC Audiobooks)
Hancock: The Very Best (BBC Audiobooks)
The Mighty Boosh (BBC Audiobooks)

Fiction/classics/crime
The Fellowship of the Ring by J R Tolkien (BBC Audiobooks)
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks (Random House)
Curious Incident Of The Dog In the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (Random House)
The No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith (Hachette)
The Life of Pi by Yann Martel (HarperCollins)
Flashman on the March by George MacDonald Fraser (HarperCollins)
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen by Paul Torday (Orion)
Dissolution by C J Sansom (Macmillan)
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (Naxos)
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (Naxos)
The Spy Who Came In From The Cold by John le Carr?� (Hodder)
Death Message by Mark Billingham (Hachette)
Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham (Hachette)
Paul Temple and the Sullivan Mystery by Francis Durbridge (BBC Audiobooks)
Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie (HarperCollins)
Exit Music by Ian Rankin (Orion)
The Broker by John Grisham (Random House)

Non-fiction/poetry/plays
Attention All Shipping by Charlie Connolly (Hachette)
History of Modern Britain by Andrew Marr (Macmillan)
Agent Zigzag by Ben MacIntyre (Orion)
A Bad Birdwatcher’s Companion by Simon Barnes (Naxos)
7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R Covey (S&S)
The Essential Dylan Thomas by Dylan Thomas (Naxos)
Talking Heads Vol 1 by Alan Bennett (BBC Audiobooks)
84 Charing Cross Road by Helen Hanff (Hachette)
Romeo and Juliet (Smart Pass)

Some excellent choices there, one of my favourite books Bird Song is in the list too.� Plus the chance to win �500 worth of National Book Tokens.� Can you imagine what a dent that would put in my to-be-read pile!� Not to mention a completely free audio book from those nice people at Audible.co.uk.� A great classic by Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights, read by Michael Kitchen.

The Guardian’s 40 Best Audio Books is a post from: Book Addicts Book Group

BBC Headroom, the multi-platform campaign from BBC Learning that promotes mental health, is teaming up with libraries across the UK to compile the definitive list of the country’s most inspiring and comforting books, as part of the National Year of Reading’s Mind and Body Month.

Readers can suggest books through recommendation forms in libraries during May, and the results will be published online in June.

BBC Headroom’s campaign executive Nina Bell said: “Books can have such an impact on our mood and sense of wellbeing: they can make you laugh when you need picking up, they can comfort through empathic storytelling, provide calm when your mind is racing or inspiration to face life’s ups and downs. A good read can be truly life-enhancing.”

A number of libraries are also running Headroom activities throughout May, as part of a joint initiative between BBC Headroom and the 2008 National Year of Reading Mind and Body Month. They will be hosting workshops in creative writing, music, dance and film-making alongside book groups, yoga sessions, stress-busting surgeries and chill-out zones.

National Year of Reading and the BBC is a post from: Book Addicts Book Group

Schools secretary Ed Balls will formally launch the National Year of Reading today (1st April). To aid the launch, the NYR will run a TV advert starring celebrities including Geri Halliwell, Lenny Henry, Bill Bailey, Jon Culshaw and Jo Brand (pictured). The advert, which will air for the first time on Tuesday evening, aims to “broaden the definition of reading beyond books and remind us that reading is an everyday part of all the things we really enjoy”.

Balls said: “The National Year of Reading is all about reading anything, anytime and any place – the new advertising campaign brings this sentiment to life perfectly and it’s exactly this message that we wanted to celebrate. The familiar faces supporting the Year help to show reading can be engaging in all its forms – from books to blogs, while you’re at home or even in a café.”

Campaigns and activities throughout the year will focus on reluctant readers, those with low confidence, and boys and fathers. Local reading coordinators in 149 local authorities across England will work with local education, library and leisure services, businesses and the media to deliver the NYR to local communities.

Honor Wilson-Fletcher, NYR’s project director, said: “It doesn’t matter if you want to be a pop star, a sporting hero, a comedian or an actor, everything starts with reading. If you can’t read nowadays, many, many opportunities are lost to you.”

National Year of Reading TV Campaign is a post from: Book Addicts Book Group