In a bid to raise British literacy rates the coalition government has launched lovebook.com as a central plank of its education strategy. Children will be encouraged to borrow a book, read it (or at least to look at the pictures) and then return it before anyone gets cross with them.
“We believe this is the first idea of its kind in the world” said Michael Gove, Education Minister. “Books are expensive to buy so we are offering a cost effective alternative to give children the opportunity to read. We initially piloted the idea using prepaid envelopes but some of the hardback Thomas the Tank Engine books wouldn’t fit in the post boxes so we set up a Review Committee to consider alternatives.”
Linda Carter, a mother of two boys in Berkshire who took part in the pilot, was hugely impressed with the outcome. “I couldn’t get ‘Where Are You Blue Kangaroo?’ into the envelope, but following the Review Committee’s meetings, now all I have to do is to take my sons into the town centre, where they have a large building which is rammed full of books they can choose from. It’s genius.”