Bradford is celebrating the delivery of the 10,000th treasure chest of free packs of books and resources for young children.

Bookstart is a national scheme which involves handing out free packs to young children to help them enjoy reading with their parents.

The packs for three-year-olds are called treasure chests which contain a book, book plates for the children to put their name in, crayons and a colouring-in book plus information for parents.

Initially the packs were delivered by the Toy Library Network but when the funding ran out, West Yorkshire Transport Service, which is run by Serco, stepped in.

As well as the treasure chest for the three-year-olds there is a second pack called Bookstart Plus for 18-24 months old which are given out by either health visitors or nurseries and childrens centres.

The 10,000th treasure pack will be handed over to children at Farfield Nursery, Moorhead, Shipley, on Wednesday at 1.30pm.

Bookstart is managed by Bradford Council's Libraries, Archives and Information Service.

Councillor Anne Hawkesworth, executive member for environment and culture, said: "Research has shown that Bookstart children are ahead in both numeracy and literacy when starting school. We want to encourage parents to start reading with their children from a very young age as it will reap benefits when they go to school."

Geoff Binnington, Contract Manager for West Yorkshire Transport Service, said: "Working with the Bookstart team has been great. It is a pleasure to continue supporting them and the children of Bradford for the future. I believe this is an excellent example of public and private cooperation and I look forward to supporting the scheme in 2008."

To receive a free pack, call the Bookstart co-ordinator, Susan Brewster-Craig on (01274) 433684 or call into a local library.