ITV Backs Literacy Campaign with Bookaboo!
ITV is backing the National Year of Reading 2008 initiative to promote child and adult literacy in the UK with the commission of Bookaboo! (13x10’) a multi-platform live action and animation series about a famous drum playing ‘rock puppy’ who can’t perform his solo unless he’s been read a story.
Bookaboo! will be produced by BAFTA award winning producer Happy Films and will feature soon to be announced celebrity guests who meet Bookaboo back stage and help him out by sharing a story. These celebrities will become Storytime Ambassadors for NYR 2008 alongside Jim Knight, Minister of State for Schools and Learners, who is backing the campaign.
He said: “It is crucial that we promote the enjoyment of reading to young children for pleasure and purpose. Everything starts with reading. We know that inspirational role models will help give confidence and encourage adults currently not reading with children to pick up a book. Through clever TV programming Bookaboo seeks to encourage adults to read with young children through a medium which provides learning in an entertaining and informative environment.”
With an increasing number of parents lacking confidence in their own literacy skills and one in five children leaving primary school unable to read, the series aims to highlight the fun that can be had when adults and children share a book. The positive impact that sharing a book at home can have on a child’s learning – both socially and educationally is well documented.
The series will be supported by an online Bookaboo Book Club, live events and in store promotions.
Emma Tennant, Controller of CITV & ITV3, added: “'In an age where British school children are ditching books for computer games and reports are being released showing decreased literacy levels among Primary school pupils I think it's fantastic that CITV has the opportunity to commission a programme such as Bookaboo that can provide a much needed antidote to the recent decline in reading.”
Lucy Goodman, MD of Happy Films, said: "We are thrilled ITV has recognised the need for this innovative campaign. Bookaboo is an engaging and entertaining character who will appeal to young children and combined with the endorsement of popular celebrities, we have no doubt that our message will be communicated effectively."
Bookaboo! was commissioned by controller of CITV and ITV3 Emma Tennant. It will be directed and produced by Lucy Goodman for Happy Films. Emma Tennant will executive produce for CITV.
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Notes to Editors:
After 18 years working in the Television industry in the UK and Australia, multi award winning children’s writer, producer and director Lucy Goodman has created new indie, Happy Films to provide unique and thoroughly entertaining children’s media with subtle educational and socially positive undercurrents.
Lucy’s track record to date is impressive with an assortment of programmes to her credit. These include Sir Gadabout the Worst Knight in the Land starring Tamsin Egerton, Best of Friends, Chatterhappy Ponies, and more. Her programmes have won various awards including two BAFTA nominations, a BAFTA win and an Indie award for best children’s programme. Lucy has provided programming for BBC, ITV, Disney, Nickelodeon and Pearson Education. She is renowned within the industry for her tenacity, creativity, passion and production values.
The CITV channel is currently the top rated commercial kid’s digital channel in the United Kingdom. In May the channel averaged a 4.43% share of kids which is the highest the channel has seen. 59 programmes in the month took over 100,000 children which is nearly double the amount that the channel had in May 2007.
Horrid Henry is CITV’s most watched and successful show with audience figures regularly hitting the 150K mark (the highest figure for Horrid Henry was 250K and a 15% share across all kid’s channels)
All of these programmes achieved over 100k children in May on CITV Horrid Henry, Pirates, Jungle Run, Four Eyes! (new to the channel in May), Bratz, My Parents Are Aliens, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,
The CITV website, now in its ninth year, continues to provide support to the broadcast offering with a mixture of programme-related and original new content across key areas of interest for the target audience. In May alone the website recorded an impressive 450,000 unique users with 5,205,585 page impressions
Operating as a portal to the many individually produced programme sites such as Art Attack, Finger Tips and Pocoyo, the site also acts a central repository for broadcast schedule information, video features, editorial coverage of a range of subjects in WHAM! and a plethora of games in which users can play Scary Sleepover, become Horrid Henry or fly Captain Mack's sky rockets - amongst many others!