BATHURST families have been heading to BIG W after the stores much loved Free Books for Kids program returned on Thursday.
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In a boost for children's reading, Big W has partnered with Sesame Workshop to deliver a range of eight Sesame Street books to be collected.
2.6 million books will be given away nationwide across the eight week program, with Bathurst receiving 12,000 books for the local community.
Bathurst store manager, Gary Nielsen, said they were excited to a part of the program.
"We're really excited to be part of this initiative and we look forward to giving these incredible books away for the next eight weeks," he said.
"Literacy skills transfer across all areas of life as they give children the ability to read and write and also play an important role in inspiring creativity and imaginative thinking.
"Engaging children in literature is not only beneficial from a learning and development perspective, but fostering a passion for storytime is a fantastic way for the entire family to come together."
Mr Nielsen said that each time they ran the Free Books For Kids program, it was extremely popular.
"Bathurst has a strong sense of community so this is something that resonates really well with locals," he said.
"The added excitement of Sesame Street and famous Aussies faces lending their support makes the program even more anticipated."
Sesame Street first aired on Australian televisions 50 years ago and has always been a big part of childhood.
EVP and Head of Global Media and Education for Sesame Workshop, Ed Wells, said they were committed to the benefits to reading.
"Reading builds school readiness, vocabulary, and comprehension skills, it allows the imagination to soar and it creates bonding time for families," he said.
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"Simply, reading encourages a lifelong love of learning, something for which Sesame Street has done for over 50 years.
"We're pleased to partner with BIG W, who is also committed to building healthy minds and futures of children in Australia, to make Sesame Street books available for free for families."
From Thursday, February 18 families will be able to collect a free book each week for eight weeks, with no purchase necessary (while stocks last).
The first book available in store is a Grover classic, The Monster at the End of this Book, a fun and interactive story which follows Grover as he begs readers not to turn the page as they'll uncover a monster.
There is a limit of three books per customer with grandparents, aunts and uncles welcome to collect the books for their families.
BIG W is committed to making the books accessible for even more Australians and to help these books reach communities in need they have partnered with the Australian Numeracy and Literacy Foundation and Good360 Australia to ensure 40,000 additional books make their way to rural and remote communities.
To make story time more exciting for the whole family, famous Aussie faces including Rove McManus, Rose Byrne and Olivia Newton John will be reading their favourite books each week, with the videos available across BIG W's YouTube channel.