OKEHAMPTON Library will celebrate National Bookstart Day next week, by holding a free baby massage session on Tuesday October 2 at 11am. The session is for babies under 12 months and will be run by trained aromatherapist Marika Shakespeare. Massaging babies regularly as part of their routine brings many benefits including promoting good digestion, improving sleep patterns and benefiting co-ordination. It also enables parents to bond, relax and communicate with their babies. Places are limited. Tickets are available from the library or by phone on 01837 52805. Free books for babies and children from the age of eight months are available from Bookstart, which works with libraries, health visitors and early years professionals. Guidance materials for parents and carers is also available. Bookstart seeks to promote the importance of books and the benefits of sharing books with babies, such as parental bonding and promoting emotional intelligence, as well as building good communication and listening skills, and helping to lay the foundations of early literacy. Bookstart also aims to foster a love of books through a range of fun activities like Bookstart Rhymetimes and the Bookstart Book Crawl. Further details on all these activities are available from Okehampton Library.
