A London conference has aimed to inspire young British people to read more books. The Booktrust's "Bookgifting" programme wants all parents to give children books from an early age, read with them, and build a lifelong love of books and literature.

Politicians, educators, and authors gathered in London to discuss how to get young British people to read more.

According to the BookTrust's "Bookgifting" scheme, it's vital that children are given and introduced to books from an early age.

Rosemary Clarke, director of booktrust "Bookgifting" programme said, "The idea is that if you give a child a book from a very very early age, when they start off, when they're babies, they don't even know what a book is yet and if you gift a child a book and you encourage the parents to share the books with them what will happen is that child will grow in confidence, will be familiar with books, it will have better language acquisition, it will better listening skills, better attention span, and they will build a more loving relationship with their family, so it's about whole child development."

Despite competing interests from computer games, toys and television, Rosemary Clarke says reading books still helps young people use their imaginations.

(CCTV March 12, 2009)