We all know to eat our five pieces of fruit and veg a day. Now, in a bid to increase child literacy, I have been encouraging a daily ten-minute storytelling slot to make reading with children routine.

The Share a Story campaign is part of this year’s World Book Day on 1 March and I have been leading efforts in parliament to spread the ten-minute mantra nationally. Nearly 100 MPs from across the political spectrum signed up to support the campaign, and the Prime Minister also confirmed her support when I asked her to back Share a Story at Prime Minister's Questions this week. 

• Julia Lopez Conservative, Hornchurch and Upminster- To celebrate World Book Day tomorrow, will the Prime Minister join me in backing the Share a Story child literacy campaign to make 10 minutes of daily reading with a child as much a national habit as eating five portions of fruit and veg?

  Theresa May The Prime Minister, Leader of the Conservative Party - I am very happy to join my hon. Friend in welcoming the Share a Story campaign and marking Wold Book Day, which is a day to enjoy and celebrate reading. As a child, I very much enjoyed reading, and the idea of making 10 minutes of daily reading with a child a natural habit for everybody is extremely important, and I would certainly support it.

Share a Story is a new approach from the World Book Day team, who hope for the first time to take their message beyond the school gates and get businesses and politicians involved in the literacy drive. By spreading the ‘ten minute’ message in workplaces and encouraging MPs to promote the campaign to constituents, World Book Day now hopes to make a habit of every day story-sharing with children of all ages.

Storytime is a crucial tool in improving a child’s own reading and listening skills. Stories facilitate conversation, introduce children to more complex vocabulary and build confidence when it comes to reading out loud. Good stories also help shape a child’s view of the world, enriching their outlook and introducing them to new ideas, places and people.

Great strides have been made in literacy in recent years, with England now ranking eighth in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, up from nineteenth. Encouragingly, the English results are driven by an increase in the number of low-performing children reading well.

I was inspired to lead the Share a Story campaign after visiting Broadford Primary School in Harold Hill with former Education Secretary, Justine Greening. Broadford last year won two top TES awards for ‘Primary of the Year’ and ‘Overall School of the Year’, and was rated Outstanding in 2014 after being in Special Measures only three years earlier. The school caters to a community where well over a quarter of children live in poverty, and its turnaround saw book clubs and reading leagues introduced, as well as a training programme for phonics.

Everyone knows about the importance of giving children their five pieces of fruit and veg a day. Now let’s make ten minutes of reading the nation’s new habit. Stories need not be confined to bedtime or seen as only something parents can engage in. The ten minutes could be an older sibling reading to a younger one on a long journey or a grandparent snuggling up on a sofa and sharing a story with their grandchild.

To read more about World Book Day on 1 March and the Share a Story campaign, visit http://www.worldbookday.com/ideas/share-a-story/