At first glance, plans by the Education Secretary, Ruth Kelly, to give £27 million worth of free books to pre-school children seem commendable. Who would not delight in seeing the likes of The Very Hungry Caterpillar replacing the antics of The Tweenies as the focus of every child’s bedtime routine? Realistically, however, the success of such an initiative is likely to be limited. New research from the Department of Education shows that even the brightest youngsters from deprived backgrounds perform less well than their less able middle-class contemporaries at primary level. Parental involvement is a key factor. The problem is not solved by getting books to pre-schoolers unless their parents are willing to read to them.

Children learn by example. Thus parents who read produce children who read, just as those who watch television all day have children who do the same. The difficulty Ms Kelly faces is not simply one of supply; it is how to reform the culture of an entire generation. Ms Kelly is an ambitious minister, but even for her this is a tall order.

With free books already available to those who need or want them, there is something misguided about investing millions in headline grabbing “book bags” when that money could go towards ensuring that, when deprived children finally do enter the education system, schools have the resources to bring them up to speed. What is required now are fewer popularising gestures and more serious investment in areas where government can make a real difference: discipline, rigour, and the expansion of teaching methods, such as synthetic phonics, which have been shown to produce real results.