Abstract
Early literacy development and parental partnership and involvement have become key priorities in the United Kingdom. The two could be seen to be brought together in the use of ‘story sacks' as a vehicle for developing the literacy skills of both parents and children. The present small-scale study is concerned with the use of story sacks by parents and young children in a government-recognised Early Excellence Centre in the North West of England, which provides services for children below the age of five, when statutory schooling begins for British children, and their families. The evidence from observing children and their parents engaging with story sacks and from interviews with both children and parents suggests that story sacks are powerful vehicles for allowing children to be involved in adult-supported exploration of language and literacy, whilst allowing them a space in which to voice how they see and understand the world.