WEST Fife parents are invited to board Bessie the PlayTalkRead bus as it visits towns and villages in the Kingdom this month.

PlayTalkRead is the Scottish Government's early years initiative and the bus is designed as a free drop-in playground where parents and carers can pick up ideas to play, talk and read more with their wee ones.

Bessie will be at Oakley Community Centre today (Wednesday), Valleyfield Community Centre on Thursday and Ballast Bank Community Centre, Inverkeithing on Friday. The bus will be open from 10am-1pm and 2-4pm at each stop.

For more information, tips and advice, log on to www.playtalkread.org and www.facebook.com/playtalkread or follow @PlayTalkRead on Twitter.