5 Gifts in Reading Picture Books Aloud to Littles

Have you ever wondered when the perfect time is to start reading to your child? Reading aloud with your child makes a difference at any age! Thankfully, reading-aloud offers a way to share delight and affection that’s also a powerful tool to set your child up for success in life.

Creates a Love of Learning

When we read aloud with affection, even a baby can begin to connect books with a loved voice and the physical closeness that reading together promotes. We’re building a bridge between books and joy that will open doors for our child for a lifetime.

We don’t need to worry if our child wants to eat the book, flip through the pages to point at random pictures, or read the same book three times. It’s all good.

“In reading aloud, we’re prioritizing the time with our babies and teaching them the delight found in books mingled with our affection. Shared joy is the goal.” – Sarah Mackenzie, author, The Read Aloud Family

Try it: Let your child set the pace and turn the pages sometimes. Respond to your child’s comments or questions.

Builds Their Vocabulary

Parents often repeat the same words when speaking to their children, but reading books aloud will often introduce new vocabulary.

“Babies who are read to from 6 months of age have stronger vocabularies and better literacy skills when they begin school.”  – Sarah Mackenzie

Try it: Point to a picture on the page and say the word to your child. See if they’re ready to mimic you. As your child gets older, ask questions about the pictures.

Impacts Attention and Learning Readiness

Reading aloud to young children has a big impact on whether they’ll later be able to practice self-control to pay attention and learn when they enter school.

“When parents read and play with their children when [they’re] very young, it has really large impacts on…helping them learn to control their own behavior.”  – Dr. Alan Mendelsohn, New York University School of Medicine

Try it: Notice how long your child can currently pay attention to a story. Over time, slowly try to increase the length of the stories you read to help your child’s attention span increase.

Bonds Us Over Shared Adventures

Reading aloud lets your child travel safely into an adventure while arm-in-arm with you.

“It has been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. My mom says some days are like that. Even in Australia.”– Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Judith Viorst

Try it: When you’re reading about a new experience, notice any physical changes in your child’s body. Has their heart rate sped up? Has their breathing changed to match the pace of the story? Do they look sad? Ask, what do you think [the character] is feeling now or what would you do if you were in the same situation? As your child gets older, ask them to predict what will happen next in the story.

Shares Our Values by the Books We Choose

Often, we’ll want to read books to our child that we loved as children. We’ll also choose books that teach concepts we value. For instance, we may choose to read books that portray our child’s cultural background, and we may also choose books that focus on different cultures to help our child understand those cultures too.

“A children’s story which is enjoyed only by children is a bad children’s story.” – C.S. Lewis

Try it: Find one of your favorite childhood books to add to your child’s book collection. How do you feel sharing a book that you loved as a child?

“Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.”

–Emilie Buchwald

                 Here’s to reading!