3 Best Reasons to Read Books to Your Kids

Childhood books are… intriguing. imaginative. expressive. descriptive. entertaining. inspiring. Captivating and thoughtful. Childhood books are near and dear to my heart. It’s important for children to be introduced to books at a young age to encourage childhood literacy as there are many lessons to be learned from books.

Storytime is a chance to bond with your child or children. It’s a chance to strengthen your bond with them while also introducing them to a whole new world of stories. Even in infancy, it’s important to read aloud to your baby as it exposes them to words.

This is why at well visits from 6 months to 5 years of age I provide books to our pediatric patients through the Reach Out and Read program. Books teach kids how to have empathy for others and how they feel while also broadening their vocabulary.

Vocabulary building

As we all know, babies are always trying to express their wants and needs to us. They have a better chance of verbally communicating at a younger age if books are read to them frequently. While they may not understand what they are hearing, it will help accelerate their understanding of words in conjunction with actions.

Babies can start communicating verbally as early as 6 months old, but most will start around 12 months. These could be very simple words such as ba-ba, da-da, mi-mi and so on. The more time they spend having books read to them accelerates this process and familiarizes them with communication.

Not only does it build their vocabulary and understanding of things, but it introduces concepts like numbers, colors, letters and so forth. It helps with their expressive language skills as well as their receptive language skills. All of these things are pertinent to their development as a child.

Teaching empathy

Books present a fictional world to infants with never-ending storylines. The best childhood books are creative and put young children in a world they didn’t know existed.

It teaches them empathy. How does Sally feel when her dog greets her at home? How does Danny treat his classmates? There are so many situations that kids can be exposed to through books. It puts them in the shoes of a different person and a different situation.

These are important lessons and situations to be exposed to as a child and books make it possible in a fun way.

How to hold a book

As your child prepares for kindergarten, they should have an understanding of books in general. It helps if they are aware of how to hold a book, how to read from front to back and how to read from left to right.

Being familiar with letters helps as well. How do you say the letter “A”? How does the letter “A” sound? Intricacies such as these are crucial in the development of a child and will only help accelerate their learning curve.

A good style of book to read to children early on are books with short sentences on each page. For example, “The cat went outside.” A child’s attention span can be quite short, so when introducing books to them it’s best to start with stories that are short and sweet. Quick sentences. Turn the pages frequently. This is all to keep the child interested and intrigued in the story line that the book is portraying.