Mrs. Sketchbook had a great post recently about a monthly book subscription, but I was sad to read that “children from high income families-by age 4-hear a total of 32 million more words spoken in their homes than children from low-income families.” So I think it’s important to start reading to children from birth, and to continue to reading aloud to kids long after they are old enough to read themselves, too.

I’m by no means downplaying the importance of your child reading aloud themselves, because that is certainly an important skill to master, but I think they hit an age where we as adults feel silly about reading aloud. My parent-baby class instructor said she was reading a Harry Potter book aloud on a road trip with her children and a classmate of her 16 year old son. She had just met him — he was heavily tattooed and muscly — and she said he rolled his eyes as she cracked open the book. By the end of the car ride he was leaning over the seat, listening intently, and playing with the hair of a younger child. They arrived at their destination and he piped up that they hadn’t gotten to the end of the chapter yet. He found her years later on Facebook and asked if she still read to her family.

My topic this week at my parent baby class was “books.” I saw it on the schedule and was like, yeah I read to my daughter, boring topic. Boy was I wrong! I learned about the importance of reading aloud and a few great nuggets for choosing a books for your kids or to give as gifts:

  1. When buying a lift the flap book, test its sturdiness by taking a walk around the store holding it by a flap.
  2. Look for a Newberry Medal or Caldecott Medal on the front cover of the book, which recognize the best literary books and best illustrated books.
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  3. Most libraries offer storytelling time, and even infants can attend. Some libraries even offer storytimes in many different languages. Afterward, ask the librarian to recommend some books – I’m sure they’d be more than excited to talk to someone about books.
  4. If introducing a second language, pick up a book of nursery rhymes in another language.  These types of books will have repetitions and rhythms that exemplify the cadence and rhythm of the language; a baby can recognize speech patterns from birth, and a child’s ability to hear different phonetic pronunciations is sharpest before age 3.
  5. Check out The Read-Aloud Handbook, a great tool for any parent or teacher. The first half discusses the thought behind reading aloud, and the second half is updated with each edition and lists great book recommendations by age group.

What do you do in your homes to promote reading? Is daily storytime a part of a bedtime ritual? I think books are too stimulating for our before-bed experience (remember I’ve got the baby with the 2am bedtime), but it’s so rewarding to see her get excited about her favorite books, even when she was 4 months old.