AAP: Shared Reading is the Best Gift for Children

A book can inspire joy and stir the imagination. Even better this holiday season is the gift of sharing that book with your child.   

Starting from infancy, reading aloud helps build the foundation for healthy social-emotional, cognitive, language and literacy development. Sharing books helps with language development and vocabulary and prepares children to listen and learn in school. And over the past decade, research has found that reading together helps foster positive interactions, strengthening the safe, stable and nurturing relationships young children must have to thrive.   

“Turning the pages of a high-quality, print book filled with colorful pictures and rich, expressive language is best,” said Dipesh Navsaria, MD, MPH, MSLIS, FAAP. “While touchscreens and other electronic devices may be popular, they are typically passive or solitary experiences for children and do not offer the same benefits of interactivity and relationship building.” 

While you might think shared reading is about teaching your child to learn to read, with young children it’s actually about spending time together and becoming familiar with “how books work” — and learning to love the time spent with books.  The most important part of early literacy isn’t so much the book — although well-written and illustrated books do matter — but is actually you. 

How you read with your children depends on how old they are. Here are a few tips for families looking to connect with their children through reading: 

Birth to 6 months

• Find a quiet, comfortable place and hold your child on your lap.
• Make eye contact and let them see the expressions you make.
• Try using different voices and sounds as you read.
• Point to pictures in the book.
• Try to select books with simple rhymes and bold pictures. But remember, above all, what babies benefit most from is listening to your voice and snuggling with you.

6 to 8 months

• Name and point to the pictures that catch your baby's attention.
• Help your baby turn pages.
• Consider sturdy board books and soft fabric books with different textures your curious baby can explore with different senses.
• Act out pictures using your face, hands and voice.
• Enjoy a game of copying your baby as you play with books.

9 to 11 months

• Consider books with pictures of everyday objects like balls and blocks.
• Name and point to the pictures your baby is touching or looking at. For example, "Look at the doggie. The doggie is helping the baby roll the ball."
• If your baby wants to turn to a different page—just follow their lead. Remember that you never need to read the whole story.
• Babies love repetition. Don't be surprised if they like sharing the same book or certain parts of one again and again; they’re telling you how much they enjoy it.
• Ask questions as you read. Even though they can't answer, "Where's the bird? or 

"What does the cat say?" you introduce the idea of conversations. What will eventually become back-and-forth discussion is powerful in supporting your baby’s development.

Registering for library cards as a family can be another excellent way to engage children through reading.  Public libraries are free, have in-person activities like story time, and often have outreach programs to connect with families even in isolated areas. There are often local programs which provide regular, age-appropriate books for children at no cost.  Families with any further questions should speak with their pediatricians.  Many of them, including those participating in and trained in the Reach Out and Read model, are ready to help you learn more about how to incorporate reading into your family routines. 

“Books are great conversation starters,” Dr. Navsaria said. “They’re also just a lot of fun and can help create wonderful memories, particularly during the holidays when you’re spending extra time together. A shared reading experience, as a tender, magical and loving time spent with your child, is truly a gift.” 

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The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 67,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults.