The Surprising Benefits of Reading to Young Children
- Nancy Butler Wolf
- 23 hours ago
- 3 min read
It may seem obvious that reading to young children improves vocabulary and provides a better understanding of language, but those are not the only benefits of reading to your young children! When you read to your young children, you are helping them make connections between the spoken word, the pictures, and to real things in the world around them. Relaxed, patient reading promotes parent-child bonding. Research has shown that the brains of very young babies are preparing for language and speech, long before they say their first word! (HeadStart.gov, 2025), and that reading to them increased their language learning.
Some recent research by Rutgers University (Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, September, 2019) has found some amazing "side-effects" of reading to your young children. Researchers found that mothers who read to their one-year-olds frequently demonstrated less harsh parenting behaviors when their children were three. Mothers who read to their three-year-olds regularly parented less harshly when their children were five. The children who were read to regularly were also better able to exercise self-control and pay better attention. Another study (Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 2022) found that reading books to infants and toddlers predicted higher reading, spelling, grammar, and numeracy skills at Grade 3, and predicted reading, writing, spelling, and grammar skills at Grade 5.
What Can You Do?
Make reading to your child(ren) a part of your daily routine.
Let your child choose a story. Remember, toddlers love to hear the same story over and over! You may know "Goodnight Moon" by heart, but your toddler is learning something new every time they hear it.
Take your time. Look at the pictures and talk about them ("Do you see a cow? What does the cow say?", "What color is the barn? Do you see anything else that is red?")
Have fun with it! Use different voices, make noises, stop and talk about things that interest your toddler.
Don't feel as though you need to read every word on every page! Gauge your child's interest, and adjust your pace. Although I'm all about the power of the author's words, don't be afraid to paraphrase once in a while!
Here are some ways you can provide a richer reading experience with your child:
Repeat and reinforce a word the child says ("Yes! That is a train!")
Add new words ("The last car on the train is called the caboose")
Connect to the child's experiences ("Do you remember when we saw the train go by?")
Highlight differences ("The train we saw was very long. This train is ________?")
(Napoli & Johnson 2019)
As children develop more advanced literary skills, you can begin to:
Pause when a phrase is repeated, allowing children to repeat it themselves ("Brown Bear, Brown Bear, (what do you see?)"
Ask children to remember what happened. Do this at any part of the story, (not just at the end). “What happened when the sun came out?”
Ask children to talk about what is happening in a picture. “What is happening to the snowman in the sun?”
Ask questions about the pictures in the book. “Why was Peter sad? What do you think happened to the snowflake?”
Make connections to the children’s lives. “This book is about going to the zoo. Do you remember when we went to the zoo? What was your favorite animal?"
(Whitehurst 2002)
Although it is beneficial to read high quality books with rich images, the bottom line is that it is important to just READ, READ, READ! Go ahead and read the same book over and over. Read the story your child is interested in. Read the books with easy words and lots of pictures. Read the books with harder words and fewer pictures. Just READ!
Some resources for high-quality reading books for young children:
Parents Magazine: "The Best Toddler Books to Get Kids Started on a Lifetime of Reading"
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