Picture books can be magical for readers of all ages, even adults. But when it comes to reading aloud to young kids, I've learned not to ignore chapter books and novels. It may seem daunting to open up a hundred-plus-page tome when your audience has an attention span the length of a Peppa Pig episode, but the experience of making it through the story can be deeply rewarding.
Reading with your kids is important. We all know this. If you're like me, you dive into book after book with abandon.
You know when you come across a piece of expert advice and it’s something you already do out of convenience or laziness, and then you feel smug and think: Oh yes, I knew what I was doing all along? That’s what happened when I came across a tip in in Sarah Mackenzie’s wonderful book The Read-Aloud Family: Making Meaningful and Lasting Connections with Your Kids.
Most of us know that reading to babies is a very good thing - it's tied to language and cognitive development, helps strengthen the parent-child bond, and gives us a welcome script when we're trying to get in our recommended 30,000 words a day without having to rap the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song yet again. But for optimal benefits, it may not be enough to simply grab any board book or Thai takeaway menu and start rattling off the words. According to a new study, the type of book you read may make a big difference.
Reading stories to my four-year-old daughter right before she goes to sleep is a simple joy, a time when we're snuggled together side by side, giggling at a baby with a mustache or a duck-chef possibly falling into a pot of soup.
