It's Never too Early to Read to Your Baby

by Dr. David Walsh

I was browsing in a used bookstore recently with my adult son when he spotted a tattered copy of Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel. His eyes lit up as he paged through it. "Remember when we used to read this? " he said. "I loved this book."

Reading aloud is one of the most important pre-literacy activities we can share with our children. In my last column, I discussed the importance of talking with babies from the time they are born. Talking to babies develops their ability to distinguish different sounds. Reading aloud is the next step in raising readers, because it benefits young children in several ways.

First of all, reading aloud is fun. Tiny babies like the soothing sounds of a familiar voice reading. Even when they prefer "eating" their books, they are beginning to make the mental connection we want. They're associating reading with comfort, security and enjoyment. That link is a great foundation for raising readers, and, as my son proved, it can create fond memories that last for years.

There are technical benefits as well. Children start to associate marks on a page with language. They also pick up the basics, like reading a book from front to back and left to right. These things may not seem important, but they are all building blocks for reading.

Here are 10 tips for reading aloud to infants and babies.

1. Read to your child every day. It can become a great habit. 2. Cuddling is critical. This creates those memories of warmth and closeness. 3. Keep the stories short. Don't force a baby to sit until you finish a book if she is letting you know she has lost interest.

4. Let your baby take the lead. She may prefer to flip or chew on the pages. No problem. Remember that fun is the goal. Sturdy board books or soft cloth books can take a lot of infant handling. 5. Don't shy away from poetry. The rhyming and rhythm are great for babies. 6. Choose books with very simple pictures. 7. Relate the words to the pictures on the page. Tapping or scratching the picture can draw your baby's attention. 8. Be a ham. Read with excitement and expression. Use different voices and sound effects, and don't hesitate to act-out stories and nursery rhymes.

9. Editorialize. Books for babies shouldn't have a lot of words. So don't just read what's on the page. Expand, embellish and relate the story to real life. "The dog in the picture is black, but Mrs. Johnson's dog next door is white." 10. Make it interactive. If you ask a baby a question, remember that any sound she makes is a brilliant answer!

Books throw open the doors to the world. The adventure begins long before a child starts to read herself. It begins with the fun of hearing stories read aloud.