Reading Aloud to Children

I love books. I always have and I always will. As I was growing up, there were always books in my room and in many other rooms of the house and I often saw my Mom and Dad reading books. It is a passion that I learned early in life. When I was pregnant and knew that I would soon be a parent, I knew that I wanted to instill the love of reading in my child. I bought classic children’s books like Pat The Bunny and Where's Spot? before Nicholas was even born. It may sound silly but I often spent quiet moments at bedtime reading aloud to my large pregnant belly. Once Nicholas was born, Stuart and I began reading to him daily. No, we didn't expect him to understand a single word we were saying but it was a wonderful way to interact with our baby. He heard our voice, including the inflections and sound effects we would make. He watched our facial expressions as we read. He looked at the brightly colored pictures in the books. He touched the books (and put them in his mouth). He may not have understood what we were doing but he enjoyed the time with his parents and he learned that books were a part of our daily life.

At our most recent meeting of the Greater Lewisville Early Childhood PTA (GLECPTA), our guest speaker was Sue Ridnour, librarian at the Flower Mound Library. She talked to us about "Raising A Reader". She said that one of the key influences in raising a reader is to have a "print-rich environment". This includes the child owning their own books, having their own magazine subscriptions, having regular access to a library, etc. Another important factor is role modeling. If the child never sees the parent read then why would they ever make the connection that reading should be important to them?

Ms. Ridnour also discussed the importance of parents reading aloud to their children and she mentioned a book that I read a few years ago called, The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease. This week I pulled out the book again to refresh myself with it. The premise of the book revolves around the following statement, "Extensive research has proven that reading aloud to a child is the single most important factor in raising a reader." Mr. Trelease goes on to demonstrate how raising a reader also improves ones success and happiness in life. He discusses the importance of children finding pleasure in reading and being read to. “What we teach children to love and desire will always outweigh what we teach them to do." It’s more important to make reading fun than it is to force a child to learn how to read on their own. They will start attempting to read on their own when they are ready. Even Plato stated, “Avoid compulsion and let early education be a matter of amusement. Young children learn by game; compulsory education cannot remain in the soul.”

Why read aloud to a child? Trelease says, “…to entertain, to bond, to inform or explain, to arouse curiosity, to inspire,…to condition the child’s brain to associate reading with pleasure, create background knowledge, build vocabulary, provide a reading role model.” And please know that children are never too young or too old to be read-aloud to.

There is something so special and magical about reading aloud to children and I wish every parent realized it. I’ve seen it in my church’s preschool where I help out by watching a classroom of preschoolers while their moms are in a bible study class. If someone is crying or the class is getting a little rowdy, I will sit down on the floor with a good picture book and just start reading aloud. I don’t even need to invite the children to come over and listen. They just sort of migrate over on their own and suddenly I’ve got an entire class of quiet, interested preschool age children that are mesmerized by a book. It’s such a wonderful experience.

Nicholas is three years old now and he loves books. He has his own library card for the Flower Mound library and he loves going to the library. He even completed a reading program at our library this summer called, “Sail Away With Books”. He enjoyed this program. The library gave him a “map” and we would mark another square on the path for each day that we read for at least 20 minutes (which is every day for us). Each time that he had five squares marked he could bring his map back to the library and get a reward. He got a free ticket to the circus, a free ticket to a Rangers baseball game, gift certificates for free kids meals at local restaurants, toys, stickers, etc. He also got his name put up on a wall at the library (see the yellow treasure chest!).

Here's Stuart showing Nicholas his gift certificate for Chick-Fil-A and then Nicholas also got to pick out a book to keep from the box on the table beside them.


What an awesome program the library has to encourage children to read! Nicholas also goes to the library at Montessori once a week and checks out two books to keep at home for a week. We also go to preschool story time productions at both the Flower Mound and Lewisville libraries.

Stuart and I read aloud about 3-5 books a day to Nicholas. However, we also have begun reading aloud some chapter books like The Wizard of Oz. Nicholas loves putting the bookmark in it’s place and then finding the bookmark again the next time we sit down to read. Stuart and I love “reading time” with Nicholas. Sometimes Stuart and I are both in the room as one of us reads aloud for a family story time but usually it is just one of us, soaking up that quiet special time with our little boy. We read anywhere – at the library, outside, on the couch in the living room. However, we do have a favorite routine. Nicholas snuggles up in our lap in the glider in his room. The reading lamp above us is on a low or medium setting, just enough light to read but not too bright. Nicholas’ bookshelf is right next to us with its overflowing books that are now forming growing piles on the floor beside it. Sometimes we have some soft music playing in the background, sometimes a puppet or stuffed animal does the reading aloud, and other times a stuffed animal just wants to sit in Nicholas’ lap and listen to the book with us. It really doesn’t matter how, where, or when we read but we do read everyday and we do love every minute of it.

Nicholas and Daddy reading Flotsam by David Wiesner


I highly recommend The Read-Aloud Handbook to any new parent. It contains a great deal of information about the importance of reading to children, how to help children get interested in reading, as well as a giant treasury of great read-aloud books to choose from. There is are wonderful in-depth excerpts from the book at www.trelease-on-reading.com that completely summarize the important points that Mr. Trelease makes in his book as well as additional information you may find interesting.