Reading to Your Child Today May Have Benefits Well Beyond Bedtime
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Parents have been told for generations that reading to children is important.
But what if those bedtime stories are doing more than creating a fun family tradition?
Research published in the journal Developmental Science found an important connection between parents reading books with very young children and those children's language and literacy skills years later.
The takeaway for parents is encouraging:
Those few minutes spent reading together may have benefits that last well beyond bedtime.
Researchers Followed Children From Toddlerhood to Elementary School
The researchers studied naturally occurring parent-child interactions when children were between approximately 1 and 2½ years old.
Years later, when those children reached elementary school, researchers examined several outcomes, including vocabulary, reading comprehension, reading motivation, decoding skills, and math ability.
Importantly, the researchers didn't simply ask whether children who were read to became better readers.
They also accounted for other factors that could influence a child's development, including socioeconomic status, the child's early language skills, and the amount of language parents used with their children outside of book reading.
Even after accounting for those factors, early parent-child book reading was associated with several important later outcomes.
Reading Together Predicted Better Reading Comprehension
One of the most significant findings involved reading comprehension.
Children who experienced more parent-child book reading interactions when they were very young later demonstrated stronger reading comprehension.
That's important because learning how to pronounce the words on a page is only one part of becoming a reader.
Eventually, children need to understand those words, follow ideas, make connections, interpret information, and understand what a story is trying to communicate.
Reading together may help lay some of that foundation long before children begin reading independently.
It Was Also Connected to Stronger Vocabulary
The study also found that early book reading predicted children's later receptive vocabulary—their ability to understand words they hear or read.
Why might books be particularly useful for developing vocabulary?
Think about the conversations we have during an ordinary day with a toddler:
"Where are your shoes?"
"Do you want some milk?"
"Let's get in the car."
Those conversations are important, but they often revolve around the immediate world.
Books can suddenly take a child anywhere.
A story might introduce a jungle, spaceship, castle, ocean, farm, dinosaur, or distant country.
And with those new worlds come new words.
The researchers actually found that parents' language during book reading was more sophisticated than their language outside of book reading, including greater vocabulary diversity and more complex sentence structures.
In other words, books don't just give children more opportunities to hear language.
They may expose children to different and richer language.
Perhaps the Most Exciting Finding: Kids Wanted to Read
There was another result that parents, teachers, librarians, and authors should pay attention to.
Early parent-child book reading also predicted children's later internal motivation to read.
That's the kind of motivation we want.
Not:
"I have to read this because my teacher assigned it."
But:
"I want to know what happens next."
There is a huge difference between teaching a child how to read and helping a child want to read.
A child who views reading as entertainment is more likely to voluntarily pick up another book, discover another story, and continue practicing the very skills that make them a stronger reader.
That creates a powerful cycle:
Read → Enjoy → Read More → Improve → Enjoy Reading More
Reading Didn't Predict Everything—and That's Important
Good research is just as interesting for what it doesn't find.
The study did not find that early parent-child book reading significantly predicted every skill researchers measured.
For example, it did not significantly predict later decoding skills, external motivation to read, or math ability after the researchers accounted for the other variables.
That distinction matters.
Reading books isn't a magical shortcut that automatically makes a child better at everything.
Instead, the findings suggest that shared reading may be particularly valuable for developing certain language and literacy abilities.
Don't Turn Reading Into Homework
There's another lesson parents can take from this research.
If we want children to become internally motivated readers, we shouldn't make every book feel like an assignment.
Ask questions.
Laugh at the funny parts.
Make ridiculous voices.
Let your child choose the book.
Talk about the pictures.
Guess what will happen next.
And if your child wants you to read the same book for the 47th time?
Well...
You might have to accept your fate.
The goal isn't simply to finish another book.
The goal is to create positive experiences around books.
What If Your Child Is Already Older?
If your child has moved beyond picture books, don't assume the opportunity has passed.
Keep books part of family life.
Visit the library.
Listen to audiobooks on road trips.
Talk about what everyone is reading.
Help children find books connected to things they already love—sports, video games, animals, mysteries, science fiction, fantasy, history, humor, or whatever captures their imagination.
And don't worry if the book they choose isn't the book you would have chosen.
A child eagerly reading something they love is developing a habit that can eventually lead them to hundreds of other books.
Sometimes It Only Takes One Book
As an author who spends a lot of time visiting schools and talking with young readers, I've seen how powerful the right book can be.
Not every child who says, "I hate reading," actually hates reading.
Sometimes they simply haven't discovered their book yet.
The adventure that makes them forget they're reading.
The character they can't stop thinking about.
The mystery that keeps them awake for another chapter.
The funny book they immediately hand to a friend.
Once children experience reading as something they genuinely enjoy, everything can change.
Ten Minutes Today Can Become a Lifetime of Reading
Parents are busy.
There will always be homework, practices, dishes, laundry, emails, and a hundred other things competing for our attention.
Reading together doesn't have to be complicated.
Pick up a book.
Sit together.
Read a few pages.
Talk about the story.
Enjoy the moment.
The research suggests that those seemingly ordinary moments in early childhood are associated with vocabulary, reading comprehension, and—perhaps most importantly—a child's own desire to read years later.
You're not simply finishing tonight's story.
You may be helping create tomorrows reader.