River Forest Public Library River Forest Public Library

Early Literacy Tip – October 2019

Read to Babies!

Long before children are readers, they learn to associate pleasure with reading when they share this experience with a loving adult. So even a one-week old baby will benefit when you read to them!

The first-and best-tip for sharing books with the very young is to have fun together. Snuggle, vary your voice, and point to pictures as you read. Remember that reading a few minutes at a time is appropriate and that you do not need to read every page of a book or even finish it. Babies may want to grab and even mouth the book. When you let your child explore books in a variety of ways, the reading experience will be even more meaningful.