Early Reading Matters: Long-term Impacts of Shared Bookreading with Infants and Toddlers on Language and Literacy Outcomes

This research study shows that reading books with a child beginning in early infancy can boost vocabulary and reading skills four years later, before the start of elementary school. Book-reading quality during early infancy, in particular, predicted early reading skills while book-reading quantity and quality during toddler years appeared strongly tied to later emergent literacy skills, such as name-writing at age 4. The results highlight the importance of parenting programs used in pediatric primary care that promote shared book-reading soon after birth, such as Read Out and Read.