Reading for child: 19 Incredible Benefits of Reading to Children

19 Incredible Benefits of Reading to Children

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There are so many benefits of reading to children and it is one of the most special activities you can engage in.

It is also one of the most important.

The best gift you can give your child is to start reading to them from a young age, long before they are able to understand or read the words themselves.

Reading to toddlers and even babies is very good for their development.

The importance of reading books to children and the profound effects of reading on child development can be seen in a study from the Ohio State University.

The results showed that children who are read to in the first five years of life have a 1.4 million word advantage over children who are not read to at home.

That’s astounding.

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.“

Dr Seuss, I Can Read with My Eyes Shut!

So, what are the benefits of reading to your child every night?

Many of them don’t always seem so obvious during storytime. These build a foundation over time that benefits children more than you can imagine. 

When your children are old enough to start reading to you, don’t stop reading to them. There are benefits to reading as well as being read to.

Sometimes you will have to take on the role of the listener while they read aloud to you, sounding out words and finding meaning in the sentences. You can also read together, or take turns.

Here are just some of the many awesome advantages of spending a few minutes a day on this simple activity, all the while building important pre-reading skills.

1.

Vocabulary

Whether you are reading a book about friends, sea creatures, or the adventures of an explorer, each book has its own set of vocabulary.

Your child will be exposed to an endless array of genres and colourful language.

Children who are read to have significantly larger and more developed vocabularies than other children. This puts them at a huge advantage intellectually and will help them cope better at school.

Not only do these children develop a larger vocabulary, but they also get exposure to many uncommon and unusual words that are not often heard in everyday language.

Does your child show an interest in a specific topic, such as space exploration? By exposing them to the topic and reading different types of books, they will begin to develop specialized jargon.

Encourage exposure to different subjects, but make sure to nurture their passions.

People spend their entire lives learning new words. There is no finite list of words that can be learned at school as language is constantly evolving.

The more children are exposed to reading, the richer their vocabulary becomes.

2. Language Patterns

Children learn to speak primarily by listening to their parents’ use of language.

When you read to your children, they will hear good language structures and grammar usage and will naturally mimic those.

Children do not learn about verbs, prepositions, conjunctions and adverbs out of the blue when they study them in the grades.

Years of reading gives them a vocabulary from which they are able to recognize parts of speech and other elements of language.

They will not only have a wider vocabulary but also good speaking skills and grammar usage.

3.

Thinking skills

While children are reading or listening to stories, they are thinking. 

It is the perfect time to ask them questions and develop their critical thinking skills.

For a few minutes every day, while you listen to your child read aloud or when you read a story to them, ask different types of questions about the story.

Ask them to predict, analyze, give opinions and suggest solutions to problems.

These questions can turn an otherwise passive activity into an engaging one with much value.

There are many different styles of thinking questions that may be asked, all of which will stimulate your child to analyze what you have read, not just to passively listen. 

4.

Independent Reading

One of the benefits of parents reading to their children is that it encourages them to learn to read themselves.

Children learn from their parents before anyone else. If they see you reading, they will want to mimic you and learn to read as well.

They will also experience the joy and fun of reading a story by listening to you and will want to learn to understand the words themselves.

5. Writing skills

Reading improves language skills, which in turn improves writing skills.

Not only will your child understand correct sentence structure and be able to use parts of speech correctly, but their increase in vocabulary will help them write creatively.

Reading stimulates the imagination. Your child’s writing will come alive when that imagination shows up in their stories.

6.

Bonding time

Is there anything better than snuggling together on the couch or tucking your child into bed with a good book?

The time you spend together is precious and priceless.

After a long day of school, sports, homework and many other activities, reading is one sure way to slow down and make sure you are spending some quality, undisturbed time together.

Because reading usually occurs in a quiet space, without distraction and involves only you and your child, it makes for perfect quality time.

When I think back to my childhood, one of my fondest memories is of my mother reading to my brother and me.

I remember how exciting it was to choose a story every night, even though we often listened to our favourites over and over.

The process of reading to your children is a bonding experience that they will look forward to daily.

They will appreciate and feel closer to you because of your effort and undivided attention.

7. Problem Solving

Every good story is filled with many opportunities to solve problems.

Characters find themselves in all kinds of situations and seek solutions to resolve them.

Children are already familiar with solving problems in their own life. Reading provides an experience for them to discover how others go about solving life’s day-to-day challenges.

It develops their ability to analyze situations and act appropriately.

Ask your children to provide solutions to a characters’ problems before reading the end of the story and you will be stimulating their ability to come up with their own ideas.

Analyze decisions that are taken by characters and see if your child agrees or has alternative endings to a story.

Life is full of challenges and reading is a wonderful way to learn to overcome them.

8.

Concentration

When children listen to stories, they increase their ability to concentrate on what they are hearing.

As they become enthralled in the details of a story, they push themselves to listen a little longer, thus increasing their attention span over time.

The more interesting and captivating a book is for a child, the closer they will pay attention as you read.

Reading can lengthen a child’s overall concentration span. This spills over into other areas and helps them perform better at school and when working on activities.

Many parents often comment that their children have a long attention span as they are able to watch movies and TV programmes for hours.

Watching images flashing at a pace unnatural to the brain is not focusing. It is more like a trance and many children who watch hours of television struggle to concentrate in class.

Unlike watching screens, which negatively affects the brain, reading stimulates real focus.

Children have to actually listen, read and think about what they are reading or hearing.

They need to be active in the process to benefit from the story. It is not fed to them while they stare passively.

9.

Memory

Following a storyline involves using memory. The more children use their memory, the stronger this skill becomes.

Take it a step further and stimulate their thinking skills while reading, using different types of questions.

These questions will encourage listening and reading for meaning, instead of just pronouncing words, which means your child will make an effort to think about and remember what they are reading.

10. Moral Lessons

Children learn a great deal from the characters in their favourite stories. These stories are filled with scenarios where the characters have to make decisions and influence the outcome of things.

How children perceive these decisions and the actions of the characters in stories will impact their own morals and values.

The majority of stories teach values and morals which means a great many lessons will be learned while listening to these.

11.

Love of Reading

One of the great benefits of reading together every day is that you are forming a habit – a healthy habit – from a very young age.

Children who are surrounded by books grow into adults who read.

Quite simply, reading to your children and surrounding them with books will develop a lifelong love of reading.

Reading will become a part of who they are and a routine activity that they look forward to every day. 

Long after finishing school, your child will continue to learn, whether for business, pleasure or research, through books and online reading.

12. Listening Skills

The ability to listen is one of the most vital skills for success at school. Unfortunately, it is also a skill many children struggle with.

When you read to a child, they are actively listening for details. Doing this for a few minutes every day will have a massive impact on their overall listening ability and help them cope better at school.

Read how you can develop your child’s listening skills with these games.

13. Life Skills

Let’s be honest. How many life skills are children really learning through standardized testing and the current educational system?

Reading teaches children about life and how situations are dealt with.

Children can learn about relationships, friendships, family and life’s everyday occurrences and see how these are dealt with.

14. Strengthens the Brain

For a child, listening to a parent reading a story takes a lot more brainpower than, say, watching a TV program passively.

Listening actively to a story strengthens brain connections as well as builds new connections.

15.

Conversation

Reading is the perfect activity to spur a conversation with your child. Encourage them to discuss the characters and events of the story and share their own opinions.

Use stories as a starting point for discussion and your child will have more opportunities to practise speaking, reasoning and building their vocabulary. This is great for developing expressive language.

16.

Knowledge

I am willing to bet that only a tiny percentage of what you know was actually taught to you at school.

Children are sponges, absorbing information from many sources during the first few years of their lives.

They never stop learning into adulthood, but the greatest volume of learning occurs during the first 6 years.

Children learn from playing, experiencing and living.

They learn from family members, friends, teachers and strangers.

In modern times, they learn from the television, internet, computer programmes, radio and other devices.

And they learn from books. A lot.

Children who are read to tend to build a wide general knowledge and understanding of the world around them.

They learn about different places, people, events and things.

Whether the stories are fiction or non-fiction, tales or information books, your children will learn a wide variety of concepts and ideas.

17.

Stress Relief

Reading is a calming activity and one that many adults engage in for relaxation. Some do it for stimulation and to learn, others just to relax and escape.

While using devices and watching screens before bed has been proven to negatively affect sleep, reading a book does the opposite. It calms the mind and is a healthy bedtime habit.

After a busy, active day, children look forward to listening to bedtime stories, often drifting off to sleep mid-story.

18. Empathy

When children become engrossed in a story, they identify closely with the characters, just as you would when watching a movie or reading a good book.

They learn to develop empathy and see things through others’ perspectives.

Empathy is an important skill for children to develop and is part of being socially adept.

19. Imagination

In the world of stories, anything is possible. Dragons, fairies, giant beanstalks and monsters are the norm.

These are great for developing your child’s imagination and creativity. Creativity is one of the most necessary qualities for today’s children living in a world far different from what their grandparents imagined it would be.

In order to keep up with the constantly changing world, children need to be quick thinkers, problem solvers and be able to imagine and create things that don’t yet seem possible.

There are so many benefits of reading books to children. If you make it a priority and find the time to do it every day, you’ll be giving your children so many experiences and wonderful memories to look back on.  

Your kids will love these rhymes about books that talk about the magic of books.

Here are some cool short, funny stories for kids that you can add to your library.

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Why It’s So Important and How to Start

Babies and young children are sponges that soak in practically everything in their environments. It’s true! Even during story time, their minds are at work, taking in all the language they hear and lessons the characters learn.

Reading to your child — at any age — will boost their brain development, your bond, and so much more. And all it takes is a few books, motivation, and a little time.

Here’s how to get started.

First, set the scene in your head. You choose a book. You sit down in your favorite armchair, with your child in your lap, and open to the first of many smooth, colorful pages.

You begin to read, and your child is utterly captivated by the story. It’s magic. What’s even better is that your child isn’t just having fun, they’re learning!

Reality may look a little different: Just know you’re not alone if your baby tries to eat the book or your toddler wanders around the room instead of sitting patiently. But the benefits of reading remain the same.

Bonding

Reading provides a wonderful opportunity for you and your child to connect. It’s a nice way to spend time together and slow down during an otherwise hectic day.

Research from 2008 pointed out how reading can support a solid parent-child relationship. Kids feel secure when they’re read to. Plus, caregivers who have a positive attitude toward books and reading in turn help their children view literacy in a positive way.

Listening skills

Hearing a story read aloud involves some level of comprehension on your child’s part. And comprehension is dependent on paying attention — in other words, listening skills.

The experts at Scholastic explain that listening is a skill kids must acquire before they can read themselves.

They suggest that books on tape are a great addition to reading one-on-one with your child. These often provide entertainment value, too, like silly voices, music, and other embellishments.

Cognitive and language development

Even the youngest children benefit from hearing their caregivers read to them. A 2013 study showed that babies who are read to and talked to score higher in language skills and cognitive development, like problem solving.

Research from 2018 suggests that this link extends throughout childhood into the teen years. In fact, researchers say that verbal interactions (reading, talking, etc.) between parents and young kids may promote higher language and IQ scores all the way up to age 14.

Expanded vocabulary

Experts from the National Center on Early Childhood Development, Teaching and Learning also explain that reading books to kids helps expand the number and variety of words they use. Think about it: The books you read often contain words you might not otherwise use in your everyday communications.

While reading a book, you might end up using more specific names for different plants or animals or use more adjectives (descriptive words) altogether. And this adds up.

One 2019 study estimated that children who are regularly read to in the 5 years leading up to kindergarten are exposed to 1.4 million more words than children who aren’t read to during those years.

Attention span

Dinah Castro, a bilingual family well-being educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension, shares that reading to children helps them develop key concentration and self-discipline skills.

You’ve probably dealt with a squirming, distracted toddler at story hour. But what you may also notice is that — over time — regular reading gets kids listening in order to comprehend.

And when they’re listening, they’re more likely to sit still, develop a longer attention span, and even work on their budding memory-retention skills.

Creativity

Books and stories open up a whole new world to your child. Yes, there are plenty of nonfiction books on dinosaurs, bugs, and airplanes. Fiction stories, though, go beyond the real world and employ fantasy elements that get kids thinking outside the box.

Children have vivid imaginations as is, so reading serves to further feed their creativity. And experts at PBS note that creativity is important for developing interests and ideas, as well as for fostering emotional health.

Life lessons

Books provide an opportunity to talk about real-world situations in age-appropriate ways. Kids especially enjoy books that feature children their own ages doing things they do in everyday life.

Along with modeling what happens in various situations, reading books on targeted subjects may help children not feel alone when they deal with something new, like moving across the country, or something potentially uncomfortable, like going to the dentist.

Social and emotional development

Castro also says that reading to young children teaches them how to cope with “difficult or stressful experiences.” She further explains that reading stories about potentially emotional situations, like starting at a new school, can help get a conversation going and show children that their feelings are normal.

Start today! Babies, toddlers, preschoolers, and even older children all benefit from having a caregiver read to them. You don’t even need a large personal library of books to get started.

Think beyond the store — you can find a wide variety of books at your local library, secondhand shop, or Little Free Library. You can even encourage your child to borrow books from and lend them to their friends.

The youngest babies (under 6 months old) benefit from books that have simple but bold or bright images with lots of contrast. Talk to your baby as you look at the books, but words on the page aren’t necessary.

As they get a bit older (7 to 12 months), you may want to expand your collection to books with simple phrases or just a line of text that relates to the picture on the page.

Babies ages 12 to 18 months may find books with pictures of other children doing everyday things interesting. Same goes for books that have animals, television characters, or other familiar scenes in them. For this age group, you may look for books that have more detailed pictures and a simple story or progression of events.

As your baby starts to babble and eventually talk, try involving them in what they see on the page.

For example, point to a picture and ask “What’s that?” or declare “That’s a banana!” to get your child engaging with the book. Keep it positive and try to repeat your child’s words back to them (“Yes — that looks like a cat, but it’s actually a squirrel!”).

There are lots of books, so try not to get too overwhelmed. Nursery rhymes, especially ones you might have memorized, are a good choice for babies.

And as far as construction, look for sturdy books that are made from cardboard (board books), fabric, or vinyl. Books with handles are also fun and let your baby transition from reading time to play time.

Kids between the ages of 19 and 30 months also enjoy books that feature familiar characters.

At this age, they tend to favor books with lots of action, pictures, and details versus lots of words on the page. Look for books that contain short stories, particularly those with cause-and-effect relationships or a problem that the characters must work to overcome.

Repetition is important at this age, so try to find books that allow you to rhyme, sing, or otherwise repeat the text in some way. While you’re at it, take some time to pause as you read books with repetition to see if your little one fills in the blank.

You may also want to take time to draw connections between a main character and your child. For example, you might point out, “He’s sleeping in a big boy bed, just like you!”

By the way, you can start introducing books made with paper pages versus board books at this age. Just be sure to supervise to guard against your child ripping the pages.

Preschoolers and elementary school-aged kids have a wide range of reading abilities. It’s a good idea to take their lead when it comes to simple versus complex books.

Younger kids (and even some older ones) may still appreciate pictures with little text. That said, you can start introducing stories that have more complex plots in them and books with more words than pictures — even chapter books.

As your child begins reading on their own, you might involve them in the process of reading together by asking them to read words or sentences out loud along the way. This is great practice.

Ask questions as you move through the text, too — you don’t have to wait until the end of the book or chapter to check your child’s comprehension. Try open-ended questions like “What do you think might happen next?” These will help your child delve deeper, rather than surface questions like “What color is the house?”

Experts recommend engaging in literacy activities (like reading) for around 30 minutes per day. But you can also think outside the book here.

Try reading traffic signs or cereal boxes, singing songs, listening to audiobooks together, or having your child read to you to the best of their ability. It’s all good.

Librarian Donna Jeansonne says that you shouldn’t stop reading to your child once they learn to read themselves. While independent reading is certainly important, reading out loud to kids as old as age 14 still holds benefits, both academically and emotionally.

At this age, it’s about your older child’s reading fluency and comprehension. It may be helpful for them to follow along in the book as you read. And consider asking questions about the text to gauge their comprehension.

Again, all you really need to do is take the time to read to your child. It’s truly as simple as that. However, you might be wondering how to make the experience more enjoyable for everyone.

Here are some tips:

• Be consistent. Whether it’s one book per day or 15, try to make reading a part of your regular routine. And while you’re at it, you don’t have to read different books each time you sit down. Kids love hearing the same stories over and over again — and they learn through this type of repetition.
• Take your time. Be sure to leave enough time to read versus sneaking it in or — worse — making it a chore. Of course, you won’t have loads of time each day to read, so some quickies are just fine. However, your child should see reading as a dedicated activity and one that you give your full attention to.
• Make it fun. Use different voices for characters, pauses, songs, or other dramatics to make the story come to life. Reading with flair will help your child better understand the story. It also provides a good model of expressive and fluent reading for kids who have begun reading by themselves.
• Point out connections. Children love applying stories to their own lives. It not only makes the text more meaningful, but it also may help your child cope with different situations they encounter in their everyday experience. Point out those connections to your child. Note where the character was brave about that monster beneath their bed. Applaud the character who used the potty for the first time.
• Don’t stop with books. Any exchange of words is beneficial to kids. So, if you’re uninspired by books one night, turn to telling stories. You can also look at pictures and talk about what you see or ask your child to be the storyteller. Anything that gets language flowing between you and your child is golden.

When it comes to early literacy and language skills, both the quality and quantity of the words you speak to your child matter. Books provide an excellent opportunity to get talking, telling stories, and connecting with your little one.

If you still don’t know exactly how to start, consider hitting up your local library and chatting with a librarian in the children’s department. You can get book suggestions, take out books and other media for free, and sign up for events (like in-person or virtual story hours) that’ll get your whole family inspired to read.

Reading to children from 0 to 3

Let’s talk about how to read with babies from birth to three years: how to instill in children a love of reading, teach them to listen to poems and fairy tales, look at illustrations, and how to choose the right books for the youngest readers.

But first, a few words about why you need to read to children, who for the most part have not yet really learned to speak. Reading children’s books is a whole complex of activities. It consists of viewing illustrations, listening to text, matching text and pictures. Reading with a child is a serious job of developing the ability to listen, look at and notice details, read symbols and guess the meaning. By reading to a young child, we contribute to the development of his intellect, broaden his horizons, answer his questions, enrich his emerging speech. In addition, reading is a pleasant form of leisure, a way to distract an upset or naughty baby, one of the elements of the ritual of preparing for sleep, and it is also a whole world of fairy tales, without which it is difficult to imagine a happy childhood.
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From birth to 6 months

Actually, the process of reading with children begins long before reading itself. In order for the baby to show interest in books, it is important that he masters two skills – the ability to listen and the ability to look at pictures.

It is known that the child’s hearing develops in the womb and even before birth, the baby is able to hear and perceive the voices of parents, music, sounds of nature. And this is the valuable sensory baggage that you can give your baby even before he is born. During pregnancy, try to surround yourself and your baby only with pleasant sounds, arrange relaxation sessions more often, listen to good music, talk to your baby and tell him stories. And the meaning of fairy tales is absolutely not important here, your intonation, rhythm and pace of a work of art are much more important. When the baby is born, those poems and fairy tales performed by you, which he heard before he was born, will have a calming effect on him, and parents will always find something to tell the baby to console him or entertain him.
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As the baby grows up, the parental repertoire will gradually expand – to the fairy tales or poems already familiar to the child, nursery rhymes, jokes, lullabies and songs will be added. The book as it is is not yet needed here, but the verses of Barto, Chukovsky and Marshak memorized by heart will come in handy, as well as funny rhymes about the clubfoot bear and others that our mothers and grandmothers told us.

Your newborn baby grows and develops, and at the same time, his vision develops. Such an important organ in the knowledge of the world. When, by about three or four weeks, the baby learns to concentrate his eyes for a few seconds and thoroughly examines the faces of dad and mom – and these are the most important objects to look at at this age, you can offer him other objects that the baby will be happy to look at. These can be black and white pictures depicting lines, patterns or geometric shapes, as well as fairly large toys painted in one bright color. Such objects are able to hold the attention of newborn babies for a long time, and the ability to concentrate the gaze develops vision and enhances brain activity.
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Already later, by three or four months, you will offer the child pictures that are more complex in color and shape – these can be drawings or photographs depicting people, animals, vehicles. Plus, you will show the child the world around – an apartment, a street. It is very important at the same time to pronounce the names of the objects that the baby sees.

So, from the age of birth to six months, “reading” is a synthesis of two actions – looking at pictures and objects, as well as listening to works of art in the background.
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6 months to 1 year

Perhaps your baby is already sitting, but even if not, then he probably already lies on his tummy for a long time or half-sitting in your arms. And for sure, he is showing more and more interest in everything that surrounds him.

It’s time to get your first children’s book. We are talking about cardboard baby books, which consist of a small number of dense, durable and safe pages. In fact, the pages are everything. Children like to manipulate the book by turning the pages – this, in addition to everything, is also a great exercise for developing fine motor skills. Most likely, the book will be tried on the tooth, but it will be reviewed one way or another. Do not buy a lot of baby books, two or three will be enough. Pretty soon you will see that the baby is ready to move on and then you can choose more meaningful books for reading together. The choice of the first book is a responsible matter.
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Here are some rules to help you:

• The book must have thick cardboard pages, the binding must be of high quality. It is important to be sure that when the child picks up the book, it will remain intact.
• Simplicity of illustrations. Ideally, when one image is placed on one page, if this is a plot, then it should be as simple as possible. It is still difficult for a child at this age to perceive a large number of details, he also does not understand the complex actions of the characters. The simpler the image, the more recognizable it will be to the child – accordingly, the interest in the book will be higher. nine0026
• Moderate colors. Ideally, if the book contains only four primary colors – red, yellow, green, blue (not counting black and white). The diversity of the image, again, will not be useful, but will only tire the child.
• Realistic pictures. The crocodile should be green and the tomato should be red. This is one of the most important points. A child at this age absorbs information in a colossal volume, and the inconsistency in its content is now absolutely useless. The same applies to the appearance of animals. Often artists like to depict animals in clothes, but this is absolutely contrary to the real idea of ​​\u200b\u200ba cat or dog, for example. In the future, in more adult books, when the child will already be oriented in the world of objects and will understand what is reality and what is a fairy tale, then the cat can be in a dress, and in a hat, and with beads (if this corresponds to the plot). At the initial stage of understanding the world, a cat should look like a cat – four paws, a mustache, ears and a tail. nine0026

So, the ideal book for babies from six months old is a small cardboard format, in which each page shows a picture, the words in such a book are optional. You will simply tell the child about what is shown in the picture – this will be the first fairy tale.

When you choose a book for your six-month-old baby, you need to find a moment when the child will be in a good mood, put him in your arms or lie down next to him and turn the pages of the book, sometimes saying what is depicted on them. Such “reading” will become the baby’s favorite pastime for a long time, he will especially like it when the baby learns to turn the pages on his own.
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From one to two years
Among children and parents who love books, there is even a list of books that are ideal for kids of this age. We can say that these are win-win options:

1. V. Bianchi “The Fox and the Mouse” – an excellent edition illustrated by Yu. Vasnetsov;
2. E. Karl “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” – world bestseller;
3. E. Karl “From Head to Feet” – also a favorite book of kids all over the world; nine0026
4. Russian folk tales and nursery rhymes illustrated by Y. Vasnetsov;
5. Children’s books by Japanese writer Yusuke Yonezu.

Usually these books instantly become favorites among kids and are read to holes. They are valuable, first of all, for their illustrations, their small texts are simple and uncomplicated. These books are just perfect for learning to relate pictures to text – an important skill that will come in handy for a child in the future.
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The kid grows up and his interest in reading continues to grow – at some point you will understand that the reading list should be expanded and collections of poems by K. Chukovsky, S. Marshak, A. Barto, B. Zakhoder, as well as fairy tales V Suteeva.

Encourage any child’s interest in books. It happens that in the entire collection of poems the baby is attracted only by one quatrain or one picture, read and examine them again and again. Only your sincere interest, your interest and patience (sometimes you have to read the same verse thirty times a day) can support the love of reading in a baby.
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Also an important point of this period is looking at plot pictures, and it will remain so for a long time, becoming more complicated and changing depending on the age and interests of the child. For one or two one-year-old children, the pictures for looking at should be quite simple and clear, selected by subject – transport, animals, vegetables, fruits. Books like encyclopedias for the smallest respond well to this request.

The child will periodically leaf through these books, linger on the objects he likes, poke his finger or otherwise attract your attention, wanting to know the name of the object. When the baby starts talking, you will ask him what he sees in the pictures, and this will become one of the most beloved joint games.
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Looking at pictures, we not only name objects, we also describe their properties, actions, and come up with plots. Thus, we develop the child’s imagination, form his vocabulary, enrich his speech, help him learn to look at the same objects differently.

Now quite popular and loved by many children are books for viewing by Suzanne Berner, Doro Goebel and other authors – these books are a real treasure for showing parental improvisation in describing the plots of illustrations.
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Books with windows, with moving and tactile elements are a good help in attracting a child to look at pictures. Such publications are able to keep the attention of the child for a long time, increase his interest in the content of the book.

Reading for children aged one to two is the world of illustration. Everything that is written about should be drawn – this is very important for the baby, because he himself cannot yet imagine a bull that walks on a swinging board, but he is happy to discover objects that he has just heard about on the pages of the book.
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Two to three

If you started “reading” to a child literally from birth, then most likely at this age you will already be well versed in children’s literature, and the reading list for children of two or three years is so wide and varied that it is difficult to cover it in one article. But if you are just starting to read with your baby and it seems to you that he does not show much interest in books, then you can resort to little tricks.

• Choose books for your child based on their interests. For example, if your kid is interested in animals, then perhaps he will be interested in the poems of S. Marshak or B. Zakhoder;
• Always carry a book in your bag. If you have to take the child on a trip, queues, etc., then you can offer him to read;
• Act out home plays based on famous fairy tales. It is very easy to show the performances “Teremok”, “Kolobok” or “Turnip” even at home, so you will introduce the child to works of art. After that, invite the baby to read together about the heroes he loves; nine0026
• Leave books in the public domain;
• Read aloud! Even if the child is playing or doing something, and you sit next to him and start reading a book, sooner or later the baby will show interest and join you.

The age of two years is also that amazing period when a child begins to develop a fantasy. Children show interest in creativity, in role-playing and fantasy games – all this is an immersion in the world of a fairy tale. Play fairy tales with children, act out stories from books, put on home performances, draw your own illustrations for books, sculpt characters from plasticine.
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Toddlers up to three years old are the most grateful listeners in the world, their thirst for something new and magical is contagious. Reading with your child, you will discover with him the wonderful world of magic and fantasy. And remember that love for books can only be instilled in a sincere personal example. A reverent attitude to the book is a good family tradition that can be passed on to even the smallest novice reader.

Victoria Vinogradova

list of books to read – Kids Russian Books

Well-read children aged 5-6 years are distinguished by well-developed speech, the ability to beautifully express their thoughts, and choose the right expressions. Thanks to reading, the child’s vocabulary is constantly growing, conversational speech and the ability to express their thoughts and feelings are improving. Following the fate of the characters, the child learns to empathize, understand the motives of actions, and predict the reaction. In addition, joint reading brings the child closer to the parents and creates a lot of topics for communication. To keep a child’s love of reading, it is very important to choose books by age. We bring to your attention a selection of the best children’s books for reading in 5-6 years. nine0004

• Aksakov S. – Scarlet flower
• Krylov I. – Fables
• Andersen G.H. – Ole-Lukoye, Snow Queen, Little Mermaid
• Kipling R. – Mowgli, Rikki-tikki-tavi, Tales
• Ershov P. – Little Humpbacked Horse
• Bazhov P. – Silver Hoof
• Kataev V. – Semi-flower
• Harris J.C. – Tales of Uncle Remus
• Ekholm J. – Tutta Carlson the First and Only, Ludwig the Fourteenth
• Oster G. – Bad advice, 38 parrots
• Rodari J. – The Adventures of Cipollino, Journey of the Blue Arrow, Tales on the Phone, Gelsomino in the Land of Liars, The Adventures of Tonino the Invisible
• Bianki V. – Arishka the coward, Where crayfish hibernate, Eyes and ears, Like an ant hurried home, Forest houses, Mouse Peak, Orange neck, Whose nose is better? and other stories. nine0105
• Nosov N. – The adventures of Dunno and his friends, Bengal lights, Mishkin’s porridge, On the hill, Bobik visiting Barbos, About the turnip, Living hat, Karasik, Fedya’s task, Patch, Putty, Gardeners, Dreamers, Entertainers and other stories
• Kharms D. – Poems for children, Plikh and Plyukh
• Lindgren A. – Pippi Longstocking, Adventures of Emil from Lenneberga, We are all from Bullerby
• Vestli Anne Cat. – Dad, mom, grandma, eight kids and truck
• Alexandrova T. – Brownie Kuzka, Katya in a toy city
• Prokofieva S. – Adventures of the yellow suitcase, Treasure under the old oak tree, I won’t ask for forgiveness
• Tokmakova I. – Alya, Klyaksich and the letter A, About Alya, Klyaksich and Vrednyuga, Marusya will be back, Happy, Ivushkin!, And a merry morning will come
• Miln A.A. – Winnie the Pooh and all-all-all
• Volkov A. – The Wizard of the Emerald City, Oorfene Deuce and his wooden soldiers
• Gubarev V. – Kingdom of Crooked Mirrors
• Hoffman E. – The Nutcracker and the Mouse King
• Schwartz E. – The Tale of Lost Time
• Usachev A. – Smart dog Sonya, Famous dog Sonya
• Lagerlöf S. – Nils’ wonderful journey with wild geese
• Balint A. – Dwarf Gnomych and Izyumka
• Black S. – Fox Mickey’s Diary

nine0025 Garshin V. – Traveling frog and other fairy tales

• Travers P. – Mary Poppins of Cherry Tree Street
• Emden E. – House with magic windows
• Panteleev L. – Two frogs, Letter “you”, Fenka
• Zhitkov B. – What I saw and other stories about children
• Chaplina V. – Pets of the zoo
• Golyavkin V. – Notebooks in the rain, Drawings on asphalt
• Collodi K. – The Adventures of Pinocchio
• Tolstoy L. – The Golden Key or The Adventures of Pinocchio, The Lion and the Dog, Filipok, Magpie’s Tales
• Oseeva V. – Magic word, Blue leaves, Cookies, Offenders, New toy, Medicine, Who is the boss?, Tanya’s achievements and other stories
• Marshak S. – Twelve months, English children’s songs
• Odoevsky V. – Town in a snuffbox

nine0025 Pogorelsky A. – Black chicken or underground dwellers

• Lagin L. – Old Man Hottabych
• Barry J. – Peter Pan
• Dragunsky V. – Deniskin’s stories, Twenty years under the bed, Enchanted letter, Professor of sour cabbage soup
• Pivovarova I. – Stories by Lucy Sinitsyna, What my head thinks about, Three with a minus
• Pushkin A. – Tales
• Permyak E. – Kite, Magic colors
• Gauf V. – Caliph-stork, Little Muk, Dwarf Nose
• Nekrasov A. – Adventures of Captain Vrungel
• Larry Yan – Extraordinary Adventures of Karik and Vali
• Preusler O. – Little Ghost, Little Baba Yaga, Little Waterman, The Adventures of the Robber Hotzenplotz
• Carroll L. – Alice in Wonderland, Alice Through the Looking Glass
• Green A. – Scarlet Sails
• Jansson T. – Tales of the Moomin
• Green A. – Scarlet sails
• Bulychev K. – Alice’s Journey
• Swift J. – Gulliver in the land of the Lilliputians
• Charskaya L. – Tales of the Blue Fairy
• Olesha Yu. – Three fat men
• Uspensky E. – Uncle Fyodor, dog and cat, Summer in Prostokvashino, Winter in Prostokvashino
• Koval Yu. – Adventures of Vasya Kurolesov
• Zoshchenko M. – Lelya and Minka, Great travelers and other stories
• Ball G. – Solar Hide and Seek
• Kuzmin L.