A picture book, at its best, is a book aimed at capturing the hearts and minds of children. These books contain visual stories rich with illustrations that work to complement the words in delightful ways.

There are many studies that show how important it is to read aloud to children. Besides being just plain fun to do, reading picture books to children fosters improved social and emotional intelligence, creates opportunities for family bonding, and helps develop literacy by building a child’s vocabulary.

In fact, there’s a thing called the “million-word gap.” Children who are read to hear between 300,000 and 1.5 million more vocabulary words before they enter kindergarten than children who aren’t read to according to educational studies at Ohio State University. That offers a huge boost to children who hear books read aloud to them as they get started in school.

It only takes a few moments to sit with a child and read a picture book that’s generally 32 pages long and under 1,000 words. Even reading just one book a day to a child can make a big difference.

Reading to a child will do the following:

1)        Improved brain development – children will benefit neurologically because they will have improved visual imagery, vocabularies and comprehension.

2)        Improved language skills – children will be introduced to new words, and they will be able to understand the patterns that underlie language much faster.

3)        Improved fluency/literacy – children will grasp the rhythm of language, its flow and the inflection of words. Plus, they will have a better awareness of the structure of sentences and thus have an easier time with comprehension.

4)        Improved empathy – children who are exposed to various stories that run the gamut of the human condition will build empathy. Good stories give children the opportunity to understand life from various perspectives.

As the world becomes more immersed and more dedicated to technology, the seemingly simple act of reading a book to a child can have a profound and lasting impact on their development and their happiness.

Share a book together and make a difference in a child’s life today!