Story's Impact

Technical Characteristics 

• Biologically set to learn language - language expectant

• Social interactions with parents and caregivers and peers shape the narrative of how the world works

• Media also shape how kids perceive their capabilities and options

• Builds intuitive theories: language is a symbol system that helps us map out our expectations of what will happen next

Expected growth trajectory / needs as a function of age 

The capacity to develop and understand language is there from birth. Immediately, the child is listening to what the parents/caregivers are saying and pattern-matching frequencies to understand the sounds of the language. Eventually, the child can understand the meaning of words, even before they can speak them. Once the child can speak, they understand and use more words, thus expanding their vocabulary. Once this skill is practiced more, the narrative being presented by parents and society starts having an impact on the child. They seek understanding of the world and ways to react to situations. This arises from stories being shared or read to children by their parents or caregivers, and it helps them learn how to talk and handle situations. 

Ideal conditions to support flourishing 

Ideal conditions involve creating a narrative that invites children to explore and try things on their own. Additionally, the use of elaborative reminiscence helps to showcase how a child should cope and deal with situations that occur in life. This is a practice where the caregiver asks and answers questions as they recount situations. Another useful tool is having conversations with children about books they just read to highlight the important narratives of the stories they tell. This guided practice will help the kids learn more effectively about the stories they just read. Additionally, early exposure is highly effective. For language, comprehension comes before production, so reading stories to your kids before they themselves can speak will help increase their vocabulary and help them understand the language and how it flows better.

Threats to flourishing 

When children are only given a single story, it can give rise to stereotypes and prejudices in their lives. Another threat is maladaptive interactions, which shut down kids' willingness to talk and don’t teach them how to react to situations in a helpful manner. Another threat is the story portraying a more harmful narrative. An example is the kind of media that tells kids who they should be, and doesn’t encourage them to explore it on their own. Generic language is another threat. This is generalizing one person's traits to be for the whole social group when talking to a kid. This generalization is harmful as it is encouraging social essentialism, which generalizes the population and excludes the characteristics of others in the population and the uniqueness of the individual. It can lead to stereotyping and even prejudice if left unchecked.

Field notes / Observation guide. What signs to look for? 

What to look for when making a book selection:

• What narrative is the book presenting?

  • • Based on the narrative, decide what you want your child to take away from the story

• Is it encouraging generalization?

  • • If the book is generalizing a group, then it is recommended that you try to find another one, or if the message is good, be sure to talk with your kid afterwards about how the generalization is false and applies to individual characters rather than the social group

• Are you buying books with a variety of characters and narratives?

  • • It is important to present kids with many types of stories, so they have ideas of how to react in situations

    • It also shows them how many opportunities are available to them, and doesn't limit their imagination of what they are capable of doing 

Ways to have conversations after reading stories:

• Be direct about what you want to address regarding the narrative

• Address any generalizations made in the story and correct them for your child

• Go over the story with your child and discuss the things that happened, the emotional responses exhibited, and how they were handled

• Ask your child their thoughts on the story and if they have any questions about what happened in the story

Chapter Authors 

Makenzie Flanagan, Micah Antick-Oslund, & Beth Brisson

References and Sources 

Lewis et al. (2022). What might books be teaching young children about gender? Psychological Science, 33(1), 33-47. 10.1177/09567976211024643 

Miller, P., Fung, H., & Koven, M. (2007). Narrative reverberations: How participation in narrative practices co-creates persons and cultures.

Reschke et al. (2025). I can relate: A four- wave examination of children's and parents' emoter- referent talk about discrete emotions. Child Development, 96, 2062–2078. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.70021

Rhodes & Mandalaywala (2017). The development and developmental consequences of social essentialism. WIREs Cognitive Science.

Salmon, K. & Reese, E. (2016). The benefits of reminiscing with young children. Psychological Science, 25(4), 233-238. 10.1177/0963721416655100

Tsai, J., Louie, J., & Chen, E. (2007). Learning what feelings to desire: Socialization of ideal affect through children’s storybooks. PSPB, 33(1). 10.1177/0146167206292749