Why a book?

Children and adults love a good story. We fall in love with the characters; they become our friends while we read the book over and over again. Though it is what we remember, the story itself is not the most important part of reading to a child.

A new study from the McGill University Health Centre found that parents who read picture books to premature babies in the neo-natal intensive-care unit felt a closer bond to their offspring in that challenging environment, and were twice as likely to continue reading to the infants after they got home.

By the time babies reach their first birthday they will have learned all the sounds needed to speak their native language. The more stories you read aloud, the more words your child will be exposed to and the better he or she will be able to talk. Hearing words helps to build a rich network of words in a baby's brain. Kids whose parents frequently talk/read to them know more words by age 2 than children who have not been read to. And kids who are read to during their early years are more likely to learn to read at the right time.

Reading is the most important subject in school because you need reading to master most of the other subjects. Children, who read the most, read the best across all social levels.

Spending time reading to your baby shows that reading is a skill worth learning.

The sound of your voice is a beacon of calmness, conditioning your child to associate you and the book with security.

Babies love — and learn from — repetition, so don't be afraid of reading the same books over and over. When you do so, repeat the same emphasis each time as you would with a familiar song.

The earlier babies are exposed to reading, the better they perform in school.