There's a lot to love and learn when a new book lands in your child’s hands.
Reading and storytelling are fantastic for a child's development, and over the holidays, a good book will excite and entertain young kids long after Santa has left the building.
With this in mind, here are 5 reasons to give your child a book (or two) this Christmas.
Books add a personal touch
Every child is different, and whether your tiny tot likes to lift the flaps or your middle grader is mad about dragons, there’s a book out there that suits their age, reading abilty and interests perfectly.
A well-matched book will encourage a love of reading, and as a parent, you show how much you care by choosing a book you know they’ll love. Teaching your kids to love reading will have a profound impact on their life.
Generally speaking, titles with popular characters, sight words, beautiful illustrations, imaginative plots and/or a sprinkling of humour will be well-received, and online book round-ups and local booksellers can help you find the right book for your child.
Treasured books
When we think of heirlooms, we often think of jewellery, but a special book (or a whole box set) is a beautiful thing to pass down from generation to generation. Books given at a young age can be treasured forever.
If you still have some Beatrix Potter or Dr Seuss books from your childhood, you’ll know how nice it is to revisit your favourites and share them with your own child. And if you don’t have many (or any) books from your past, this Christmas might be the time to invest in some new classics and keep them in the family.
Screen-free entertainment
After the initial excitement of present-opening and lunch-munching, Christmas Day can feel long for little people (and parents), and a book is perfect to keep your child busy, yet quiet.
Activity books are a great go-to for younger children, graphic novels are engaging for reluctant readers, and book series will keep older children busy until well into the New Year.
Books bring people together
Siblings, parents, grandparents and other family and friends can all share in a good book, whether in person or via video, and there’s much to be gained when you cuddle up with your child for storytime.
Raising Children explains that reading stories and storytelling:
- Supports your young child’s early literacy skills including listening skills and comprehension
- Helps children learn new words
- Sparks imagination and curiosity
- Helps children make sense of different events, emotions and cultures, and
- Builds their social skills, communication skills, concentration powers and critical thinking skills.
Listening to your older child reading aloud to you is also a brilliant way to connect with them, offer praise and encouragement, and share a great story in the written word. Allowing children to read words on their own promotes their language development and improves their reading comprehension.
There are also books covering big issues - like climate change and equality, and these stories can be used for kickstarting and teaching kids important conversations for them to consider the world more deeply.
According to the National Reading Panel Report, the more adults read aloud to children, the more you can help a child learn to learn letter sounds and recognize words much easier. As a matter of fact, just a few months of reading aloud can improve your child's brain development and literacy with spoken words. Decades of studies also suggest that explicit phonics instruction is beneficial for beginning readers, especially those early childhood struggling readers, or young primary school readers who are having difficulty.
Books are great value
A quality children’s book brings priceless benefits to your family, but the item itself isn’t costly. A favourite book will be read and re-read, handed down and passed around, and if you’re looking for an affordable gift for other people’s kids, a book is always a winning idea.
If your extended family isn’t spending Christmas together this year, books for your young nieces and nephews can be sent by snail mail without a risk of breakage, and all in all, a book is a beautiful thing that will bring pleasure on December 25 and beyond.
Starting your child's reading process at an early age gives them the background knowledge for understanding what they see, hear, and read. It boosts their brain development to make sense of the world around them.
Independent reading also improves language skills, phonemic awareness and phonics skills and more importantly, encourages a child's imagination. Engaging young children in the written language is how skilled readers learn to read.
