Developing an early love of reading

The first week of November this year marks National Children's Book Week, the nation's oldest and most celebrated literacy initiative. Reading with young children creates cherished memories and encourages the development of foundational literacy and language skills.

In recognition of the week, University of Delaware experts in the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) share guidance on fostering early literacy, selecting books, using digital tools and more.

Fostering language and literacy skills

Parents and caregivers may be surprised to learn that they are already engaging in one of the most impactful activities for fostering early literacy: talking with their children. Literacy and child development experts encourage adults to talk with children from the time they are infants.

"One of the most important things for children as soon as they're born is to start hearing language," said Rebecca Joella, professional development coordinator in CEHD's Delaware Institute for Excellence in Early Childhood (DIEEC). "It sounds a little odd to say 'Talk to your newborn,' because you're not having those back-and-forth conversations. But throughout your day, at the grocery store, for example, you can talk to them: 'What kind of apples do you think we should buy? We have two different colored apples here. I think we should buy the red ones. Do you think we should buy the green ones?' In doing this, you're already building vocabulary and comprehension skills."

Developing an early love of reading

Martha Buell, professor in CEHD's Department of Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS) and UD vice provost for faculty affairs, also encourages parents and caregivers to model a love of reading without making reading feel like a chore.

"Children need to learn that coding and decoding messages leads to knowledge, joy and power, so modeling a love of reading and writing is helpful," Buell said. "Children love the illustrations in a book, so parents can talk about the illustrations as they're reading. Children also love rhymes and rhythms, so singing and dancing with children also leads to a love of reading, especially if the book is a retelling of a song that the child enjoys, like 'The Itsy Bitsy Spider.'"

With expertise in early literacy and early childhood education for infants and toddlers, Buell also keenly understands how difficult it can be for a toddler to "sit still" during shared reading. She suggests that parents and caregivers follow their child's lead and incorporate language-rich activities into play or physical activities.

"Toddlers are called toddlers because their defining characteristic is that they are moving," Buell said. "If a child does not want to sit and listen to a book, don't try to make them sit and listen to a book. Maybe they would rather sing a song and act out the words or motions. Maybe they would like to look at pictures on a wall and talk about those. Maybe they would like to go on a walk and talk about the things you see. "

Selecting books for children

While all forms of talking, singing and reading benefit a child's early literacy development, parents, caregivers and teachers can make informed decisions about books that introduce a range of developmentally appropriate ideas, people and places to their children and students.

Myae Han, HDFS professor and the 2024 recipient of the International Play Association's Doctor of Play Award, specializes in the relationship between play and early literacy development as well as early childhood education that serves culturally and linguistically diverse children. Han teaches early childhood education undergraduates to evaluate and critically select high-quality children's books.

"Parents and teachers need to choose books carefully, especially those that are bias-free in terms of gender, race and ability," Han said. "Children are vulnerable to the images they see in books as the books can shape their first perceptions of society. When selecting books, adults should first look at the pictures to see if they convey appropriate and accurate messages, then read the text to ensure the pictures and story align well."

Han also encourages parents and caregivers to consider a child's interests, whether that be modes of transportation, animals, dinosaurs or even informational books. Some recent examples of her students' book selections include If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff, Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Pena, and Not Quite Narwhal by Jessie Sima.