It is never too early to start – some parents start as early as pregnancy. Reading to your baby is not only a wonderful opportunity to bond, but it’s also an impactful way to help them build early pre-literacy skills, including a robust vocabulary, communication and listening skills and even develop a lifelong love of reading.

So how do you start raising a reader?

Reading to newborns

Parents, especially First-timers probably feel like their baby is too tiny to understand books at this age. But it is in fact a great bonding experience as your little one will enjoy your company and the sound of your voice. It will help your little one to build a positive relationship with books. The different rhythms and sounds while you read engages all their senses, stimulates and develops their hearing.

Reading to 3 – 6 month old babies

Curling up together with a soothing story can be a wonderfully calming addition to your baby’s bedtime routine, and your little one will soon associate reading with feelings of happiness. At this point, your little one is also at the age where they start putting everything in their mouth. It is important to invest in more durable options like board books for the overall sensory experience. Though they have short attention spans, bold illustrations can help.

Reading to 6 – 9 month old babies

Voice modulation and animated narrations of short simple stories will keep your little one engaged. For when you don’t feel up to the task, books with more interactive features like textures, sounds, mirrors and liftable flaps are perfect to keep them entertained.  Your baby will start to take a more active role in story time like grabbing or patting the books, they might even communicate with you by cooing, babbling and smiling.

Reading to 9 – 12 month old babies

Your little one may prefer or seem to recognize certain stories or pictures. They will also want to hold books and try to turn pages. It is time to involve them more in the reading process. You can ask them to point to different objects in the book or make sounds of objects or animals. This helps them to associate words with their meanings even before they speak.

Children who start reading with parents as babies have faster language development and long-term cognitive benefits. Starting early promotes later literacy and helps develop fine-motor skills and tactile discrimination. Each time your baby interacts with a book, there’s a ton of sensory exploration, joint attention and a world of developmental engagement that happens even from the earliest stages of life.

An age-wise guide for what kind of books your can choose for your little one