Reading & storytelling with babies & children: benefits & tips

Why is reading important for babies and children?

Reading books, sharing stories, talking and singing every day is good your child’s development in many ways.

Benefits of reading for your child

Helps your child get to know sounds, words and language
Lays the foundation for early literacy skills
Introduces your child to the value of books and stories
Sparks your child’s imagination and curiosity
Promotes your child’s brain development and ability to focus and concentrate
Promotes your child’s social, communication and emotional skills
Helps your child learn about the world, their own culture and other cultures
Supports your child’s mental health

Benefits of reading for you

Reading stories with your child has benefits for you too. The special time you spend reading together promotes bonding and builds your relationship with your child.

When should you start reading with your child?

You can start reading aloud to your child as early as you like – the earlier the better. For example, many parents find that reading to their newborns can be an enjoyable and calming experience.

When should you stop reading with your child?

You can keep reading with your child for as long as you both enjoy it. Reading together benefits children from birth to adolescence. Reading to older children helps build a life-long love of reading.

When is the best time to read with your child?

Bedtime, bath time, potty time, on the train, on the bus, in the car, in the park, in the pram, in the cot, when you’re in the GP’s waiting room ... anytime is a good time for a story!

You can have books with you to share and enjoy everywhere. And if you don’t have a book or can’t make up a story on the spot, don’t worry. There are many ways you and your child can share letters, words and pictures.

For example, you can look at:

packages at home or in the supermarket, especially food packaging
clothing – what does it say on the t-shirt? What colour is it?
letters and notes – what do they say? Who sent them?
signs or posters in shops or on buses and trains – point out signs that have the same letters as your child’s name
menus – it can be fun for older children to look at menus and work out what they want to eat.

What if your child isn’t enjoying the book or story? Pay attention to your child’s reaction to the story, and stop if your child isn’t enjoying it. You can always try a different book, song or story another time.

Tips for sharing books with your child

Make books part of your daily routine. For example, you and your child might read together after dinner every night.
Try to share at least one book every day. It’s OK if your child doesn’t always want to finish the book. As children grow, they can usually listen for longer.
Create a comfortable, quiet reading space. It could have a box of books and something soft to sit on. And it’s good to avoid the TV, radio, phones and other noisy distractions if you can.
Hold your child close or on your knee while you read, so your child can see your face and the book.
Use gestures, facial expressions, funny voices, noises and so on. This can get your child interested and help them learn the meaning of words. It’s also fun!
Encourage your child to talk about the pictures and repeat familiar words and phrases.
Make connections between your child’s life and the book. For example, ‘That little boy is playing in the sand. You like to play in the sand, don’t you?’
Let your child choose the books when they’re old enough to start asking – and be prepared to read favourite books over and over again!

If you have older children, they can share books with your younger children, or you can all read together. Taking turns, asking questions and listening to the answers are all important skills that will help children when they start learning how to read.

Which books are good to read with children?

Young children often enjoy books, songs and stories that have good rhyme, rhythm and repetition. In fact, one of the ways that children learn is through repetition and rhyme.

Children also like books they can relate to – for example, books about play, toys, dinner, bath time, walks, animals and cars.

It’s also important to choose books that are the right length for your child.

For a guide to what might suit your child, you can look at the following articles:

You can also vary the books and printed materials you read. Picture books, ebooks, magazines, instruction manuals, TV guides and letters can all be interesting and engaging for your child.

If your older child is interested in ebooks, look for ones without distracting games or animations. Also, it’s important to read ebooks with your child, rather than leaving your child alone with a device. It’s best if ebooks don’t replace paper books.

If you want to try new books or magazines without much cost, you could arrange book swaps with friends or other parents at your parent group or early childhood centre.

How your local library can help your child with reading

You can borrow great children’s books for free from your local library. This means you can have plenty of books in your home for your child to explore – and it won’t cost you a cent.

Taking your child to the library and letting them choose their own books can be a fun adventure. You can talk about and plan your trip to the library with your child. You could ask your child, for example:

How many books will you choose?
How many books can you find by your favourite author?
Will you borrow books that have animals in them?
Do you have a favourite book you’d like to borrow again?
How many days will it be before we go to the library again?

Many libraries also offer free story times and activities for young children. Going along to these sessions is a way to help your child get familiar with the library, have fun, and enjoy books and stories. Some libraries offer these sessions online.

Libraries often have audio books, dual-language books, ebooks and magazines.

Just contact your local library for more information.

How storytelling, songs and rhymes can be part of reading and literacy for children

Storytelling, songs and rhymes are a great way to share stories with your child and build their early literacy skills.

Storytelling can start with books, but it doesn’t have to involve reading. For example, you can be a model for using language and books just by looking at pictures and talking about them with your child. Your child will also learn by watching you hold a book the right way and seeing how you move through the book by gently turning the pages.

And sometimes stories don’t need books at all. You and your child might like to make up your own stories or share family stories. Your child will learn words and develop language and literacy skills from the songs, stories and conversations you share together.

Sometimes your child might enjoy storytelling, songs and rhymes more than reading.

Check out our storytelling videos. Let storyteller Anne E. Stewart introduce you and your child to ‘Mook Mook the owl’, ‘The crocodile’ and ‘The old lady and the mosquito’.

Can you read with your child in more than one language?

You can read, sing and tell stories with your child in whatever language you feel most comfortable speaking.

Using a language you’re comfortable with helps you to communicate more easily. It also helps to make reading, singing and storytelling more fun for you and your child. Your child will still learn that words are made up of different letters, syllables and sounds, and that words usually link to the pictures on the page. And reading to your child in your home language can build their fluency in multiple languages.

If you speak languages other than English at home but want to introduce your child to reading in English, you can look for dual-language books. Or you could read a book aloud in English or listen to an audio book in English and then talk about the story with your child in whatever language feels most comfortable.