Language development is dependent on a baby hearing the language of parents and caregivers. Reading aloud to your baby provides the opportunity to hear language that may be different from the language regularly spoken in your home.

Cuddling up with a picture book creates a time of shared experience that strengthens your bond. Enjoying the language and illustrations is also a pleasant way for adults to be entertained while spending time with a baby. Reading a book together can expand your own appreciation for a good story or poem.

There are lots of colorful engaging picture books to share and read with little ones.

A good education still requires students to be good readers. Exposure to printed words is the first step in learning to read. Introducing books, reading and the joy of all that words and communication have to offer can and should begin early. 

"The more you read, the more you know; and the more you know, the smarter you grow" - Jim Trelease in The Read Aloud Handbook.

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