Read to your kids on Day One!

When I do booksignings at fairs and other events, I find something interesting happens when I try to pitch my books for younger children to parents who are strolling by with a child who is one, two or three years old. Too often they say something along the lines of, "Oh, he/she is too young for books!"

I, of course, smile and respond that kids are never too young to be read to. Sadly, I usually don't convince *those* parents. Fortunately, grandparents often stop by and get books for their grandkids. I have books that aunts, uncles and grandparents gave to me when I was just a baby, then a toddler, and so on as I grew up. I loved those books back then and I love them now.

The more words babies hear, the more language they will develop. The more young children read, the more they will learn correct spelling, grammar, etc. Now, I confess, I didn't start reading to my daughter on Day One. We were both too exhausted. :) But I started soon after that. She loved listening to me and gazing at the colors in the pictures. She loved being read to so much, that my husband and I kept reading to her until she was ten, even though she'd been reading herself well before that.

Reading to your children establishes literacy as a priority at home and at school. Reading is one of the best (and most fun) things parents can do for their children.