Another positive component of reading to children is the personal interaction between the teacher and the child. Educators should take time to read to each child individually. All these abilities help strengthen a child's readiness to begin school. Educators should first instill the love of books, then an interest in learning to read will follow. Infants should be introduced to books beginning as early as birth.
Babies enjoy sharing books while cuddling on a parent or provider's lap.
Even though the infant cannot understand everything that is being read to her, they are learning many words that will form the basis for language later. With time, they begin to understand that words have meaning and can be used to identify objects. The ideal books for babies age three to six months should have simple, large pictures or designs. The parent or provider can tell a story about the pictures if there are no words. This is also a good time to introduce the language of nursery rhymes.