Once upon a time… These are probably the words we have heard the most since we were children to get into the world of books. The formula ‘Once upon a time’ takes us back to the beginning of fairy tales, those realistic and at the same time magical stories that took us to other worlds and made us fly high, but always accompanied.
Classic tales like Little Red Riding Hood, Tom Thumb or The Three Little Pigs entertained us and at the same time helped us to understand the emotions and rules that govern our society. On the other hand, worldwide youth sagas, such as Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling or Memorias de Idhún by Laura Gallego in Spain show the interest of young people in reading.
Reading is a fundamental part of the cognitive and emotional development of children, so today, April 2, International Children’s and Young People’s Book Day, we want to vindicate reading by answering some practical questions and helping parents to encourage their children to dive into books.
At what age is it recommended to start reading?
According to the Spanish Association of Primary Care Pediatrics (AEPap), the earlier a child is exposed to reading, the better the child’s language ability and reading skills. In addition, dedicating that time to your child strengthens your bond with him and, undoubtedly, will help him to have a good development of the emotional aspects.
The main benefits of reading for the little ones are:
- It encourages creativity (stimulates the imagination).
- Helps graphic-verbal recognition (relates graphemes with phonemes).
- Broadens the lexicon (adoption of new words).
- Encourages a taste for reading.
It is also a way of transmitting our values and culture.
when giving a book as a gift, the age and preferences of the child must be taken into account.
What should we take into account when giving a book to a child?
The wide variety of children’s books on the market makes it difficult to choose a book to give to a child. Here are some tips to keep in mind when choosing one:
- Age: one of the determining factors is the age of the child to whom we are going to give the book. That is why there are books with different levels of difficulty adapted to the various stages of maturity of the child: with large simple drawings, basic colors and no text; with more complicated images, accompanied by simple words or phrases; with narratives of a certain complexity… For example, for the youngest children, books with textures, sounds or tabs are perfect, as they allow them to interact in a more direct way with the books; and as they grow up, illustrated stories are the undisputed kings, as they allow the relationship between the adult and the child to be maintained and the stories will be the support for the transmission of social and cultural values.
- Personal interests of the child: as much as we would like the child to be interested in something, we must take into account his or her preferences: he or she likes animal stories, fantasy, adventures and mystery…
- What do we want them to learn: books for young children are focused on improving their development and learning, so you have to think about what you want to transmit: the values of friendship, love for nature, making them learn about other places and cultures, improving their control of their emotions…
- Book format: there are many options of books to captivate children, from classic illustrated stories to pop-up books or graphic novels.
What can we do to awaken our children’s interest in reading?
Among the tricks to get children interested in reading, the best option is to start reading them stories very early and keep a regular date with the child and reading. The best time is at night, before they go to sleep.
Other tips to get our children hooked on reading:
- Leading by example: children learn by imitation and watching adults read can feed their curiosity.
- Do not cut the narrative: children need to know the beginning, development and end of the story to understand the structure.
- Encourage the conversation that the story provokes.
- Convey enthusiasm when reading: a story read with a certain theatricality captures the child’s attention (voice changes, gestures…).
- Let the children manipulate the stories: let them leaf through them, investigate, look at the illustrations, comment on what they see…
- Rhymes, riddles and tongue twisters are very musical and entertaining.
- The selection of books is extremely important: illustrations, themes, role…. but fundamentally that they are age-appropriate.
Source: Federación del Gremio de editores de España
Is it advisable for them to read ebooks?
The digital era is also having an impact on books. The fight between the physical book and the ebook has been going on for some time now and the reality is that ebooks are another support for adult readers, but the case of children is complex and there are opinions for and against.
The concern of many parents and teachers is that the new technologies, present in children’s lives at increasingly younger ages, cause them to become addicted to the digital screen and a false appearance that they are reading. For this reason, many think that it is better for children to start reading on paper rather than digitally. One of the essential arguments in support of reading on paper at an early age is the one put forward by Perri Klass, pediatrician and director of the Reach Out and Read program, who wrote an article in The New York Times in which she defended the importance of paper books over digital books in those first contacts with literature, not because of the format itself, but because of the deterioration in the connection between parents and children.
On the other hand, others are in favor of ebook reading, but more focused on young people, as they think that young people feel more comfortable with technology and it can help to hook many of those reluctant young readers and allow them, perhaps in time, to make the leap to other types of reading. The reality is that in Spain 30.3% of the population aged 14 and over already read books in digital format at least once a quarter, according to the 2020 study on Reading Habits and Book Purchasing in Spain, prepared by the Spanish Publishers’ Guild Federation.
In addition, another factor to take into account when betting on digital format is the case of young children with language difficulties or delays, since this type of support reinforces the connection between image and word, allowing to integrate information more easily, but at the same time can cause cognitive overload and deterioration of the bond between parents and children.