The Benefits of Book Sharing

Language and Brain Development

Interactions with adults and the world are the building blocks for language, reading and writing development and reading success in school. Hearing and using language contributes to brain development.

• From the very first moments children are learning language in their homes and in their
interactions with the adults around them.
• Children use language to function successfully in the world. Language includes listening
and speaking.

Learning and being able to use many different words (vocabulary) helps students succeed in school. Book sharing introduces children to new and different words.

• The more words a child hears the more words he or she will learn and use.
• Children who know more words are often able to think more deeply.
• Children who know more words can express themselves better.
• Children who know more words learn new things more quickly, including more new words.

A person who knows a word understands what the word means. Hearing a word used in a story is a first step to understanding what the word means.

The Benefits of Book Sharing

Book sharing is a way to help children learn and make them want to read. Book sharing can build:

• Knowledge about language.
• Knowledge of the world and how it works.
• Knowledge of how to read and understand books.

Book sharing has many benefits, which include the following:

• It is a way to surround children with language and introduce them to the words in print.
• Exposure to book sharing exercises a child’s brain. It gets the brain working and growing.
• Book sharing introduces children to new ways of talking about the world.
• It also introduces children to the parts of stories (e.g., beginning, middle, end; stories have characters; stories happen in special places).
• A person who knows a word can use the word to talk about ideas. Talking about ideas in a book after you share it with your child is a way for him or her to practice learning and using new words.