Reading aloud with your child has a multitude of benefits. As you deepen the parent-child bond, you are also preparing your child\u2019s mind for language, literacy, and comprehension, and fostering social-emotional awareness<\/a>. You, the parent, and the characters on the page become models for your child in the wider world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And kids look forward to read-aloud time! According to the latest edition of Scholastic\u2019s Kids & Family Reading Report<\/a>, 87% of children ages 6 to 11 say they love being read to, while 71% of parents agree read-aloud time is a \u201cspecial time.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n For young and very young readers, read-alouds are often the earliest form of interaction with physical books. That\u2019s a big first impression to make! As a parent, you may feel overwhelmed by considerations when choosing a read-aloud book, whether it\u2019s the book\u2019s size or how the text appears on the page. Worry not: Your child will pick up on different aspects of a book as they grow. The most important thing right now is that you are setting aside time to enjoy reading together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you\u2019re just reading a read-aloud book for enjoyment, the purpose of the reading isn\u2019t for the child to read the text on the page,\u201d says Nancy Garrity, senior director of early childhood at Scholastic Education. \u201cTraditionally, read-alouds are written for enjoyment with no particular attention to the decodability of the words. They\u2019re meant to develop content knowledge, and print and book awareness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are six tips from Garrity for choosing the best read-alouds for your child<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. Choose concept books for those readers just starting out.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n ABC books<\/a> and those with images that teach colours, counting, and size differences (like big versus small) are all great choices when children are very young (ages 0 to 3) and making their earliest associations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen you do read-alouds<\/a>, children are learning that letters and words are representations of sound and spoken language,\u201d says Garrity. \u201cThis is critical for the development of their literacy skills.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Don\u2019t worry about novel text layout or design<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead, what\u2019s important is that you point to the text as you read. Garrity recommends tracking the text with your finger as you read, which helps your child learn the difference between words and pictures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSometimes young kids have a hard time distinguishing which are the words and which are the illustrations,\u201d Garrity says. \u201cJust point to them, and enjoy them. Any text is fine \u2014 just point to it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you do come across text in different sizes or layouts, you can discuss the reasoning behind the author\u2019s design choices \u2014 or incorporate it into your oration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTalk about why the author made the words that way,\u201d she suggests. \u201cFor example, \u2018I\u2019m going to use my louder voice here because the letters are getting bigger.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Making these author-reader connections is relevant as your child begins to recognize patterns, name familiar things, and develop a range of emotions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt transfers in so many ways, just knowing that a person wrote the book \u2014 so that we would enjoy it, learn from it, be comforted by it,\u201d Garrity says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Look for rhyme and repetition, which pave the way for language and spelling skills.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Books featuring rhymes<\/a> help with a child\u2019s phonological development, when they are connecting sounds to words. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cReally hearing those individual sounds makes a difference,\u201d says Garrity. \u201cIt will help later, when children are learning to connect sounds to spellings.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Garrity also recommends books with a particular phrase or sentence that repeats throughout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnything that makes a child feel like a reader before they\u2019re able to read is awesome,\u201d she says. \u201cParticularly when a parent and child are sharing the experience together. Then reading feels more collaborative.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. Consider your child\u2019s motor skills when choosing physical book elements, like page thickness.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n An introduction to books means handling the physical objects themselves for the first time. In addition to modelling how to hold a book, you might consider a variety of book formats that engage or align with your child\u2019s fine motor skills. Board books<\/a> (books with very thick pages), \u201clift the flap\u201d books, and books with textural elements all encourage interaction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf your child is just starting to develop their fine motor skills, board books and \u201clift the flap\u201d books are great,\u201d Garrity says. \u201cThey\u2019re also great for parents who are in control of the book but want the child to be able to interact in some way. Parents scaffold the experience by holding the book but allow the child to interact with the flaps or textures.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. Choose a book size that fits your reading dynamic.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere\u2019s something to be said for snuggling in your parent\u2019s lap as they\u2019re holding a giant book,\u201d Garitty says. \u201cThat\u2019s fun for a child.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you\u2019re ready to swap roles and let your child take charge of holding the book \u2014 \u201csharing the experience with you,\u201d as Garrity puts it \u2014 you may need a smaller book they can manage more easily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor a very young child, it\u2019s hard for them to hold the book and turn the pages,\u201d she says. \u201cSometimes it\u2019s easier if you sit together at a table and lay the book on the table, and turn the pages that way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6. Pick a topic that\u2019s interesting to them \u2014 and strike up a \u201cconversational duet.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n