Unlocking a World of Imagination: The Transformative Benefits of Reading to Children

Reading to your child is the most effective way of building cognitive skills in children, especially in the formative age of year 1 to year 5. Build a comfortable environment at home with books and magazines since what a child observes, they learn at an early age, and when they have a similar environment at home, they are more inclined to read.

Let children decide which books they would like to read and read them repeatedly. Suggested books are The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss, Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, and Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak for little ones, Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell, The Day the Crayons Quit by Oliver Jeffers, Gajapati Kulapati, Hook series, and many more.

For older kids, hook them on a series of books such as Harry Potter, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, The Magic Tree House, The Chronicles of Narnia, Geronimo Stilton, books by Roald Dahl, A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini, Percy Jackson books, Terry Pratchett, and so on (this list is not exhaustive).

Book series are a great way to get kids hooked on storylines and characters. Books teach your child about relationships and situations, and help the child distinguish what is right and wrong. Reading helps your child to learn sounds, words, language, and good literacy skills, and can help exercise logic and basic speaking skills when starting off reading to a toddler. Take them out to bookstores and toy stores.

Reading aloud also encourages kids to read on their own, increases a kid's vocabulary, and helps them discover new words. Start them young – when kids see adults excited about reading, they will also develop an affinity for books, and this habit will see them through their adult years. Reading for about 20 to 30 minutes daily with kids will reap benefits for the years to come; they will hear 1.8 million words per year and it will help them score better at school as well.

Written by Jeaza Durawalla, with over two decades of experience in book publishing and retail.