As a speech language pathologist, I know all too well how important it is to read to, and with your child from an early age. But now, as a first-time mom I actually get to practice what I have been teaching all these years.

People laughed when I read to my six-week-old baby. Nonetheless, I could tell she was enjoying it; her eyes turned to my face and a slight smile appeared on her lips as I read to her. Did she understand the story? Did she understand the words? No, but basic listening skills were quickly developing; skills that are of utmost importance for children who are learning to read. I can't even begin to describe how delighted I was, when I realized that, after reading Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes for the gazillionth time, my five-month-old knew when to turn the page by simply “listening” to the story.

Young children don’t have a very long attention span, which explains why Baby's First Words books don’t have many pages and will seldom have more than a few words per page. The emphasis will most often lie on colour and image. The child’s attention for the book is initially caught visually. It is important however, to add words and phrases to these pictures to help your child develop language.

A child can only develop language if he or she is exposed to it. To most parents, it comes very naturally to interact with their newborns. Parents usually talk in a comforting tone when the child's crying, they sing to help him go to sleep, or make silly sounds to elicit that oh-so-adorable smile. A child's language will normally evolve with age and exposure. Language exposure however, depends significantly on the child's environment. For instance, a child who is born and raised in the city of Montreal, will most likely not encounter any farm animals, at least not on a regular basis; nor will a child raised on a farm in Chicoutimi, encounter a "Bixi-bike". One advantage of reading to your child at an early age is that you can enrich his/her vocabulary –vocabulary he/she is unlikely to encounter in everyday life. At the same time, you expose your child to different sentence structures and story lines, which is also beneficial for language development.

Early exposure to books will help set a foundation for reading success in the future. Make time to read so you can set an example to your child. Daily book time will turn reading into a part of your routine and your child as well.

Once a child's interest and curiosity have been aroused, parents can start building a stronger reading foundation, well before the child enters kindergarten. I am often asked by parents if reading a few bedtime stories every night is enough. As a busy mom and speech language pathologist, I would say it's a good start, but so much more can be done.

As you noticed in my introduction, I don’t just talk about reading to your child, but also with your child. I often tell parents in my school that I’d rather have them peruse one short book per night, than reading quickly through three books, just for the sake of filling up that “often dreaded” reading log. In my opinion, it would be much better to record time in a reading log, and not necessarily the amount of books that were read. But what do I mean by, "peruse a book?" Start by choosing a shorter story, but spending extra time on the content of the story. This will help your child better understand the story and build reading comprehension skills. Ask questions like; "Who ate baby bear's porridge?", "What happened to baby bear's chair?", "What do you think will happen next?", or "What part of the story did you like the best?" You could also draw your child's attention to the words in the story by pointing at them as you read and this will help him/her understand that the symbols on the page (the letters) have a meaning. By doing this, you will be helping your child develop important pre-reading skills. It is important to create opportunities for your child to personally relate to and connect with the characters in the story. This can be done, by asking questions like "How do you think baby bear felt when he saw that his chair was broken?", or "What would you do if someone was sleeping in your bed?", and "How would you feel if someone ate your breakfast?"

Show your children that there is vast reading material besides the books on your bookshelf. This will encourage their interest in reading. Read through an old family recipe together while baking those delicious holiday cookies. Illustrate to your child the manual of the bicycle you are trying to put together, and explain that reading it will help you build the bicycle faster. Direct your child's attention to words you see in everyday life; words on billboards, words on milk cartons and cereal boxes.

Another question I frequently hear from parents is; "What books should I read to my child?" The answer is simple; Read whatever your child is interested in! If you are the parent of an active four-year-old boy, chances are that he won't sit for a Cinderella story. But take out that Bulldozers and Diggers book, and you will have his undivided attention for the next fifteen minutes. Each child is different, but it won't take long to figure out what your child's interests are. In general, girls tend to enjoy stories more than boys, whereas boys tend to enjoy factual books more. Younger children enjoy nursery rhymes as they are short and sweet, but did you know that exposing your child to nursery rhymes on a regular basis was found to be very beneficial for future literacy skills? What to do however, if you have a toddler and a grade 1 student who want to be read to at the same time? Young children won't always have the attention span to listen to a full story, but they might enjoy looking at the illustrations and being in charge of turning the pages. Older children on the other hand can be encouraged to "read" to their younger siblings.

Once your child enters kindergarten and grade 1, the question becomes; "What should my child read?" Part of the answer remains the same. Read whatever your child is interested in. However, we now need to find reading material that fits your child's reading level. Many schools, libraries, and bookstores have a large variety of levelled readers to suit everybody's needs and interests. Levelled readers are written specifically to match your child's reading level. It is important to note, that there are levelled readers which were specifically developed for children who struggle with reading. These will allow the child to read at his or her own level but about an age-appropriate topic. In school, the emphasis will be on your child reading by himself and less on you reading to your child. Nevertheless, I would like to emphasize that continuing to read to your child is of great importance for your child's language and further reading development. Reading should continue to be a part of your daily routine. Bedtime stories should not be replaced by the school's reading homework.

A last question I would like to address is a concern that many parents have; "My child only wants to read that book, and nothing else!" Children, especially the younger ones, enjoy and benefit from repetition, whereas for a parent the words from The Very Hungry Caterpillar start to sound like a broken record. A child just can’t get enough of that forever hungry little monster. It is important to expose your child to a variety of books, but if at bedtime that hungry monster is pulled out of the closet once again, remember that it doesn't matter what you read, but that you read!!