Children’s literature cultivates the ability to comprehend the meaning of print text. Initially, books can help your young child understand basic conventions, such as reading text from left to right and top to bottom on a page. As your child grows, these skills will advance to understanding the grammar and structure of sentences, including how nouns and verbs work together to convey meaning, contributing to your child's ability to construct his own written and verbal sentences. Furthermore, reading can contribute to your child's overall fluency and accuracy of reading aloud, an essential skill for developing oral language abilities.
Reading books at a very young age can encourage your child's awareness of the shapes of letters and the symbols of writing, such as punctuation marks, both abstract sets of icons that she can begin to explore through her own drawings. As these writing skills develop, your child's ability to write the letters of the alphabet and understand how those letters sound can be strengthened through continued reading. Your child might also attempt to spell out words in her early phases of writing, using her developing phonemic awareness.
Children’s literature helps with your child's comprehension of phonemes, the sounds that make up words and phonics, the understanding of how a written word sounds when pronounced. Early on, this knowledge of phonemes can help your child learn new words through rhyming, for example learning how to pronounce “rat” because it rhymes with “hat." As your child's abilities progress, this phonemic awareness helps in both the identification and construction of newly encountered words, all of which can be reinforced by reading.
Reading a variety of children’s literature encourages the growth of your child's vocabulary, benefiting his oral communication. He can learn by hearing new words and then imitating them. As your child grows, reading and discussing stories together can also develop important conversational and listening skills as well as your child's critical thinking abilities. For example, you can ask your child questions about a story after reading it. These conversations can also be a crucial source of new vocabulary.