Book-time, Literacy and Reading with Infants and Young Children

This paper, written for a Bangladeshi audience, provides advice to parents or others who are contemplating reading to infants and young children. Specifically, Kolucki notes that the purpose of these reading sessions is not, per se, to teach children to read but, rather, to instill in youngsters a love for reading and learning. The material provides concrete tips conducive to successful reading sessions, including setting aside particular times to read, involving the young child in the process of looking at and understanding the book's message, using expressive language, selecting books with interesting pictures and asking the child to evaluate these pictures, and cultivating a sensitivity to the needs of young readers (praising children when they have listened carefully, and following cues when fidgeting occurs).