Picture Books In Children's Early Literacy Success

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Story time for children is vitally important in children’s early literacy success (Richgels, DJ. 2004). Reading picture books to children in a home environment from as young as infants, has been proved to influence future ‘alphabet knowledge, phonemic awareness and language ability’ (2004). Though children do not necessarily understand spoken language, the act of reading picture books aloud to children helps them to become familiar with the sounds of spoken words, to feel the vibrations of speech and to fall in love, in time, with the process of reading (Heath, SB. 1982). Rich engagement with picture books helps to spark and develop children’s imaginations whilst having benefits in terms of children’s language and literacy development. The …show more content…

By encouraging them to discuss the content of picture books children are stepping away from memorisation to consider what is taking place in the story. This level of engagement helps children to develop language comprehension skills (Hill, Susan, 2006). Through facilitated discussion of picture books children learn to make inferences about the meaning behind the stories content and the possible future actions of the characters (2006). Certain picture books are written with a clearly repetitive structure that allows for children to make inferences about what will take place next …show more content…

The experience can become a kind of tradition, a time for bonding where children are given the attention of parents or teachers and they are encouraged to give their attention in return. In his research Aram, D (2008) has found that ‘mothers who believe reading is fun have more positive interactions with their children’ therefore making reading time a highlight in the days activity and casting reading as a productive and enjoyable part of life. The ‘joint attention’ combined with facilitated discussion encourages children’s active engagement which is positive for developing their listening skills (Dickinson, D.E., etal. 2012). By requiring children to respond to questions they are encouraged to stay focused and interact with parents and teachers about the text and its meaning (2012). This ability to discuss the meaning of words and stories will assist children in further literary analysis regardless of whether they can read, proving that children can be literate before they can actually read (Heath, SB,

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