“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you’ll go.” – Dr. Seuss

Graduation Season. This is the time of year when students look forward with hope to an exciting and successful future. But, as graduates are looking forward, most of their parents are looking back and wondering where the time went. Wasn’t this graduate just a baby only a short time ago?

Parents and caregivers want the best future possible for their children. Increasingly, we are learning that the first days, months and years of a child’s life have a huge impact on their future success. Fortunately, one of the most important things parents can do for their baby’s development is incredibly simple: Read.

The first year of life is an extraordinary time for brain development and numerous studies have shown that reading to a baby has huge brain development benefits. Research also shows that babies who are read to in the first nine months of their lives are better prepared for school than babies who had little interaction with books.

You may be asking yourself, “Won’t the baby just chew on the book or throw it?” While that may be the case at first, all of the ways that babies explore books are beneficial. It is not even important whether you can finish the story just hearing your voice, seeing the pictures, and associating books with a positive experience will help the child take steps on the road to literacy.

Some of the benefits of reading aloud to infants and toddlers include:

Learning about communication and language

Development of listening, memory and vocabulary skills

Introduction of concepts such as numbers, colors and shapes

Developing a close relationship between reader and child

The importance of early literacy and reading in the lives of babies and children is one reason that the Kendall Young Library and the Friends of the Library have developed the Books for Babies program in partnership with Van Diest Medical Center. Through this program, each child born at VDMC will receive a book of nursery rhymes, a cute book bag and tips or to encourage parents to read to their children from the beginning. We are thrilled for the opportunity to participate in this exciting time in a family’s life.

Spending time reading to a child shows them that reading is a skill worth learning. So next time you have some down time with the child in your life, grab a book and cozy up for some reading-you’ll be helping them succeed for the rest of their lives.