Effects of shared parent–infant book reading on early language acquisition. <...> Home Reading Environment and Brain Activation in Preschool Children. <...> Needlman R, Silverstein M. Pediatric interventions to support reading aloud: how good is the evidence? <...> TO ENCOURAGE KIDS’ HEALTH, PEDIATRICIANS ADD READING TO ESSENTIAL CHECK-UP LIST The nation’s largest pediatricians group is now formally urging parents to read aloud to their children daily from infancy. <...> The American Academy of Pediatrics says doing so stimulates early brain development and helps build key language, literacy and social skills. <...> You may wonder about the benefits of reading to your baby. <...> An infant won’t understand everything you’re doing or why. <...> Nor would you bypass lullabies until your baby could carry a tune or wait until he or she could shake a rattle before you offered any toys. <...> Reading aloud to your baby is a wonderful shared activity you can continue for years to come — and it’s an important form of stimulation. <...> Reading aloud: • teaches a baby about communication • introduces concepts such as numbers, letters, colors, and shapes in a fun way • builds listening, memory, and vocabulary skills • gives babies information about the world around them Believe it or not, by the time babies reach their first birthday they will have learned all the sounds needed to speak their native language. <...> The more stories you read aloud, the more words your child will be exposed to and the better he or she will be able to talk. <...> Hearing words helps to build a rich network of words in a baby’s brain. <...> When you read, your child hears you using many different emotions and expressive sounds, which fosters social and emotional development. <...> Reading also invites your baby to look, point, touch, and answer questions — all of which promote social development and thinking skills. <...> Spending time reading to your baby shows that reading is a skill worth learning. <...> Different Ages, Different Stages Young babies may not know <...>