5 reasons to read picture books for your children

The first memories I have of reading include the soft cadence of my mother's voice, my father's hugs and personifications. Again and again I chose the same books. Sometimes they read me and other times I invent my own versions of the stories.

When I became the father of three wonderful children, I started reading for them the day they were born. My desire was to create the same love of reading I had and create a family with a keen book culture.

1. Language Learning
Illustrated books introduce the world of words both verbally and visually. Reading aloud to our children helps distinguish that speech is made up of different individual sounds and that these sounds have meaning. When I read a toddler, I always point to all colors, shapes, animals, objects and numbers. Not only do images help to sense these patterns, but the combination of images and stories that work together shares stories told both in pictures and in words. Often, when a child begins to tell their own stories, they first draw the picture and then add words.

When a child learns their language from birth, picture books help learn the sound of words and speech patterns. As our children develop and grow, reading develops neurovia in their brains.

2. Develop motor skills

When reading illustrated books, the child has the real task of keeping the book. As you turn the page, our children are encouraged to have a direct interaction with the story for the next part. As you read, it is important to iron under the words. This helps to learn reading from left to right and how words flow on the page. While we point out the words in an illustrated book, it also helps train our eyes to follow the words. How often do we see a toddler holding a book and pointing out the words while "pretending" to read? Although they imitate us, it is an important pattern that must be developed in order to be able to read independently later.

3. Fantasy Stimulator
Ready to go for a walk? The books open imaginary worlds for our children and allow us to explore them together. The books also teach us how to interact with each other and with the world around us, whether imaginary or real. Many times after reading a story I have seen my children go into "fantasy mode" and recreate in the same way as the world we visited in our books. Children first live in their imagination and then come to real-life situations. The more we can inspire the imaginative game, the more likely it is to develop problem-solving skills for different situations.

4. Developing close relationships
More than the love of books, I think I started reading for my children based on my wonderful memories of reading with my family as I grew up. Being in a relaxed place, in a familiar place, reading illustrated books helps link reading to joy. One of the main parts of raising active readers is that reading time is pleasant. Creating a book culture in your home by setting a reading time each day gives your child or children something to expect every day. This is the special moment they share. During our reading time, all interference is deactivated or stored. We have a special place that our family gathers to read every day. Each book read joins the catalog of experiences and family memories. My children often ask me to read the same book again and again. Although we as parents can get tired of the same story, reading the same book several times helps your memories. These times of curling with a good book plant the seeds of love to read for life.

5. Developing attention spans

When we started reading illustrated books, we chose very short books, and gradually we moved towards longer books. By reading for extended periods, our children developed their attention and were able to follow longer stories. One important thing to remember is that when we start reading for our children, they are completely dependent on us for storytelling. They quickly gain the ability to point objects in images and move toward more storytelling details. Illustrated books are the journey between dependent reading and independent reading. As we increase our reading time, we challenge them to become independent readers.