Participating in storybook reading activities provides many important benefits for children.
First, it increases their motivation to learn to read because they see that reading is a fun and enjoyable activity, and they become more interested in learning how to read themselves.
Second, as they participate in the storybook interactions, they develop new words and learn new language skills.
Third, children develop an understanding of story structure: how a story has a beginning, a middle, and an end; how stories introduce and develop characters; and how to tell a story to an audience. This knowledge will be very helpful when it comes time for children to start telling and writing their own stories, and sharing their ideas with others.
Finally, storybook reading helps children become more familiar with the process of reading – handling a book, noticing printed words on a page, recognizing letters, playing with sounds, and so on.
All of the skills above (sometimes called emergent literacy skills) form the foundation for later reading and writing success.
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