In the revolutionary review “Becoming a Nation of Readers” of 1986, the Commission on reading stressed that reading aloud to children is “the single most important activity for building the knowledge required for success in reading.” It is important to expose children to books at a very early age, in as early as six week old. Babies this young already like to look at pictures and hear stories. Accordingly, children already start to develop an awareness of printed letters and words by the age of two or three, by seeing surrounding adults writing, reading, typing, etc. Preschoolers and toddlers are particularly eager to learn from adults reading to them and with them.
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