Every night growing up my mother would tuck me into bed, read me a bedtime story, and finish the night by saying a prayer together. I would get to choose any book from our bookshelf for her to read to me, and we would discuss the story. Looking back on my childhood, I cherish the story nights spent with my mother and reflect on the bonding aspects that reading together brought us. Reading with your child can provide a unique opportunity to connect on a deeper level. It fosters a love for literature, sparks the imagination, and opens the dialogue to important conversations about life, emotions, and values.
The magic of my story nights wasn’t just about the books themselves but also the comfort of our shared experience and the conversations that came with each story. As I grew up, I realized that these bedtime stories were more than just a fun end to the night. They were the foundation of communication and understanding that shaped our relationship. Through those conversations, I felt truly seen and heard, and it instilled in me a lifelong love for reading, a gift I think many families would experience by reading together regularly.
Early Childhood Reading
Reading with your child in their early, formative years is crucial for their emotional and educational development and can help foster a parent-child bond unlike any other. The lessons taken from various stories could introduce young children to different emotions they may not have previously been able to place. Introducing a wide array of stories to children can help teach young readers to identify and articulate any feelings they may be experiencing. By being able to place their emotions, children can have deeper conversations with their parents about their feelings and have a more open line of communication. This could foster a wonderful bond in their formative years, one where children feel safe and comfortable to talk to their parents freely and express themselves.
Continuing the Bond
As I got older and was able to read on my own, the nightly storytimes with my mother continued, but in a slightly different way. Starting in about third grade, my experience shifted from being read stories every night to instead reading the stories to my mother. I would read her chapters from books like Harry Potter, and we would take turns doing impressions of each character. This shift in storytime allowed me to become even more participatory in the connection with my mother. I shared over reading, which helped foster my literacy skills and creative thinking. Adapting storytime and shared reading to children's life phases can help continue the child-parent bond and create a love for reading as children grow.
A Created Ritual
As much as I loved the stories, the best part of nightly storytime was its ritual aspect. Designating time each day to read with your child creates a daily ritual where parents and children can spend uninterrupted time together doing something they enjoy. The ritual aspect of reading with your child gives kids something to look forward to daily and offers young readers a sacred space to learn, grow, and bond with their parents.
Open Dialogue and Communication Skills
Possibly the most important benefit of reading with your child is how it can facilitate better communication about emotions and create an open dialogue between parents and children. Having conversations with children surrounding each story you read can deepen your child’s critical thinking skills, emotional awareness, and ability to self-reflect. Asking questions during story time is a great way to open the conversation to topics about emotions, values, and feelings. Questions like, “How do you think this character feels?”, or “How would you feel in this situation?” can create a dialogue between parents and children and help develop qualities in young readers like empathy, self-reflection, and honesty.
Fostering a Love for Reading
The experience of reading with parents can foster a lifelong love for literature and sets kids up with the tools they need to embrace learning and creativity throughout their lives. Associating reading and books with positive memories and bonding experiences with parents allows children to grow up with a positive relationship with reading and can encourage kids to continue reading throughout their lives. Early exposure to literature nurtures children’s imagination and critical thinking skills and enhances vocabulary and comprehension. The habit of reading develops curiosity and inspires kids to ask deeper questions and seek knowledge about the world around them. Ultimately, these shared moments create a foundation for lifelong learning.
Book Recommendation
A great book to add to your bedtime story rotation is What If We Were All The Same! by author C.M. Harris. The story touches on each person's unique qualities and diverse identities. The book has discussion questions at the end of the story, which can facilitate a conversation about your child’s feelings and emotions. Using this story, children can reflect on their sense of individuality and have an open conversation with their parents about the traits that make them special.
Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña – This award-winning picture book tells the story of CJ and his grandmother as they travel through their neighborhood, encountering people from all walks of life. The book beautifully emphasizes the importance of kindness, curiosity, and appreciation of what we have. It’s filled with colorful, vibrant illustrations that captivate young readers, and its narrative gently encourages empathy and seeing beauty in diversity. Perfect for storytime, it provides an accessible way to discuss community and compassion with kids.
The Big Umbrella by Amy June Bates and Juniper Bates – This heartwarming story uses a big red umbrella as a metaphor for inclusiveness, making it clear that there’s always room for everyone. As the umbrella expands to shelter a growing cast of characters, it teaches that differences should be celebrated and embraced. The book’s simple language and relatable illustrations make it ideal for young readers, and the theme of welcoming others will resonate deeply during storytime, offering a fun way to talk about acceptance and friendship with children.Photos:
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