Story time – at home, at nursery and at school – is where young children encounter the magic of books. Reading stories to young children is a pleasurable activity in itself, but it also lays the foundation for language and literacy development and has social and emotional benefits.

What’s more, research for decades has shown a clear difference in the language skills of children who had story time at home and those who didn’t.

Parents and teachers can further expand the benefits of story time by getting children involved in what’s known as dialogic reading – engaging in conversations about stories. This means using questions to get children talking about the book. This talk can deepen children’s knowledge and understanding, and help them learn about language. It can include asking what children remember about plot points to encourage their recall of the book, and asking “why” questions about characters’ choices.

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