Interacting with babies and toddlers is important to their development. You can give your child a great start by talking, singing, playing and sharing simple books together even if you aren’t a confident reader yourself.

Here are some tips for shared reading time with your child:

Before reading

• Let your child pick and choose what they read for pleasure.
• Find a comfortable place to sit and read together.
• Turn off electronic devices and give your child your full attention.
• If your child is reading to you, let them hold the book.
• Ask them to predict what the book will be about from clues in the cover and title.

During reading

• Run your finger along the line to show your child that text runs left to right, top to bottom.
• Prompt them to figure out difficult words by breaking them down and sounding them out.
• Once they have figured out the word, ask them to go back and re-read so comprehension isn’t lost.
• Allow them to stop and point at / talk about the pictures.
• Pause once or twice during reading and ask them to predict what might happen next.

After reading

• Ask what they would do / how they would feel if they were in the story.
• Don’t feel pressured to finish the book if it’s boring or too difficult.
• Ask your child if the book reminds them of anything else they’ve read, viewed or experienced.
• Encourage them to re-tell the story or part of the story.
• Have them tell you what they did / didn’t like about the book.
• Allow them to read favourite books again and again.

These stories, which include aspects of health literacy in the plot, are aimed at older children to be read and enjoyed independently. They can also be used as the basis of parent-child, small group or whole-class discussion.