When I had my first child, I read to her faithfully from the time she could barely hold her own head up. I knew in theory that it was the “right” thing to do but at that point, I saw little pay off in all my reading efforts. Fast forward a few months to when she began talking and I was amazed at how many words she knew and how many stories she remembered! Now at the age of three, she never runs out of things to talk about, can easily identify letters, and is always in the mood to cozy up with a good book. I’d love to take credit for all of her language skills but I’m pretty sure I owe most of it to the captivating stories found in her children’s books!