In short
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Canadian Paediatric Society both recommend reading with children from birth. In the UK, BookTrust and Scottish Book Trust give free books to babies so that families can start straight away.
Sources
- American Academy of Pediatrics, “Literacy Promotion: An Essential Component of Primary Care Pediatric Practice” (policy statement), Pediatrics 154(6), 2024
- Shaw A., Canadian Paediatric Society Early Years Committee, “Read, speak, sing: Promoting early literacy in the health care setting” (position statement), 2021
- BookTrust, “Bookstart Baby”
- Scottish Book Trust, “Bookbug”
United States: the American Academy of Pediatrics
In its 2024 policy statement on literacy promotion, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that pediatricians encourage shared reading beginning at birth and continuing at least through kindergarten.
The statement links shared reading to children's language, cognitive and social-emotional development, and to the relationship between the child and the adult reading with them.
Canada: the Canadian Paediatric Society
The Canadian Paediatric Society's 2021 position statement, “Read, speak, sing”, asks health professionals to promote reading aloud to infants from birth and to encourage daily book sharing with all families.
It singles out bedtime: the statement says bedtime reading should begin from birth because of its positive effects on children's sleep. It also describes shared reading as supporting vocabulary and oral comprehension, secure attachment and school readiness.
United Kingdom: BookTrust and Scottish Book Trust
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, families with babies up to 12 months old are eligible for a free Bookstart Baby pack from BookTrust, with a book, a finger puppet and tips for sharing stories. The packs are handed out through health visitors, libraries, registrars and other early-years partners.
In Scotland, Scottish Book Trust's Bookbug programme gifts free bags of books to all children at four stages, from birth to Primary 1.
What the advice has in common
In our view the common thread is not a book list but a habit: start early, read most days, make it part of bedtime, and do it together. None of these organizations says a particular kind of book is required. A library book read every night does what they describe.
Where a book like ours fits
Penwynn makes picture books written and illustrated about one particular child and the people around them. We do not claim a personalized book does more for a child than any other good book read together. What a book about them can do is make the nightly habit easier to keep, because children tend to ask for the story they are in.