- Wilmarie Cintrón-Tyson
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
For the Love of Literacy: Books from Birth for All
At Book Harvest, we believe something both simple and profound: every child deserves the chance to grow up surrounded by books, and every family deserves the support to build joyful early reading routines from birth. Literacy isn’t a luxury — it is foundational to development, opportunity, and lifelong flourishing.
Shared book reading, especially beginning in infancy, is one of the most powerful tools we have for supporting early brain development and strengthening family relationships. Research is unequivocal: reading with babies builds language, bonds, and strong early relational health — long before a child can speak or understand every word (Klass et al., 2014).
Why Books Matter from Day One
The evidence is clear: young children’s access to books and the frequency of shared book
reading are strong predictors of early vocabulary growth and later reading outcomes (Sénéchal & LeFevre, 2002).
This is particularly important given the extraordinary pace of brain development in early childhood:
Birth to age five is the most rapid period of brain growth (Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, 2016).
Up to 85% of brain growth occurs in the first three years of life, a finding widely supported by early childhood developmental neuroscience (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000).
Experiences during this window, including shared book reading, have lasting impacts on children’s language, cognitive development, and later reading achievement (National Early Literacy Panel, 2008). A home filled with books provides opportunities for the warm, responsive interactions that drive this growth.
Many of us have personal memories of early reading moments, often shared with a beloved adult. I remember being read to by my tia-abuela in Puerto Rico, tucked under her arm as she sang and told stories. Those early experiences sparked my love for reading and strengthened my relationship with the people who shared those moments with me.
Sadly, too many children today lack consistent access to books. Neighborhoods where books are scarce remain pervasive, especially in communities experiencing concentrated poverty (Neuman & Moland, 2019). And systemic inequities shape which families can easily access books that are high-quality, culturally relevant, and of high interest to young readers.
It’s critical for communities to honestly reflect on what book access actually looks like for the families they serve.
What Makes a Home Literacy Environment
Researchers describe the home literacy environment (HLE) as a multifaceted ecosystem that includes:
frequency of shared book reading,
family interest in books,
the number of children’s books in the home, and
engagement with community literacy resources like libraries (Rodriguez & Tamis-LeMonda, 2011).
Frequency of shared reading is among the strongest predictors of children’s language development and later reading achievement (Mol & Bus, 2011).
These findings support the design of programs, like Reach Out and Read, Raising a Reader, and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, that target early literacy by elevating book access and encouraging reading routines from infancy.
Book Harvest’s Books from Birth initiative builds on this evidence by reaching families at the moment they welcome a newborn into the world. Each family receives a starter home library of 10 new board books, providing an early “cue to action” that encourages them to begin reading right away.
The universal model complements research showing that book giveaway programs improve the home literacy environment and increase shared reading frequency (De Bondt et al., 2020).
The impact of these programs can be furthered by strengthening the community-wide early literacy ecosystem families navigate daily. Trusted messengers like home visitors, early childhood educators, medical providers, librarians, and neighbors can leverage small cues to make a big difference.
Every trusted service provider has an opportunity to support families in building reading routines. Anyone can have a role in promoting early literacy beyond the hospital, beyond doctor's offices, and schools. Every interaction counts.
Shared Book Reading Builds Early Relational Health
The benefits of shared book reading extend deep into the heart of family wellbeing. Reading together supports Early Relational Health (ERH), a concept endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, refers to the capacity to develop and sustain safe, stable, and nurturing caregiver–child relationships.
Safe: Free of physical or psychological harm.
Stable: Consistent and reliable.
Nurturing: Warm, responsive, and developmentally supportive.
Shared reading naturally reinforces all three. Babies do not need to sit still or listen quietly for reading to be meaningful. The magic is in the back-and-forth: the smiles, the babbling, the page-turning, the moments of connection.
Families describe this some of these moments quite movingly. Tiara, a Book Harvest parent, says her daughter’s love of reading is “all because I started when she was born.” Actor Mike Wiley has spoken about bonding with his newborn through Caps for Sale — a book that became an early part of their relationship.
These stories reflect decades of research demonstrating that early shared reading strengthens parent–child attachment, boosts parental responsiveness, and supports children’s social-emotional development (Canfield et al., 2020).
Small Moments, Big Impact
When we model shared reading for families, we emphasize that it doesn’t require perfection. It requires presence.
Simple, developmentally appropriate strategies include:
Let the baby explore freely as you share a book, it’s ok for them to be looking or toddling away.
Follow the baby’s cues and interests.
Respond enthusiastically to the baby’s coos and expressions.
Make real-life connections: “Remember last year when you didn’t like the snow?”
Joy and connection are more important than “finishing the book.”
These small moments accumulate. Over time, they build both literacy skills and resilient, nurturing relationships.
A Collective Responsibility
When we recognize literacy as a fundamental right and early relational health as essential to wellbeing, we see our responsibility clearly.
Each of us can:
Reinforce the message that reading early and often matters.
Model joyful, flexible reading routines.
Advocate for access to books and early literacy resources in their communities.
Together, we can ensure that every child—regardless of zip code, income, or background—enters life surrounded by stories, language, connection, and possibility.
Sources
American Academy of Pediatrics (2024). Literacy Promotion: An Essential Component of Primary Care Pediatric Practice.
American Academy of Pediatrics (2023). Early Relational Health resources and publications, Pediatrics Supporting Parents Initiative.
Canfield, C. F., Miller, E. B., Shaw, D. S., Morris, P. A., & Mendelsohn, A. L. (2020). Shared reading and parent–child relationships in low-income families. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology.
Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University (2016). From Best Practices to Breakthrough Impacts.
De Bondt, M., Willoughby, M. T., & Bus, A. G. (2020). Efficient child–parent reading in children’s book-gifting programs. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.
Mol, S. E., & Bus, A. G. (2011). To read or not to read: A meta-analysis of print exposure from infancy to early adulthood. Psychological Bulletin.
National Early Literacy Panel (2008). Developing Early Literacy: Report of the National Early Literacy Panel.
Neuman, S. B., & Moland, N. (2019). Book deserts: The consequences of income segregation on children’s access to print. Urban Education.
Rodriguez, E. T., & Tamis-LeMonda, C. S. (2011). Trajectories of the home learning environment across the first five years. Child Development.
Sénéchal, M., & LeFevre, J. (2002). Parental involvement in the development of children’s reading skills: A five-year longitudinal study. Child Development.
Shonkoff, J. P., & Phillips, D. A. (Eds.). (2000). From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development. National Academy Press.
