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Let’s talk… Reading: The First “Wing” a Child Learns to Use

By Jean Davenport-Niles

I recently watched my three-year-old granddaughter line up her dolls in a perfect row across the floor. She carefully chose a favorite book — one she has heard so many times she knows every word. Then she began to “read” it to them with great seriousness and dramatic expression. I’m fairly sure at least one doll was deeply moved. In that moment, she wasn’t pretending — she was practicing becoming someone who teaches and shares.
Reading begins long before a child can decode words on a page. It begins in imitation, in listening, in being read to again and again. A child first falls in love with stories through sound and relationship before skill ever arrives.
Children are not only taught to read — they are invited into a larger world through it. Words become tools. Stories become maps. Books become safe places where courage, kindness, failure, and hope are explored before they are lived.
I learned to love reading the same way — by being read to each night. My parents took me to libraries regularly and gave books as gifts. I did not understand it then, but they were building more than a habit. They were building imagination, attention, and inner language.
When children are read to, they are learning more than vocabulary. They learn rhythm, emotion, and meaning. They learn that questions are welcome and that ideas travel. Listening to stories strengthens comprehension and focus — skills that matter in every subject and every season of life.
Reading also gives children rehearsal space. Through stories they experience bravery, empathy, and problem-solving without risk. Books help children name feelings and imagine solutions. A well-loved book can be read so many times that even the family dog knows the ending.
Families and caregivers sometimes feel unsure where to begin. Begin small. Begin simply. Begin tonight.
Frederick Douglass wrote, “Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” Reading opens more than pages — it opens possibility.
Sidebar — For Parents & Caregivers
Five Simple Reading Habits That Matter
You do not need perfect conditions to build a reader — only a few steady moments.
• Read out loud — even to older children
• Ten minutes counts
• Let children hold the book and turn pages
• Ask one question: “What did you like best?”
• Re-read favorites — repetition builds confidence
• Library books are free — and powerful
• Your voice matters more than your reading skill
For children who have experienced change or instability, story time is more than learning — it is safety, routine, and connection. It’s love.