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Reading to a child while touching, hugging and holding him or her can be a wonderful antidote to the impersonal tendencies of the information age--for both the adult and the child. While critical to building brains, reading is equally important to building trusting and close relationships. That's why many of us remember the warm embrace or the comfortable lap that cradled us when we read books as children. And that's why reading should not be viewed solely as an intellectual proposition, particularly in the era in which we now live.
If Americans take away only one lesson from these exciting scientific discoveries, I hope it's that reading to children is easy, affordable and feasible for parents no matter what their level of education or economic station in life. Children's books are available for free at public libraries in every community and can be found at reasonable prices in many bookstores. Doctors, librarians, teachers, book publishers, business leaders and the news media can help make books available to families and educate parents about the vital role that reading plays in our children's lives.
It isn't very often that we have before us such a simple, inexpensive and pleasurable way to improve our children's health and development and raise their prospects for a brighter future. Whether you lie down together on the rug, sit together in an old rocking chair or cuddle on your child's bed the way Bill and I used to with Chelsea, there is no better way to spend time than reading to your child.
And now we also know that there are few better ways to help your baby's brain grow.