The cozy ritual of snuggling-up with your child and reading a story aloud does more than prepare your kid for sleep. Not only does it show your son or daughter that they are important to you, but it also molds them into becoming readers. Plus, it significantly increases your child’s potential for academic and lifelong success.

Reading aloud to your kids also helps your child:

• Master language development and listening skills.

• Increase attention span, develop concentration and control their emotions.

• Stimulate imagination, develop thinking and enhance creativity.

• Understand and experience different cultures and customs.

Barack Obama reads to daughters Sasha
and Malia. If the president can do that,
why can’t other parents?

CREDENTIALS: Leslie Hall-Federman is the author of THE RAGDOLL THAT CRIED REAL TEARS, a children’s picture book inspired by a story and song her father wrote for her and her sister when they were children. Oliver Hall’s story, which stayed with her until adulthood, symbolized the desire for acceptance and why we should never give up on love. Hall-Federman wants to share this story with a new generation.

SAMPLE QUESTIONS: Was your father a writer or just an ordinary dad? How much time do parents need to spend with their kids reading aloud to get these benefits? Are kids ever too old for parents to read to them?

AVAILABILITY: New York; nationwide by arrangement and via telephone
CONTACT: Peter Borromeo, (888) 795-4274, ext. 7603 (PA); Peter.Borromeo@Xlibris.com; www.xlibris.com