Background: The array of availability of diverse digital reading applications, the mixed results emerging from small-scale experimental studies, as well as the long-standing tradition and range of known positive developmental outcomes gained from adult-child storybook reading warrant an investigation into electronic storybooks (e-books) by…

For decades, educational researchers have reported joint book reading with caregivers promotes children's emergent literacy development (Bus et al., 1995; Demir-Lira et al., 2019; NELP, 2008; Pelligrini et al., 1990). However, the bulk of this research has been conducted with mothers (Bingham, 2007; Bojczyk, 2016; Roberts et al., 2005). Mothers…

For the present review, we analyzed 28 studies researching the effects of interventions for parents with less education on the oral language development of their young children (ages 3-8). Two groups of interventions were distinguished: shared reading and other home activities. Within each group, we distinguished three categories of strategies:…

Globally, there is great interest in enhancing young children's literacy development as a route to improving worldwide literacy. To contribute to this area of interest, this paper reports findings from a multi-pronged early-literacy program designed to improve the print-knowledge of young children in Yucatec Mayan villages. The school-based…

Based on current research and preliminary results provided by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) regarding the West Virginia Early Learning Longitudinal Study, the West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE) Office of Early & Elementary has reviewed the NIEER and other forms of data to make a concerted action plan.…

The effectiveness of a joint interactive storybook reading program delivered by class teachers to develop literacy skills is examined in Hebrew-speaking preschool and kindergarten children. Post-intervention, both groups achieved significantly higher gains in language and print concept skills than age-matched comparison groups that did not have…

The aim of the current study is to determine what language activities Norwegian preschool children took part in, and to examine whether these language activities predict children's language comprehension. We tested children (n = 134) with language measures at age 4/5 and age 5/6 and interviewed their teachers (n = 71) about the kinds of language…

Preschoolers' experiences with shapes are important because geometry is foundational to aspects of mathematics and it is now part of the Common Core for school-readiness. Exposure to shapes also provides experiences that are key to developing spatial thinking more broadly. Yet achieving a strong conceptual understanding of geometric categories can…

With the emergence of electronic media over the past two decades, young children have been found to have increased exposure to video games, computer-based activities, and electronic books (e-books). This study explores how exposure to animated ebooks impacts young children's literacy development. A stratified convenience sample (n = 24) was…

The current research builds upon the sociocultural orientation to family literacy with the creation of a community-based family literacy experience, "the preschoolers' book club," for a group of white, middle-class preschool children and their families. These families and their shared literacy experiences were framed as a set of…

In this paper, we analyse one aspect of home-school book sharing, namely the activity of borrowing a book. We describe how the borrowing activity is accomplished in daily practice in two Dutch preschools and which emergent literacy practices can be embedded in this routine. We followed fifteen children, aged from two years to four years, and…

Forty middle-class American mothers and their preschool children were observed in a narrative activity which involved telling a story using the Berenstain Bears Play Set as a stimulus. The goal of the study was to examine the presence of story grammar elements in both maternal and preschool narratives. In addition, the study sought to explore the…

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of activity with an educational electronic book (e-book), as compared with adult reading of the printed version of the same book, on the vocabulary, phonological awareness as well as concept about print of preschool children at risk for learning disabilities. The study involved the…

Relatively unexplored by research is how young boys transact and respond to literacy experiences during read-alouds. Some teachers perceive boys to be less interested in literacy and to prefer different kinds of stories than young girls. The purpose of this study was to analyze how two groups of preschool boys responded to different texts and how…

Shared book reading, and the conversation that accompanies it, can facilitate young children's vocabulary growth. To identify the features of extratextual questions that help 3-year-olds learn unfamiliar words during shared book reading, two experiments explored the impact of cognitive demand level, placement, and an approximation to scaffolding.…