Since children develop the critical language and early reading skills necessary to enter kindergarten between birth and age five, reading aloud is one of the most influential steps librarians, teachers, parents, and caregivers can take to foster preschoolers' literacy skills. Early exposure to books heavily influences vocabulary knowledge, which…

Reports a strong, highly specific relationship between young children's knowledge of nursery rhymes and the development of phonological skills, which remained significant when differences in IQ and social background were controlled. Measures of nursery rhymes and alliteration were related to early reading skills. (Author/NH)