Interest in early shared reading: Its relation to later language and letter knowledge in children with and without risk for reading difficulties

Abstract

Children’s interest in shared reading (14 and 24 months) and its relation to their later language and letter knowledge (age 3;6) were investigated in a follow-up study. The participants were 156 children and their mothers. Half of these children ( N = 74) came from families where one or both of the parents were diagnosed as reading disabled (the at-risk group), the other half ( N = 82) belonged to the control group. The results revealed that children with and without familial risk for reading difficulties did not differ from each other in the interest they showed towards shared reading. Interestingly, only children in the control group appeared to benefit from shared reading interactions in their later language and letter knowledge.