Every single day I work with words – I read and write and read some more. Being a part of the education system, I see the various stages of childrens’ linguistic development and one thing that has always fascinated me is the amount children read.

Since I was young, my mum has always encouraged me to read. From The Famous Five, to Goosebumps, to Chris Ryan and then on to actual literature, mum always made sure I had a book to read if I wanted it. I think that by her fuelling my (ever changing) interests and curiosities in life with books and magazines, I got used to written words. However she worked her magic, I literally can’t thank her enough… now it’s my turn to be a parent and I have decided to start the literacy train as soon as I can.

Most nights, I read to the baby. I have read loads about how the baby can hear voices now and I like to think that if I read some books to it, it will be used to my voice when it actually arrives (in 15 weeks!!!). I secretly love the books that I’m reading, and although I would be reading some dystopian fiction, they are good fun. The rhythm and rhyme are great and I’m sure they will be brilliant at bedtime. I have one of those annoying brains though; the words are becoming engrained already! There is nothing more distracting that realising you’re muttering baby book words instead of singing songs when you’re on your own…

In true fashion, my mum has already supplied us with a wealth of titles, as have a couple of our friends. At the moment, our favourite is “I Love You as Big as The World” – the baby’s first ever book. I can’t believe how emotive 100 words in a cardboard book can be. You can look at 1000 pages of “classic” literature and feel less. When we were on our second round of “I Love You as Big as The World” tonight we were getting some serious kicks – either the baby wants a story change or it’s loving the book; I’m hoping for the latter!

One of the strongest catalysts for learning progression is reading. There is absolutely no doubt that reading is key for childrens’ academic development. I’m not going to start citing sources, but there are numerous studies that show frequency of reading has more of an impact than your social class with regard to educational outcome… for that reason alone, I’m happy to read books about bears and witches to my wife’s tummy until I know them off by heart. We might be poor, but trust me, we’re going to get that baby reading as quickly as we can.

I think I will hold off on my favourites for a while. 1984, Fahrenheit 451 and A Brave New World might be a bit much for a baby that isn’t entering the world for 15 more weeks. A couple of chapters won’t hurt though…