Parents and Children Reading Together: Expanding Shared Book-Reading Across Genres

Abstract

In this conceptual article we explore parents’ shared book reading (SBR) interactions with their preschoolers across different book genres in their natural home settings. We consider the unique and shared contributions of narrative, informational, wordless, and alphabet picturebooks, and how reading across genres can increase children’s involvement in the interaction, deepen their content knowledge, expand their vocabulary, and strengthen their visual literacy. Beyond the benefits for children, we discuss the advantages for parents of reading from different genres and highlight directions for future research.