ABSTRACT

This book correlates English-speaking children’s brain development and acquisition of language with the linguistic input that comes from children’s books. Drawing from the most current research on the developing brain, the author demonstrates how language acquisition is exclusively interactive, and highlights the benefit that accrues when that interaction includes the exploratory language play found in early childhood literature. Through discussions of specific domains of grammar, the relation of these domains to children’s literature through scaffolding, and the resultant linguistic and cognitive advantages for the child, this volume offers an innovative approach to early brain maturation.

chapter |20 pages

A Book With Too Many Variables

Some Introduction …

part I|101 pages

The Nurture of Nature

chapter 1|35 pages

Delightful Sounds

Phonetics to Phonology

chapter 2|24 pages

Matching World to Mind

The Lexicon

chapter 3|19 pages

Morphemes A-Morphing

chapter 4|21 pages

Morphosyntax and Semantics

Bootstrapping Maturation

part II|94 pages

The Nature of Nurture

chapter 5|16 pages

Interfacing Language and Cognition

chapter 6|23 pages

Becoming homo narrans

chapter 7|19 pages

Entrainment Through Story

chapter 8|28 pages

The Language of Cooperation

chapter 9|6 pages

Conclusion

Giving Children an Advantage Through Interactive Book Reading