ABSTRACT
Shared-book reading is an essential aspect of responsible parenting because of both the cognitive and the emotional and motivational benefits it affords. Many of these benefits are long lasting and likely cumulative. At the same time, how a given adult approaches this important task of book reading with a child is perhaps equally important, as is the skill level of the child (e.g. Reese and Cox, 1999). For example, those who benefit most from shared-book reading tend to be younger children. The cumulative developmental advantages of routine shared-book reading are so great that several research teams have focused on it as a core parenting goal, at least in relation to subsequent language and, perhaps indirectly, reading achievement (e.g. Adams, 1990; Snow et al., 1998; Wells, 1985). This is true across families. The idea of shared-book reading in bilingual families, though only rarely researched, also suggests some benefits of shared-book reading in a second language. In the following, I attempt to summarize the benefits of shared-book reading by parents cross-culturally.
