Many studies have pointed out that early reading experience and competence have a significant influence on children’s future achievements. The earlier parents start shared reading with their children, the better the literacy development of the children will be (Payne, Whitehurst and Angell, 1994). Bus, et al. (1995) suggest that children who have shared reading experiences in their early years will have better reading and writing abilities. These effects can continue until they are 11 years old. 

Although early shared reading has a significant influence on young children’s language development, many scholars suggest that there are two research directions worth further discussion. First, most research focuses on parents reading with children over three years of age and there is limited discussion on parents’ shared reading behaviors and attitudes with children under three years of age (Chang, et al., 2011). Few studies have explored parents’ reading strategies with young children. For example, Makin (2006) discussed the reactions between 10 mothers and their 8-to-12-months-old children when they conducted shared reading. In non-verbal interactions, these mothers tried to get the attention of children on books by pointing to words and pictures and making eye contact with their children. In oral interactions, these mothers often used spoken words related to reading and written words. Bus and van Ijzendoorn (1997) invited 85 pairs of 11-to-14-months-old children and their mothers to conduct shared reading in a laboratory and observed their interactions. The results showed that the mothers often held their children in their arms and the books at a distance such that the children could not touch them. During the reading process, the mothers observed their children’s facial expressions and paid attention to their reactions to the stories. This research result not only represents mothers’ reading behavior, but also emphasizes that mothers’ reading behavior is influenced by children’s reactions. For example, when mothers notice that their children are interested in something in the storybooks, they will point to the pictures immediately, but when the mothers find that the children are lacking interest, they will still try to identify the pictures or use different iconic systems to attract children’s notice. Fletcher, Perez, Hooper, and Claussen (2005)identified that the reading strategies the parents used were not rigid but were changed and adjusted as the children grew up. The aforementioned studies primarily focused on parents’ reading behaviors. Since parental perceptions of their children’s literacy motivation were significantly related to their home-reading practices (Sacks, et al, 2016), this study investigated parents’ perspectives on reading with their infants and toddlers. Second, the majority of the above studies explored mothers reading with their young children without investigating fathers’ role and participation in shared-reading with children. As fathers’ participation has significant effects on children’s development and learning (Quach, et al., 2018), this study included both mothers and fathers as participants. 

This study aimed to overcome the above limitations and extend the extant literature on parents’ shared reading perspectives and practices with children under the age of three by interviewing mothers and fathers at three stages: When their children were 9 months, 18 months, and 26 months old. The research questions were as follows: (1) How do fathers’ and mothers’ perspectives on shared reading change as their children grow during infancy and toddlerhood? (2) How do fathers and mothers change their shared reading practices as their children grow during infancy and toddlerhood?

A qualitative method with in-depth interviews was adopted in this study to explore parents’ perspectives and practices regarding shared reading with their infants and toddlers. This study was part of a large-scale project, “Reading and Playing with Infants and Toddlers,” which was approved by the Research Ethics Committee. This study primarily focused on the data from fathers’ and mothers’ interview records of shared reading. Data collection lasted for two years. At the first stage, 60 pairs of fathers and mothers with 9-month-old infants were recruited to participate in the study voluntarily. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, at stage 2, 50 pairs of fathers and mothers with their 18-month-olds continued to participate in the study, and 48 pairs remained at stage 3 when their children were 26 months old. Thus, this study presents the results of interviews with 48 fathers and mothers. At each stage of the data collection, each father and mother were interviewed individually. The interview questions included, “When did you start reading with your baby?” “Why is shared-reading important to you and your child?” “What types of books do you read with your child?” “What types of reading strategies do you use?” “What are your child’s typical reactions toward shared-reading?” and “What are the challenges you encounter during shared-reading?” Each interview usually lasted for 30 to 60 minutes. All the interviews were transcribed verbatim. The researcher repeatedly read the interview records and identified the important topics and issues revealed in the interview reports. Then, each parent’s coding results in each stage were compared and contracted to identify the varieties among the group of fathers and the group of mothers. The differences and similarities between fathers’ and mothers’ shared-reading perspectives and practices were also identified. Finally, the coding results of the three stages were compared to present the changes and adjustments in fathers’ and mothers’ perspectives and practices of shared reading.

The results revealed several significant findings. First, approximately 20% of families started to conduct shared reading when their child was about six months old and these parents usually read with their children every day. However, approximately 20% of families seldom read with their children. Those parents who liked to read with their children did so because they believed reading was a positive means for parent-child interactions, whereas those who did not read with their children thought reading was not necessary as their children did not know what reading was. Second, among all families, the mothers usually spent more time reading with their children than fathers. Some fathers believed that the mothers were better storytellers who knew how to attract the children’s attention and change their tone and voice during reading, corresponding to Karther’s findings (2002). Third, the frequency of shared reading every week decreased as the children grew. The parents did not increase their reading frequencies as their children’s comprehension improved over time because they became busier at work or had one more child in the family, and thus had less time for shared reading. Next, despite the varieties of reading practices among parents, they were able to describe their children’s changing reading interests and behaviors over time, such as playing and biting books during infancy and reading independently during toddlerhood. Finally, parents who consistently read with their children were able to use various reading strategies, such as pointing out pictures, making up sounds, making actions, and raising questions. However, how to capture and extend the children’s attention was the challenge the parents encountered most. this study identified many details about fathers’ and mothers’ perspectives and practices of shared reading with infants and toddlers that have not been reported in previous studies. Implications and future research directions are provided.

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