Parental Considerations For Selection Of Storybook For Shared Book Reading Among Pre-school Children

Justification for the study:

Parent-child interaction forms the microsystem of the child’s environment and provides the child with tools to explore other parts of his social environment. Not selecting the appropriate book for shared reading can impact the quality of the parent-child interaction. Currently, books are available focusing on a variety of socio-emotional themes, languages, modalities and linguistic complexities thus, selection of an appropriate book can enhance the comprehension skills, vocabulary and socio-emotional development of the child. Book selection is a major part of shared reading and therefore more importance should be given to understanding the factors that parents consider while selecting a book for shared reading. As India is a diverse country, where multiple languages are spoken, we need to examine if language preferences play a role in parents book selection for shared book reading. In today’s digital age, we need to understand the different modalities and book formats that young children are exposed to. We also need to determine if young children are exposed to different genres and what factors influence those decisions. As storytelling is a common practice in Indian households, we need to examine if the frequency of storytelling and extent of storybook reading influences parental preferences for the complexity of book.

Aim and objectives of the study:

Aim:  To understand the parental considerations of book selection for shared book reading among pre-school children

Objective(s) of the study: To examine the variables associated with parental preference of book selection for shared book reading; To examine if there is a relationship between frequency of storybook reading, frequency of storytelling, age of onset of reading, and parental considerations for the complexity of book