Parent-Child Book-Sharing: How do parents choose books for their toddlers with language impairment?

• In Event: Poster Session 13
  In Poster Session: PS 13 Topic - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Abstract

High-quality shared book reading is a well-established vehicle for promoting early language and preliteracy (Hutton et al., 2015; National Early Literacy Panel, 2008). Yet, less than half of US parents engage in daily book-sharing with their child (Russ et al., 2007) and families with children with/at-risk for language delays need additional supports. One important aspect of high-quality early book-sharing that has received very little attention is the books that parents select. Understanding the reasons parent choose books is important for all children but may be especially critical for young children with/at-risk for language delays. Researchers have suggested a variety of book characteristics that should be considered during preschool and school age years (e.g., Deitcher, Aram, & Adar, 2017; Hoffman, Teale, & Yokota, 2015) but there is little guidance for children under 3.
Children 12-36 months of age show rapid development in symbolic thought (Goswami, 2002), language comprehension (Snow & Ninio, 1986), and verbal output (Dwyer & Neuman, 2008). This rapid development coupled with the wide variability in children’s books available may make it difficult for parents to identify books that will engage and support their child’s development. Importantly, the extent to which a book is engaging, developmentally appropriate, and contains enough opportunities for interaction may directly influence the quality of book-sharing interactions. Therefore, book choice is a potentially important source of disparities in the success of book-sharing interactions. However, there has been a lack of direct examination of how parents choose books. The aim of the current study was to qualitatively examine factors parents consider when choosing books for their infant/toddler with language impairment (LI) using a book-choice task and semi-structured interviews. We examined the following research questions: 1) what elements do parents consider when choosing books for their infant/toddler; and 2) what book characteristics are common in parents preferred and nonpreferred book choices?
Methods: Parents were presented with six books that demonstrated a range of complexity, length, content and images. Exemplar books were selected based on their potential for parents to utilize developmentally appropriate book-sharing strategies. Parents were asked to rank the books in order of preference and a semi-structured interview was completed. Interviews were transcribed and coded using thematic element codes: content, physical aesthetics, language aesthetics, familiarity, educational, difficulty, values, and physical properties.
Results: Figures 1 & 2 demonstrate the percent of parents mentioning each thematic code in response to their general book choice practices and their reasoning behind choosing the books in the task. Results are broadly in line with themes previously noted in research on parent book choice for older children (Anderson, Anderson, Shapiro, et al., 2001). Parents most often mentioned the themes of physical aesthetics, content, text difficulty, and physical properties. Parents preferred books with bright colors, appealing images, familiar content and a manipulative aspect. Book-sharing interventions should consider educating parents on important book aspects to consider; a book choice tool may be helpful in this regard. Further research is needed on the book elements that are most effective for supporting early development for infants/toddlers.

Authors

• Corinne Walker, University of Kansas Medical Center
  Presenting Author

• Brenda J Salley, University of Kansas Medical Center
  Non-Presenting Author

• Debora A Daniels, University of Kansas Medical Center
  Non-Presenting Author