Sharing Books Together: Dialogic Reading at Home

In dialogic reading, you share a book through back-and-forth talk. You ask, listen and build on what your child says. As the book becomes familiar, your child takes over more of the telling. “Dialogic” simply means that there is a dialogue: a conversation.

Hear the story and talk about it

Reading aloud lets your child hear a whole story and the language of books. Book conversation gives them a turn to use that language. You can mix both during the same sitting.

On a page showing a rabbit under a leaf, you read, “Rain pattered all around.” Your child points at the rabbit. You ask, “Where is she hiding?” They say, “Leaf.” You answer, “Yes, under a big leaf. Where is she hiding?” They try, “Under a leaf.” You have followed their interest and given them a little more language to use.

Two tools to help you

PEER names the exchange: Prompt, Evaluate, Expand, Repeat. Invite an answer, respond to it, add a little language, then offer another turn. CROWD gives you five ways to begin: Completion, Recall, Open-ended, Wh- and Distancing prompts. You will see each in action as you learn the method.

These exchanges build spoken language: new words, fuller sentences and understanding of stories. Remembering an earlier event or guessing what comes next also helps your child talk about things beyond the page in front of them.

Why parents use this approach

Psychologist Grover J. (Russ) Whitehurst and colleagues developed the method in the 1980s at the Stony Brook Reading and Language Project in New York. The first study appeared in 1988. A 2007 What Works Clearinghouse review found positive effects on preschool spoken language, with no clear effect on hearing the separate sounds in words. In 2018, England’s Education Endowment Foundation highlighted shared reading and support for richer home conversations.

Book talk should feel friendly. When your child says, “Just read it,” read on. There will be other pages and other days for conversation.

Choose a time you can return to most days. After breakfast, before bed or after a nap can work. Several short book times during the week help more than saving everything for one long sitting.

Make the page easy to share

Sit side by side or with your child on your lap. Hold the book where both of you can see it. A slight angle lets you notice your child’s face as well as the pictures. Let them hold the book or turn the pages.

Turn off the TV and put phones out of sight. This makes it easier to hear each other and stay with the story. Let your child choose the book most of the time. They may want to study one picture, go back a page or stop before the end. Follow that interest.

Leave room for an answer

After a question, count slowly to five in your head. Your child may be looking closely or finding a word. Keep your attention on them while you wait. Answering your own question straight away takes away their turn.

Suppose your child keeps looking at a tiny snail on the page. Stay there and ask, “Where is the snail going?” Wait. If they point toward a flower, you can say, “Toward the flower.” Their pointing has become part of the conversation.

Notice when to read on

A picture book with talk may take 10 to 15 minutes. Five enjoyable minutes still count. Finish while your child is happy to be there.

Watch what happens after you prompt. Pointing, comments and questions from your child show that they want to join in. Fast page-turning, squirming or repeated tiny answers may mean they have had enough questions. Drop the prompts and read, or stop for now.

For a new story, mostly read through with a few comments. Your child needs to meet the story before remembering and telling it. Save more conversation for later readings.

Other family members can join in too. Show a grandparent, babysitter or older sibling one short PEER exchange. They can use their own voice and follow what interests your child.

A prompt invites your child to say something about the book. It can be a question or a request: “What is the girl carrying?” or “Tell me about this page.” Begin with what your child is already looking at.

Choose a question with room for words

“Is that a basket?” can be answered with a nod. “What is she carrying?” invites a word. “What is she doing?” invites an action word or a longer answer. A single word that answers your question is a good answer; you can add more when you expand it.

Ask one thing, then wait. If your child stays silent after a pause, help them take a smaller turn. You might offer two choices, invite them to point, or name the thing yourself. Try another easy prompt later instead of asking the same question faster.

Let them know what fits

The first E in PEER means Evaluate: notice whether the answer fits and respond. It is a friendly reply, not a score.

You point at a basket of apples and ask, “What is she carrying?” Your child says, “Apples.” You say, “Yes, you spotted the apples in her basket.” That specific response shows what you heard. Repeating “Good job” after every answer tells them less.

Keep a correction kind and clear

On another page, your child calls a goose a duck. You can say, “It looks like a duck. This bird is a goose; look at its long neck.” You have accepted the useful comparison and supplied the right name. Saying “Yes, a duck” would leave the wrong label in place. A sharp “Wrong” can make your child less willing to try.

For a partly right answer, keep the right part. If your child calls a butterfly a bug, you can reply, “Yes, a little bug. It’s a butterfly.” Then follow the picture or read on.

Some answers are ideas, not labels

“What would you put in a magic bag?” has many possible answers. Listen with interest: “A tiny bed for your doll! What else would she need?” You are responding to an idea, so there is no single answer to correct.

An expansion keeps your child’s idea and adds a small piece of language. The second E in PEER is Expand. The R is Repeat: invite your child to try the richer language themselves.

Build one step beyond their words

For a short answer, add two or three useful words. Child: “Boots.” You: “Bright yellow rain boots.” For a child who already uses sentences, add a reason, feeling or other new idea. Child: “He left his boots outside.” You: “He left his muddy boots outside so the floor stays clean.”

A long speech gives your child too much to carry into their next turn. Stay close to the meaning they offered.

Watch a whole exchange

A picture shows a child fastening a coat.

1. Prompt: “What is she doing?”
2. Your child says, “Coat.”
3. Evaluate: “Yes, she has her coat.”
4. Expand: “She’s zipping up her coat.”
5. Repeat: “What is she doing with her coat?”
6. Your child says, “Zipping it up.”

The repeat can be the same question again or a small invitation such as “Can you say ‘zipping’?” Keep it light; move on if they decline.

Model a correct form naturally

Sometimes you repeat your child’s meaning with correct grammar. This is called a recast. Child: “The rabbit runned away.” You: “Yes, the rabbit ran away.” Your child hears the correct form right beside their own idea. You can say a tricky word clearly in the same way, without stopping to correct every sound.

Add reasons for a child who is ready

On a page showing a boy shielding a candle, you ask, “Why is he holding his hand there?” Child: “Wind.” You reply, “Yes, the wind might blow out the candle, so he’s shielding it. Why is he shielding the candle?” The child can try, “So it won’t blow out.”

Mix these exchanges with reading. You do not need one on every page.

A familiar book gives your child help before you ask anything. They know its words and what happens. Completion and recall prompts use that familiarity in different ways.

Leave a line unfinished

A completion prompt leaves a gap for your child to fill. It works well with repeated lines and rhymes. In an invented bedtime rhyme, you read, “The room is dark. The stars are bright. We close our eyes and say good …” Pause, look at your child and let them say, “Night.”

Read the line fully when the book is new. On later readings, slow down near the end and leave the last word open. If no answer comes, supply it warmly. There will be another repeated line to try. Completion often suits a three-year-old or a child who is quiet because there is only a small turn to take. Rhymes also draw attention to word sounds.

Ask about something already heard

A recall prompt asks your child to remember an event or a fact from the book. It can come partway through, at the end or when you pick up a familiar book again. “What did the bear find?” asks for a memory. “What did we learn about shells?” can do the same in an information book.

Lina’s mitten falls out of her pocket. A bird spots it, and Lina follows the bird to find it. After a few readings, ask, “What happened to Lina’s mitten?” Your child says, “Lost it.” You add, “It fell out of her pocket. What happened next?” They answer, “Bird found it.” You can help them use “first,” “next” and “at the end” as they put events in order.

Choose the amount to remember

Recall asks your child to hold more in mind. Use it often from about age four, with the book and child guiding you. For a younger child, ask about one big event. A long list of tiny details is much harder.

If a recall question brings silence, return to the picture, give a hint or read the part again. Asking after a second or third reading gives your child more to draw on. An alphabet book may have no events to recall; choose a prompt that suits its pages.

A picture can start many kinds of talk. You might invite your child to describe the whole page, name one thing, explain an action or guess what comes next.

Open the conversation

An open-ended prompt lets your child choose what to say: “Tell me what’s happening here.” It is especially useful with a detailed picture. If your child notices a tiny beetle while you notice a big dog, follow the beetle. Their answer gives you somewhere to begin.

A comment can invite talk too. “I wonder where that path leads” may get a reply without another direct question. Mix comments and questions, and leave space for your child to ask you something.

Ask a wh- question

Wh- prompts begin with what, where, who, when, why or how. “What is she carrying?” can teach a name. “Where is the basket?” invites close looking. “Why is she running?” asks for a reason.

Judge the whole question. “Who is in the doorway?” is easy when the person is visible. “Who moved the basket while everyone slept?” needs more thought. The opening word alone does not tell you how hard it is.

Work from clues

In an invented picture, a girl holds a broken umbrella. Her mouth turns down and rain drips from her hair.

• Ask, “How does she feel?” Your child says, “Upset.”
• Follow with, “How can you tell?” They point to her face.
• Expand: “Her mouth turns down. She looks upset about getting wet.”

Your child is linking a feeling with something they can see.

For a prediction, pause at a natural break: “What do you think will happen next?” Welcome a sensible guess, ask what makes your child think so, then read on to check. They are learning to use clues; they do not need to know the ending in advance.

Let questions grow with the book

Once your child knows every object’s name, move to actions and reasons. Asking the same naming question on every reread gives them little new to say. Avoid giving the answer inside your question, too: “Is the wet umbrella wet?” leaves no thinking for your child.

At an exciting page turn, keep the story moving. You can talk about the surprise after you have enjoyed it together.

A distancing prompt connects the book to life beyond it. Your child might remember an outing, compare a pet with a pictured animal, or talk about a feeling they share with a character.

Begin with a link your child knows

On a page about a family planting seeds, you might ask, “What did we plant in our pot?” Your child says, “Beans.” You answer, “Yes, we planted beans on the windowsill. What did we do after we planted them?” They remember watering. The book has helped your child talk about something that happened earlier.

Choose a real memory you share. Asking “What did we see at the aquarium?” gives little help if your child has never been there. A closer link might be, “Where have you seen a fish?”

Around age three, use something nearby and concrete: “Your cup has a handle like this one.” Point to both. From about four, children are often ready for more talk about memories and feelings. Recall and distancing need more thought than naming a visible thing.

Make room for feelings

A book about joining a new group may lead to, “How did you feel when you first went to your group?” Listen to the answer. A child may say something you did not expect. You can reflect it back and invite more without explaining their feelings for them.

Links can also ask about a choice: “What would you take on that journey?” Or compare something familiar: “How is our kitchen different from this one?” Each gives your child a reason to describe life outside the book.

Keep the story’s thread

Make personal links at a pause or after the ending. If the talk becomes a long story about yesterday, enjoy some of it, then return with, “Let’s see what the family plants next.”

CROWD is a choice of openings, not a checklist. In a book about a birthday, you might use a wh- question about the cake, an open invitation about the party picture and a personal question about your child’s birthday. A completion prompt belongs where there is a familiar line to finish. You do not need all five kinds each time.

Watch how your child responds. An easy answer invites a little more thought. Hesitation may call for a smaller question, pointing or a choice. Age helps you choose a starting point, but your child’s words and energy tell you what to do next.

Start where your child can join in

These are rough guides. A familiar book may let a younger child tell more; a new or tiring day may call for simpler talk at any age.

Welcome small turns

For a child who says few words, pointing is a turn. On a page with two hats, ask, “Which hat would you wear?” They point. You say, “The striped hat.” You can offer a choice such as “Striped or spotted?” and accept one word. Add a short phrase they can use without asking for a full sentence first.

If your child says very few words for their age, or you are worried about their talking or understanding, ask their doctor or a speech-language pathologist for advice.

Give a talkative child room

When your child has lots to say, listen before adding anything. Pick one idea to expand or ask a question that takes it further. If they explain how a character escaped a maze, you might ask, “How did she know which way to turn?” You need not keep asking for names they already know.

On tired days, read more and ask less. One prompt, or none, can fit the moment. A book can still be a shared pleasure when your child only wants to listen.

Use a language you know well

Dialogic reading works in any language. Use the language in which you can talk easily and fully, even when school uses another one. You can discuss pictures in your home language while the printed words are in another language. Books with two languages offer another choice.

Over the weeks, notice longer answers, book words appearing during play, questions your child starts, and familiar stories they tell to you. These small changes show how their part in the conversation is growing.

Before opening a new book, look at its front cover together. Read the title and run a finger beneath it. Ask what your child thinks the book might be about. The picture and title give them clues to follow as you read.

Meet the people who made the book

The author wrote the words. The illustrator made the pictures. Sometimes one person does both. Say their names naturally: “The words are by Maya Chen, and the pictures are by Ben Hill.” Then move into the book.

Inside, the title page repeats the title and the creators’ names. The back cover often carries a short description, called a blurb. Reading it aloud can help your child wonder what will happen.

Look for what the words leave out

Suppose the words say, “Nina walked home.” The picture shows Nina holding a soggy paper crown, with tears on her face. You might ask, “What do you notice about Nina?” Your child can point to the tears. Ask what they might mean. The picture has added something about Nina’s feelings that the words did not say.

Small details can carry a story too. Your child might spot the same beetle hiding on every page. Let them show you where it has gone.

Try a picture walk

A picture walk means looking through the pictures before reading the words. You and your child talk about what seems to happen. It can make a longer new story easier to follow. When you read afterward, compare your guesses with the story.

In a wordless picture book, pictures tell the whole story. Give your child time to look across pages. Ask, “What is happening?” or “What might he say here?” Follow the clues together and help put their ideas into words.

Let your child handle the book

Show the front and let your child turn pages one at a time. Hold the book upright and begin at the front. When it fits naturally, show how English words run from left to right and from the top down. You can demonstrate while reading a short line; the story need not stop for a separate lesson.

A story is easier to follow when your child notices who it is about, where it happens and what changes. Talk about these parts as they arise. One or two questions can be enough in a sitting.

Follow one small problem

Imagine a story about Jo and her dad in a garden. Jo wants to eat lunch outside, but her sandwich box is on a high shelf. She pulls over a stool. Dad helps her bring the box down, and they sit under the tree.

• The characters are Jo and Dad.
• The setting is the garden at lunchtime.
• The problem is the box Jo cannot reach.
• The events include fetching the stool and getting help.
• The ending shows them eating outside.

Ask, “What does Jo want?” Your child says, “Lunch.” Then, “What’s stopping her?” They answer, “Box too high.” Now they have connected her wish with the problem.

Connect what happens with why

Cause and effect means one thing makes another happen. “What happened next?” asks for order. “Why did Jo fetch the stool?” asks for a reason. Your child might say, “Because she couldn’t reach.” You can build on that: “She needed to get higher so she could reach the box.”

Words such as “because” and “so” help link events. Keep the link true to the story. A child who names the next event has remembered the order; they may still need help explaining why it happened.

Notice feelings and wishes

Look at Jo reaching upward with a frown. Ask, “How does she feel? What makes you think that?” Listen for a link to her face, action or problem. After she gets the box, you can ask how her feeling changes. Characters’ wishes and what they know also help explain their actions.

You can guess an event before it happens: “What might Jo try?” Read on to see. If the page turn holds a big surprise, enjoy that moment first and talk afterward.

At the end, ask about a favorite part or whether the ending matched your child’s guess. You do not have to finish each story by finding a lesson.

An information book teaches true facts about real things. It is one kind of non-fiction. Fiction tells made-up stories; other non-fiction books can tell true stories about real people and events. A child who loves machines or animals may eagerly open a book of facts.

Begin with your child’s question

If your child asks how a frog changes as it grows, find a page about that. Use the table of contents near the front to choose a section. You can read one page or one picture without starting at the beginning.

Pick one clear photo or diagram. Read a short piece and talk. On a page showing a typical frog life cycle, follow the pictured changes from eggs to tadpoles to frogs. Explain a new word beside the picture: “These are gills. The tadpole uses them to breathe underwater.” Use the word again when you respond.

Let the features help you

A photograph or realistic drawing gives you something to point to. Show how a label connects to a pictured part: “That line leads from the word to the gills.” You can explain the feature while using it to answer your child’s question.

Keep the whole topic and the facts apart

The main topic is what the book is about. In a frog book, that might be frogs. Key details are important facts about that topic. Ask, “What did we find out?” Your child might describe a change shown in the life-cycle diagram. Help them say the fact clearly.

CROWD works here too. Ask for a name, invite a description, recall a fact or connect it with something your child has seen. Completion fits when there is a repeated line.

Compare real information with pretend play in a story: “The frog wore shoes in that story. What do the frogs in these photos look like?” If your child asks something you cannot answer, say, “Let’s find out,” and look it up together. On a busy page, stay with one picture before moving to another.

Start with your child’s interests. Then open the book and look at the pictures, the amount of text and the story or facts. An age label gives you a starting point; your child’s enjoyment tells you more.

Choose for the child in front of you

For a three-year-old, try clear pictures, short stories, familiar routines, flaps, rhyme and repeated lines. These offer easy ways to point and join in. Around four, add funny stories with a clear problem, detailed pictures and simple information books. At five and six, try longer picture books, more facts, poetry, jokes or a short chapter read aloud.

A child who is beginning to read still benefits from hearing you read. They can enjoy and understand books that are harder than ones they can read alone.

Offer different kinds of talk

A rhyming book invites a missing word. A wordless book invites your child’s own telling. An information book answers a question. A story lets you talk about what people want and feel. Aim for a mix over the week and let your child choose some of it.

For a child who loves cooking, you could bring home a short story about making soup and a clear information book about food. Open both together. Let your child choose which to share first. Tell them why you picked each: one for the story, one to find things out.

Find familiar lives and new lives

Scholar Rudine Sims Bishop described books as mirrors and windows. A mirror reflects something your child recognizes: a family, language, place or routine like theirs. A window offers a view into someone else’s life. Include both. Look for authors and illustrators from your community and country, including Indigenous creators.

Keep attention on the book

Print books usually make shared conversation easiest. In a 2019 study in Pediatrics, parents and toddlers talked more about the book with print copies than with electronic ones, and device talk took up more time with e-books. For an e-book, choose a simple version, switch off extra effects and keep talking together about the story.

A well-loved simple book can still give rich talk. Moving up to longer or harder books before your child is interested can leave you doing all the reading and talking.

“Again!” is a useful request. When your child knows the story, they can notice more details, remember words and take a bigger part in telling it. Familiarity leaves more room for the language.

Change your part as the book becomes familiar

For the first reading, mostly read and enjoy the story. On the next few readings, ask more about pictures and actions. Later, leave familiar lines unfinished and ask about events. Read less of the text as your child tells more.

Imagine a book about a mouse who makes a tent.

1. First reading: read the story and comment, “That tent keeps falling!”
2. Next reading: ask, “What is Mouse using for the roof?” Your child names the blanket.
3. Later: ask, “What helped the tent stay up?” Your child remembers the chairs.
4. Once it is very familiar: turn the pages while your child tells the story. Add a useful word or idea when there is room.

You are changing the conversation, even though the book stays the same.

Why the same story helps

In 2011, Jessica Horst and colleagues studied word learning in three-year-olds. Children who heard the same stories repeatedly during a week learned new words better than children who heard different stories with the same new words. A familiar story helped the words stick.

When your child tells a book from pictures or memory, welcome it: “You told me how Mouse fixed the tent!” This is useful reading behavior. They understand the story and how book language sounds; reading the printed words is a separate skill.

Keep it enjoyable for you too

Try a new voice, let your child tell the story to a stuffed animal or ask a different kind of prompt. A playful wrong word in a familiar line can invite a laughing correction when your child is in the mood. You could pair the favorite with an information book on its topic.

Keep favorites alongside new books. A favorite or two and at least one new book in a week is a workable pattern. The new choice may soon earn its own “Again!”

A public library can give your child a changing choice of books. Start with one visit to the children’s area and ask how borrowing works there.

Get help choosing and borrowing

Public libraries lend books free of charge. Many offer children a free card, with a parent signing them up. Check the library’s website or desk for the local requirements, such as proof of address.

Tell the librarian your child’s age, interests and home language. “My child is five and loves building. Could you help us find a story and a book of facts?” is enough to begin. Ask about reserving a book that is already borrowed.

Picture books are often arranged by the author’s last name. Information books are often grouped by subject and marked with a call number on the spine. Libraries using the Dewey system place animal books in the 590s. Ask someone to show you the shelves; local arrangements vary.

Look for storytimes or rhyme times. You can enjoy a reader’s voices, songs and pauses with your child and bring home an idea you noticed. Many libraries also lend e-books and audiobooks. An audiobook can be useful on a car trip; for book conversation, a shared page makes pointing and talking easy.

Make returning books simple

Before leaving, note the due date. Put borrowed books in one basket or bag at home so you can find them. Check whether renewals are available and what fees apply. Tell the library if a book is lost or damaged.

Show your child how to turn pages gently from the corner, with clean hands. Keep food and drinks away. Put books back in their place after reading, ready for another family when you return them.

Give books a place in daily life

Let your child choose some books on each visit and add a few yourself. A visit every two weeks is one possible routine; choose a rhythm that fits your loans and family.

At home, a low shelf or small basket lets your child reach books without asking. Face some covers outward and swap a few books every few weeks. Library loans, secondhand stores and book swaps can all help. Ask about local book-gifting programs too; libraries, health services or charities sometimes provide them.