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Early literacy promotion in pediatric primary care supports parents and caregivers in reading with their children from birth, offering counseling in interactive, developmentally appropriate strategies and providing developmentally and culturally appropriate and appealing children's books. This technical report reviews the evidence that reading with young children supports language, cognitive, and social-emotional development. Promoting early literacy in pediatric primary care offers a strengths-based strategy to support families in creating positive childhood experiences, which strengthen early relational health. An increasing body of evidence, reviewed in this report, shows that clinic-based literacy promotion, provided with fidelity to an evidence-based model, has benefits for children, for parents and caregivers, and for pediatric physicians and advanced care providers as well. Reading with young children supports early brain development and the neural "reading network," and improves school readiness. High-quality literacy promotion is especially essential for children who face disparities and inequities because of social factors, systemic racism, and socioeconomic risk. All families benefit from high-quality and diverse books and from developmentally appropriate guidance supporting interactions around books and stories. Thus, literacy promotion can be a universal primary prevention strategy to strengthen families and support healthy development. Partnerships at community, local, and state levels offer opportunities for integration with other programs, services, and platforms. Literacy promotion in primary care pediatric practice, recognized by the American Academy of Pediatrics as an essential component since 2014, has become increasingly common. There are successful models for public funding at federal, state, county, and municipal levels, but sustainable funding, including payment to pediatric physicians and advanced care providers, remains a need so that the benefits of pediatric early literacy promotion and the joys of books and shared reading can truly be offered on a population level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reading together often with infants and young children strengthens their relationships with parents and caregivers at a critical time in child development, stimulating brain circuitry and early attachment. A positive parenting practice, shared reading helps build the foundation for healthy social-emotional, cognitive, language, and literacy development, setting the stage for school readiness and providing enduring benefits across the life course. Pediatric physicians and advanced care providers have a unique opportunity to encourage parents and caregivers to establish routines and enjoy conversations around books and stories with their children beginning in infancy. Research has demonstrated that parents read and children learn when pediatricians offer literacy promotion as a practical and evidence-based primary prevention strategy in primary care practice to support early brain and child development. This supports families with a strengths-based approach, shaping a child's life trajectory and helping mitigate stress and adverse experiences. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that pediatricians encourage shared reading, beginning at birth and continuing at least through kindergarten, as a strategy for supporting parents and caregivers, enhancing foundational relationships, promoting positive language-rich interactions, and helping families create nurturing and stimulating home environments. The integration of literacy promotion into pediatric resident education is crucial to achieve that goal and thus is also essential. The AAP supports advocacy toward establishing public and private funding for diverse high-quality, developmentally appropriate children's books in the languages preferred by the family to be provided at pediatric health supervision visits to all children but especially to children living in underresourced communities. This statement is supported by multiple AAP policies and implementation resources, including the accompanying "Literacy Promotion: An Essential Component of Primary Care Pediatric Practice: Technical Report." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Early meaningful auditory experiences in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) enhance language outcomes and promote cognitive and social–emotional development. Methods This is a descriptive report sharing our level III NICU experience of building a reading-aloud enrichment program with the goals of enhancing infant neurodevelopment and strengthening early parent–infant relationships. Results We propose a roadmap for program development, outline challenges and possible ways to mitigate them, and highlight opportunities for further research in this area. Key Points Early auditory experiences enhance language, cognitive, and social–emotional development. High-risk infants experience an atypical neurosensory environment while receiving care in the NICU. Reading aloud in the NICU enhances language enrichment and supports early foundational relationships. We describe our center's experience with building a reading-aloud enrichment program in the NICU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]