Rx - Read to Your Baby - NYTimes.com.
The children’s book, as it turns out, is a valuable tool for both parent and doctor. “Using the book, the pointing and identifying, is a way of helping parents understand the job of naming the child’s world, helping the child learn that everything has a name,” Dr. Klass said. “It’s a big cognitive, developmental and communicative step. It’s a huge step for a baby.”
Bellevue is a leading laboratory in the promotion of early childhood literacy. Doctors at the hospital prescribe books as routinely as immunizations as part of a national nonprofit program called Reach Out and Read. They are taught to use those books to assess a child’s development, including fine motor skills in the way a child holds the book. Doctors also evaluate language, social and emotional skills based on the way the child communicates about the book with parents.
