Children start learning to read the day they're born. That's because reading is part of language development, and children begin learning language when they're infants. Decades ago, when we started school, people believed that a child would learn to read easily if she had a good first-grade teacher. Now we know that, as researcher Betty Miles puts it, "reading is like growing; it happens a little bit at a time."

Step by step, children discover the meanings of words, the rhythm and flow of language, and how to put words together to tell stories. They also learn letters and their corresponding sounds, and that printed letters represent spoken words. All of this must happen before a child can read printed words and understand what they mean.

The first step in being able to read the word "daddy" is hearing it as a baby... again and again and again. Before long, the brain has developed strong pathways to the word, which continue to develop as the child learns more about her daddy and other daddies. Those pathways are essential to the child's ability to eventually recognize the word "daddy" on a page of print.

Three-quarters of the brain develops after birth. In the first three years of life, trillions of connections are made between brain cells as the brain grows to 80 percent of its adult size. The connections create pathways that are the key to learning and remembering.

How do brain cells get connected? By sensory stimulation. Babies learn through hearing, seeing, touching, smelling, and tasting, and every experience establishes new brain connections.

Young children need activities that stimulate their brains. The adults in their lives play a crucial role. The more actively engaged an adult is with a baby, the more his brain will grow. Children who receive little attention from adults have smaller brains than their peers. Scientists say that a child's ability to learn can increase 25 percent or more depending on whether she grows up in a stimulating environment or not.

That's why a child's early years are especially important. During this time, the brain is most receptive to stimulation in the area of language development. Scientists call this a "window of opportunity." The window starts to close at around age five and the optimal time for language development is over by puberty.

Reading aloud, talking, singing, and playing are activities that help children develop language. Nursery rhymes, poetry, and songs help them learn about oral language. Rhyming books and songs encourage children to explore how sound works in language. When adults talk with their young ones about new words in their books, more brain connections are created. "Read it again!" demands a two-year-old. There's a good reason for that request: repetition helps the developing brain know which connections to strengthen. For example, a child must hear a new word 9 to 14 times before he really knows it.

Researchers say that the brain grows best in a loving, nurturing environment. When a child feels secure and loved, the brain secretes a substance called serotonin, which facilitates learning. What better way to produce serotonin than a parent and child cuddling up with a book? The child feels cared for, and interactive book-sharing stimulates her brain. She will learn more, and more easily.

It takes a few minutes to deliver our speech, but the bottom-line message for parents is simple: to raise a reader, take time each day to sing, talk, and share a book with your baby!

Renea Arnold is coordinator of early childhood resources for the Multnomah County Library in Portland, OR. Nell Colburn is one of MCL's early childhood librarians.