1. Conditions the child to associate reading with pleasure, as association that is necessary in order to maintain reading as a lifelong activity.
  2. Contributes to background knowledge for all other subject areas, including science, history, geography, math, and social studies.
  3. Provides the child with a reading role model.
  4. Creates empathy toward other people, because literature values humanity and celebrates human spirit and potential, offering insight into different lifestyles while recognizing universality.
  5. Increases a child’s vocabulary and grammar, and has the potential to improve writing skills.
  6. Improves a child’s probability of staying in school.
  7. Improves future probability of employment and higher quality of life.
  8. Increases life span by virtue of correlated education, employment, and higher quality of life.
  9. Lowers probability of imprisonment.
  10. Improves problem-solving and critical-thinking skills that are fundamental and transferable to all other areas of learning.
  11. Offers information.
  12. Offers laughter and entertainment and an alternative to television.
  13. Improves attention span.
  14. Stimulates the imagination.
  15. Nurtures emotional development and improves self-esteem.
  16. Reading skills are accrued skills that are bound to improve over time…a countdown to academic success.

– Author Esmé Raji Codell summarizing author Jim Trelease’s book, ‘The Read-Aloud Handbook’