From what age can you read to a child and give them books?
Applies to age: 0–12 months
In short
You can start looking at books with a baby from an early age. Even before a child starts to talk, they enjoy being read to, and at 6–12 months you do not have to read the text; it is enough to talk about what is on the page.
What is normal
All claims: international norm
- You can start looking at books with a baby from an early age.
Source: NHS – show the original wording (EN)
Summarized and translated by the editors, not an official translation. Verbatim quote from the source, in its original wording:
You can start looking at books with your baby from an early age – it will help them with their future learning.
NHS · open the source · accessed: 2026-11-04 · license [1]
- Even before a child starts to talk, they enjoy being read to.
Source: NHS – show the original wording (EN)
Summarized and translated by the editors, not an official translation. Verbatim quote from the source, in its original wording:
Even before babies learn to speak, they will enjoy hearing you read to them.
NHS · open the source · accessed: 2026-11-04 · license [1]
- Listening to reading gives a child a feel for the sounds, rhythm and rhymes of language.
Source: NHS – show the original wording (EN)
Summarized and translated by the editors, not an official translation. Verbatim quote from the source, in its original wording:
Listening to you will give them a feel for the sounds, rhythms and rhymes of language.
NHS · open the source · accessed: 2026-11-04 · license [1]
- Even small babies like looking at picture books.
Source: NHS – show the original wording (EN)
Summarized and translated by the editors, not an official translation. Verbatim quote from the source, in its original wording:
Even small babies like looking at picture books.
NHS · open the source · accessed: 2026-11-04 · license [1]
- Looking at books together supports bonding with the child and their emotional well-being.
Source: NHS – show the original wording (EN)
Summarized and translated by the editors, not an official translation. Verbatim quote from the source, in its original wording:
The time spent sharing books with your baby also allows you to bond with them and is good for emotional wellbeing.
NHS · open the source · accessed: 2026-11-04 · license [1]
- At 6–12 months you can start looking at books with your child; you do not have to read the text; it is enough to talk about what is on the page.
Source: NHS – show the original wording (EN)
Summarized and translated by the editors, not an official translation. Verbatim quote from the source, in its original wording:
Start looking at books with your baby – you do not have to read the words on the page, just talk about what you can see.
NHS · open the source · accessed: 2026-11-04 · license [1]
- Looking at books with a child for even 10 minutes a day helps build important skills and an interest in reading.
Source: NHS – show the original wording (EN)
Summarized and translated by the editors, not an official translation. Verbatim quote from the source, in its original wording:
Even if it's for just 10 minutes a day, looking at books with your child will help them build important skills and encourage their interest in reading.
NHS · open the source · accessed: 2026-11-04 · license [1]
The sources in our registry do not say when to see a doctor.
international norm “International norm” next to a section heading means its claims come from a non-Polish source, because no Polish source in our registry covers this topic. When this applies to only some of the claims, the foreign ones carry the same label next to their source.
Sources
- NHS (nhs.uk, Anglia)
- https://www.nhs.uk/baby/babys-development/play-and-learning/baby-and-toddler-play-ideas/
- https://www.nhs.uk/baby/babys-development/play-and-learning/help-your-baby-learn-to-talk/
License: Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: NHS (nhs.uk, Anglia). Content summarized and translated by the editors; changed relative to the original. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. The summary is ours and is not attributed to the NHS.