Picture Books Really Do Teach Toddlers

This news article is actually from Nov 2006 but it's the first I've seen of it.

"Reading picture books to 18- to 30-month-old toddlers helps them learn things about the real world, psychologists find."
"Simcock and DeLoache tested 108 little boys and girls: 18 month olds, 24 month olds, and 30 month olds. Kids of each age were divided into three groups. One group was read to from a book with photographs, the second group was read to from a book with color drawings of the photographs, and a third group wasn't read to at all.

The pictures showed a child going through the three steps of building a simple rattle — putting a ball in a jar, attaching a stick to the jar, and shaking the assembled toy to make it rattle. The pictures came with simple text explaining the actions.

A researcher read the story to each child while pointing to the pictures. Then the child was given the ball, jar, and stick and encouraged to build a rattle.

None of the 18-month-olds, four of the 24-month-olds, and six of the 30-month olds actually finished building the rattle. But many of them got it at least partly right — and nearly all of them were kids who'd been read to."

I already knew that The Cuteness learned from books, that's why we use them. After a week (and sometimes a few days) of reading a new book, she can point out almost everything in the book and can sometimes "read" it to herself by turning the pages and saying the names of the objects on the page.

It's just nice to have some evidence.