Bottom Line: Personal Magazine – May 2019

The sight of illustrations that stay still and allow children time to explore them visually engages deep cognitive functions of developing brains. Recent Study: Simply listening to a story being read did not cause the brains of four-year-olds to become fully involved. Neither did stories told using moving visuals, as on a TV screen or tablet – there was way too much happening too quickly. Young children were pulled most strongly into picture books that provided a story with illustrations that they could spend time looking at and absorbing.

Study by researchers at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, presented at a meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies.