Author(s): Wu Xiaotian

Abstract: Parent-child shared reading serves as a core approach to early family education, spanning multiple research fields including pedagogy, library science and child developmental psychology. Drawing on literature from the Web of Science database, this paper systematically sorts out existing studies along two dimensions: the developmental effects of parent-child reading and global parent-child reading promotion programs. Empirical studies have verified that parent-child shared reading can remarkably enhance the linguistic, literacy and cognitive abilities of typical children, low-income children and autistic children with special needs. Reading duration, parental involvement and family cultural attainment act as key influencing variables. Internationally, sophisticated collaborative promotion models involving libraries, medical institutions and charitable organizations have taken shape, with representative initiatives such as Britain’s Bookstart, Australia’s Better Beginnings, and America’s ECRR and ROR. These programs effectively improve household reading environments and increase the frequency of shared reading, yet they confront practical obstacles during implementation, such as disparate willingness to carry out programs among different practitioners.

Keywords: Early education, Early literacy, Family reading, Parent-child reading, Reading promotion

Article Info: Received: 27 May 2026; Received in revised form: 22 Jun 2026; Accepted: 25 Jun 2026; Available online: 30 Jun 2026

DOI: 10.22161/ijels.113.94