Research has consistently demonstrated the benefits of parents and their children reading together at home. The home is a safe and trusted place in which children are naturally eager to participate in activities with their parents. Children are also particularly responsive to encouragement made by their parents. Furthermore, the emotional closeness that arises as books are enjoyed together, adds an additional quality to the learning experience. A child’s imagination is unleashed as a parent conveys the excitement and magic of an unfolding story.

Shared storybook reading between parent and child therefore often makes for a natural and productive learning experience. A home environment in which parents actively introduce their children to books has been shown to nurture the type of literacy skills and understanding that leads to the later acquisition of literacy.

This kind of shared experience with a trusted parent is believed to further support the acquisition of literacy by encouraging interest and motivation towards books and reading. Studies demonstrate that children who are read to from a very young age tend to display greater interest in reading when they are older.

Shared reading and engagement with the child. Studies suggest that it is the quality of the shared reading experience that determines its effectiveness in nurturing literacy skills. More crucial than whether the parents read to the child every day or less often, is allowing the child to actively participate in the telling of the story.

This occurs when a parent ensures that the child actually participates in the unfolding story. A parent can ask questions to focus their children’s attention, to check comprehension, and to elicit labels for objects and descriptive attributes, such as colour, size and number. Children can also be asked for explanations of behaviour, predictions, and connections between events or objects in the story and those in the child’s own life.

The internet has added a whole new dimension for many industries to explore, expand into and monetise, including the audio book download market. These days anyone with an internet connection and a computer or laptop has easy access to a wide selection of MP3 audio books. An increase in sales and popularity for this niche ensures it will be here for many years to com. This type of online service has been especially useful for business people who travel frequently, commuters and families looking for something to occupy the children on long trips.

The audio book market has something to suit the needs of any book lover. With the vast selection available online, the audio book download market is sure to have something that will suit just about anyones needs or taste. Business books make up a significant part of the audio book market. You can find a vast array of business categories with a large number of titles in each category just by surfing the internet. When you find one you like, all you have to do is download the mp3 or wma digital file and your ready to go. Other interesting and helpful resources like motivational materials and expert authors writing on such topics as, “establishing a successful business,” are readily available.

Audio book downloads are made available to the consumer through hundreds of online stores and websites. An increasingly popular online store to obtain your MP3 audio books is Simply Listen Audiobooks. Consumers can download digital recordings of their favorite topic or author at prices that are less than purchasing the actual paper book itself. Apart from saving money the more eco-conscious amongst us will be happy in the knowledge that they are also helping the planet by not contributing to the mass tree felling programs that are going on in many parts of the world.

These online digital libraries usually stock thousands of titles with the vast majority of the best authors and subjects readily available. As a result users are certain to find something that fits their preferences while providing the opportunity to expand their horizons. If this is something that you think you may find interesting or useful but want to try the free option before laying down your hard cash, then try some of the free audio book downloads first.

Most of the first generation online audio book stores are still subscription based or membership based services. But these days you can get access to a huge number of top quality audio books without the imposition of having to join a club or pay a monthly membership fee. Most of the new wave of online audio book stores offer the same advantages and do so without the customer being tied down to purchasing from one place because of a recurring membership fee.