Why reading to your baby is so beneficial

Reading to your baby, even before they are born, is hugely important in their journey of speech, language and communication development. By reading to your baby you're helping to build the emerging communication skills of listening, looking, attention, turn taking, vocabulary, and social development.

While babies may not initially understand the concepts and storylines of books, hearing your voice is comforting and, in time, your child will find meaning in the words you are using. It's also a lovely way for you to bond with your baby (and practice your best voices!)

Research has shown that children who grow up in homes where they are read to and talked to regularly will have a much greater vocabulary, words that they will use throughout life. And fascinatingly a different piece of research found that the average children's books contains 50 percent more unique words than a television show or a typical conversation between two educated adults.

So what better way to develop all of these skills, than to snuggle up together and share the enjoyment of reading.

And because we are passionate about babies' development we decided to write our very own book. Right Beside Me is the tale of a baby learning to see and discovering how amazing you really are. It was written by one of my dearest friends from school, Helen Drew, and illustrated by my favourite local artist, Dan Jamieson.

Have a look here, I hope you love it!