From Debra: Like so many parents, we were fully vested in our children's early learning needs. We read to and with them from birth. That I was a preschool teacher during their preschool years was a huge bonus. But my interest in and support of early childhood learning and literacy went back a lot further. Long before our own children came along, I was fully immersed in the world of children's book publishing and especially passionate about the books we published for the youngest children. 

At Live Oak Media, we've always believed that all children deserve the opportunity to learn, and they need to be engaged from the start. We recognize that children have individual learning styles and they often need resources beyond the book to help them develop basic language skills; this is especially true for children learning English as a second language. To that end, we are committed to acquiring great books to produce on audio for the youngest child. The idea is to hook them early to the love of reading, listening and learning!

Studies have shown that young children develop language skills by seeing objects and hearing sounds around them. They then learn to associate words with these objects and sounds. If a child sees and hears at the same time, it makes a double impression in his mind, and he's better able to remember the words.

We feel that our readalongs of a children's picture book or early chapter book extend this concept of association and imprinting. In each production, we carefully combine the book illustrations, pacing of the narration, sound effects, and music, creating a reading and listening experience that help a child develop reading and language skills.

Check out our large selection of readalongs of Early Childhood Titles. Email me at debra@liveoakmedia.com and let us know what you think about using readalongs with your youngest listeners.