Engaging in Interactive Book Reading: Experiences of Refugee Mother–Child Dyads

• Published in: Early childhood education journal Vol. 50; no. 1; pp. 107 - 117
• Main Authors: Barnes, Amanda C., Boit, Rachel J., Conlin, Dana, Hestenes, Linda L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.01.2022; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Early childhood education; Early literacy; Education; Emergent Literacy; Families & family life; Family (Sociological Unit); Focus Groups; Interaction; Language Skills; Language Usage; Learning and Instruction; Literacy; Mothers; Multicultural education; Parent Child Relationship; Preschool Children; Qualitative research; Reading; Reading Instruction; Reading Strategies; Refugees; Second Language Learning; Sociology; Sociology of Education; Mother–child; Refugees; Interactive book reading; Dual language
• ISSN: 1082-3301; 1573-1707
• DOI: 10.1007/s10643-020-01142-5

Interactive book reading is an active practice that aims to stimulate children’s language and literacy development. The interactions that take place during book reading are essential to understand; however, there is limited research on the practice of interactive book reading within refugee families. This qualitative study utilized observation and focus group data to capture the interactions taking place between six refugee mothers and their preschool aged children (3–5 years). The two broad aims of the study were first, to explore interactive book reading experiences of refugee mother–child dyads with the goal of understanding the strategies mothers used during book reading. The second aim was to identify how dual language books benefited families during and beyond interactive book reading. Results demonstrated that mothers incorporated multiple interactive reading strategies while navigating interesting language dynamics. Findings further highlighted the need for continued research on the reading practices of refugee families with preschool-aged children to develop culturally relevant literacy programming and support for these families.