Our flagship programme is called Dialogic book-sharing, and through our work, we want to help all parents and caregivers to do book-sharing with their young children.

What is Book-sharing?

‘Dialogic book-sharing’ is a special kind of interaction between an adult and a young child using a wordless picture book. It is not simply ‘reading’ to a child who listens passively – instead, it is an active exchange, led by the child, and supported by an adult who is attentive to their interests and communication.

This enjoyable and simple activity has been proven to improve children’s language and cognitive development, and help children understand and get along with other people.

Watch this short video to see what book-sharing looks like

Following more than three decades of research on the impact of dialogic book-sharing in high-income countries, we have been at the forefront of research on book-sharing in low- and middle-income countries.

Our programme has been adopted by the World Health Organisation’s Parenting for Lifelong Health Initiative, a suite of evidence-based programmes designed for developing countries.

Watch our simple explainer here: