Reimagining Science Learning in Early Childhood Through Storybook Reading

This paper presents a model for reimagining science learning during the early childhood years through storybook reading. Much of the research on storybooks in early childhood has emphasized how storybooks promote knowledge acquisition in literacy, social–emotional learning, and science. This model proposes that shared science storybook reading, through interactions with adults and society, integrates these domains and encourages the development of skills critical to success in science fields such as persistence in the face of failure and growth mindset. The model is situated within two theoretical frameworks: a social interactionist framework that adult–child interactions during a shared storybook reading can advance children’s learning and an ecological systems framework, which highlights how early development occurs in informal and formal learning environments in preschool through second grade, and within the context of larger societal values surrounding science.