Using a Storybook App to Promote Latino Preschoolers’ Literacy Skills: A Pilot Study

Parents play a central role in the development of preschoolers’ literacy skills. Prior parent-focused literacy interventions have promoted preschoolers’ literacy skills through either dialogic reading or elaborative reminiscing, but rarely have these approaches been combined. This is a pilot study of Cuéntame Cuentos, a 6-week app-based intervention for Latino families, which included digital storybooks with embedded conversational prompts promoting dialogic reading and elaborative reminiscing. Associations between conversational prompt engagement during app use and gains in preschoolers’ literacy skills from pre- to post-intervention were examined. Participants were 40 Latino parents and their preschoolers living in the U.S. (child M age = 55.12 months; 52.5% girls). Positive quadratic associations between conversational prompt engagement and one measure of children’s story retelling skills (story memory) were observed. At moderate levels of conversational prompt engagement, the associations with gains in story memory were positive. However, at higher levels of conversational prompt engagement, the associations became negative, suggesting unproductive cognitive effort. No associations with other literacy skills were found. While preliminary, these findings underscore the importance of considering not only whether parents and children engage with app-based conversational prompts but also their level of engagement. Implications for the design of digital family literacy interventions are discussed.