Books can introduce your kids to words that they may not otherwise encounter. "In books, newspapers, and magazines, the language is more complicated, more sophisticated," educator Jim Trelease, author of The Read-Aloud Handbook, told Huffington Post. "A child who hears more sophisticated words has a giant advantage over a child who hasn't heard those words." Even a children's book probably includes some rich language that you normally wouldn't use in everyday speech.

Story time just might help your little one's brain grow. According to a statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics, reading to young children on a regular basis may help encourage brain development. Reading from developmentally appropriate books from a young age just might help your kids' thinking skills for life.

In addition to a richer vocabulary, reading also helps your kid grasp the fundamental building blocks of language. As noted in Kid's Health, reading helps improve your kid's phonetic awareness, or the understanding that words are created from smaller sounds. This means she'll be ready to hit the ground running once school starts.

Reading the same story over and over to your kid even presents its own benefits. As explained in Parents, when kids encounter the same text several times over, then they are able to grasp the patterns and sequences in the language. This may even help them develop logic skills: something to keep in mind when you're plowing through Goodnight Moon for the zillionth time.

This one certainly makes sense. By reading to your child from an early age, you can help him develop better reading comprehension overall, as noted in the University of Michigan Health System. You're setting him up with skills he will use throughout his life.

Sure, an early mastery of reading may help your kid's language classes, but it may also boost her chances of succeeding at school overall. As explained by Reach Out & Read, children who have difficulty reading often struggle with schoolwork, which can lead to problems with absenteeism and delinquency. By setting your kid up for success early on, you may help him avoid serious academic problems down the line.

If you've ever watched a baby engage with a book, you know that it's a full-sensory experience. He's going to look at the colors, touch the pages, and probably taste-test the cover. And as noted in Psychology Today, this kind of multi-sensory development is great for kids because it engages the creative and verbal areas of the brain. So give your baby plenty of opportunities to enjoy book, even if the majority of that time is spent gnawing on them.

It makes sense that readers would perform better in language classes, but the skills incurred by early reading may translate to other subjects as well. For example, according to the National Education Association, children who read at home have higher math scores than their peers. It looks like even those quantitative skills may be boosted with reading.

Books can also help your kid learn some fundamental social and emotional skills. As noted in KidsHealth, your kid can pick up on different emotions by watching and responding to you read. This may require a bit of acting on your part, but hey — that's part of the fun, right?