Published 2025-10-30
Keywords
- reading aloud,
- affective attunement,
- interactions,
- early childhood,
- emotions
How to Cite
Copyright (c) 2025 Anna Pileri

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Abstract
Reading aloud, both within the family and in early childhood education settings, is a relational experience of high emotional intensity that goes beyond its educational and linguistic dimensions. It takes shape as an intersubjective practice in which the text becomes a vehicle for emotional attunement between adult and child. Through vocal prosody, rhythm, facial expressions, and eye contact, the adult creates a shared space of narrative and emotional co-construction. Studies by Stern (1985), Trevarthen, and Gratier (2008) highlight how this experience is rooted in the protoconversations typical of early communication, offering the child not only words but also models for recognizing, understanding, memorizing, expressing, and regulating emotions.