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Asking Questions While Reading: A Simple Method That Builds Vocabulary

By the My Book Hub Team · 6 min read · Published 1 October 2026 · Our standards

Most of us read to children the way we were read to: straight through, from the first page to the last. A research-backed alternative called dialogic reading turns the child into the storyteller. It sounds technical, but it is really just a structured way of chatting about the book, and it works.

In early studies of dialogic reading, young children whose parents used the method for a few weeks showed bigger gains in expressive vocabulary than children whose parents read in the usual way.

The idea

In dialogic reading, the adult asks questions and responds to the child's answers, so the child does more of the talking. Psychologist Grover Whitehurst and colleagues developed the approach in the late 1980s, and it has since been studied in homes and preschools. It works best for children around 2 to 6, but the questioning habits help at any age.

The PEER sequence

Prompt the child to say something about the book. "What is that?"
Evaluate their answer. "Yes, it's a boat!"
Expand it by adding a little. "It's a big red boat on the sea."
Repeat the prompt so they can use the new words. "Can you say big red boat?"

Five kinds of questions (CROWD)

Completion: leave a blank at the end of a sentence or rhyme. "The cat sat on the..."
Recall: ask about what happened. "What did the bear find in the cave?"
Open-ended: ask about a picture. "Tell me what is happening here."
Wh- questions: what, where, when, why and how. "Why do you think he is hiding?"
Distancing: connect the story to the child's life. "Remember when we went to the beach? What did we see?"

Tips for doing it well

Do not quiz on every page. One or two prompts per page spread is plenty.
Read the book straight through the first time, then use dialogic reading on rereads.
Follow your child's interest. If they want to talk about a tiny mouse in the corner, go with it.
Keep it fun. If it starts to feel like a test, ease off.
Bedtime may call for a calmer read; daytime reading is a good time for more talk.

Does it work on screens?

Yes, as long as an adult is reading together. Research on toddlers has found that parents tend to talk less about the story with e-books than with printed books, often because of buttons and sound effects. Turning off auto-narration and reading the words yourself brings the conversation back. More in our guide to reading on screens vs paper.

Sources

Whitehurst GJ et al. "Accelerating Language Development Through Picture Book Reading." Developmental Psychology, 1988;24(4):552-559.
Whitehurst GJ, Lonigan CJ. "Child Development and Emergent Literacy." Child Development, 1998;69(3):848-872.
Munzer TG et al. "Differences in Parent-Toddler Interactions With Electronic Versus Print Books." Pediatrics, 2019;143(4):e20182012.

This guide is general information for parents and carers. If you are worried about your child's development, speech or reading, talk to their teacher or doctor.

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