"The amount of people reading aloud to their kids and kids reading for pleasure has dropped substantially," Tigges reports.

Reading boosts cognitive development, improves academic performance, and strengthens social emotional learning skills.

Robert Munsch wrote “The Paper Bag Princess,” “Love You Forever” and other classics by performing them over and over for kids. But his stories are slipping away. The children’s author Robert ...

Read all of Slate’s stories about the 25 Greatest Picture Books of the Past 25 Years. On Oct. 8, 2010, the New York Times ran a story on its front page: “Picture Books No Longer a Staple for Children.