I could talk about the efforts of the Kennewick school district in Washington state, who watched their students’ test scores rise after they started a program to encourage reading to pre-kindergarten students. But I won’t.

I could applaud the many organizations, such as Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, which work to foster a love of reading in preschool children. But I won’t.

I’m not going to talk about these things because literacy skills are just one of the reasons that parents should read to their children. Yes, by reading to your toddler, you may be equipping him or her for a more productive future, but you will both reap perhaps far greater benefits from reading together.

When we read to our children, we bond with them in a way that is very special. A child’s imagination is an amazing place, where reality and fiction collide in ways that we adults cannot seem to understand. By introducing our children to new stories and ideas we are giving them a place to let their mind grow and their imagination run free.

And in the process, we adults get a chance to become closer to our children as well. Nothing is a more natural experience than reading to your child. No TV, no videogames, no distractions — just a book and a new story to explore.

So when you turn to the back page, look into young Colin’s eyes. He is not thinking about whether he will be reading at grade level five years from now, or whether his test scores will get him into a good college. He is simply enjoying some wonderful time with his mother, exploring a brand new world, courtesy of a book and his own imagination.