Most babies start showing genuine interest in picture books around 8-12 months, but you can introduce books earlier as part of your routine... You're simply having conversations using books as props.

Point at characters and describe what you see in your own words: "Look! Chiku is running! They're playing with the red ball. Is Fishira hiding? Wow, so many colorful trees!"

Slowly but surely, your little one will start recognizing book covers, develop favourites, and begin babbling along with the characters. The magic is in the interaction, not the comprehension!

Absolutely. Exposure to multiple languages through stories helps children develop richer vocabulary, better expression skills, and enhanced cognitive abilities. When they reach school, these multilingual children often become confident storytellers who excel in language periods. Regional stories don't interfere with English proficiency – they actually enhance it while preserving your cultural heritage and creating precious bonding moments.

No worries! ChikuPiku is designed exactly for this. We offer stories in both print and audio formats. Your child can simply look at the colorful picture books while listening to the engaging audio narration. They'll naturally start following along with the words, picking up new vocabulary, recognizing letters, and learning proper pronunciation - all without you needing to read Marathi fluently.

The best part? Your child develops independent reading skills and becomes a confident storyteller, while you can enjoy the bonding time together. No screens needed in their hands!

1-3 years: Don’t worry about reading but simply help your child fall in love with books. Let them look at colourful pictures, point at their favourite characters, scribble, colour or even tear pages. It’s all good. Let them explore freely. You will be pleasantly surprised how little ones learn and incorporate new words into their everyday lingo with ease!

4-6 years: These children can listen to audio stories while following along with pictures independently. They will start memorizing stories, narrating them, singing songs, attempting puzzles with help, and recognizing letters. Perfect age for art activities together!

7-10 years : Independent readers and doers! They'll read magazines on their own, solve all puzzles, and love reading stories aloud to younger siblings and friends. Many start creating their own stories, illustrations, and puzzles too. Many use inspiration from ChikuPiku for school projects and performances.

The beauty of ChikuPiku: Every child progresses at their own pace, and the audio + visual format grows with them naturally!

Textbooks teach facts, but storybooks teach thinking! There's a wonderful quote by Albert Einstein: "If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales."

Stories develop creativity, imagination, and critical thinking in ways textbooks simply can't. When children follow characters through adventures, they learn to think through problems, understand different perspectives, and imagine "what if" scenarios.

In our AI world, these creative problem-solving skills become even more valuable.