Families invited to read together at Seoul Plaza ahead of Pregnant Women's Day

The Seoul Metropolitan Government will hold a special event called "Chaengmyeong hago Yukatok" — a family reading and parenting talk session — at Seoul Plaza at 5 p.m. Friday, the day before Pregnant Women's Day, observed annually on Oct. 10, the city announced Tuesday.

The event brings families together to read books and share expert advice on building children's reading habits and literacy skills. About 100 people are expected to attend, including pregnant women, caregivers of infants and toddlers, and families with young children.

The program will feature lectures on how parents and children can read picture books together and on the role parents play in forming early reading habits.

Instructor Kang Jeong-a will demonstrate how to read picture books aloud with children in a session titled "How to Read a Picture Book." Families will then take part in a "family chaengmyeong" activity — reading aloud together — a departure from the solitary, silent reading the term usually implies, encouraging parents and children to share the experience.

Shin Jong-ho, a professor in the Department of Education at Seoul National University, will deliver a lecture titled "The Reading Child: Literacy Education at Home." He will discuss the role parents play in nurturing reading habits during early childhood and offer practical ways to develop children's thinking and communication skills through everyday conversation and shared reading.

The venue will also display 120 titles previously selected for the program — 40 books for caregivers and 80 for children. A stage will be set up near the creative playground at Seoul Outdoor Library, and a separate space will be provided for children to play and read while their guardians attend the lectures. Further details are available on the Seoul Library website.

Min Su-hong, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Bureau of Culture, said he hoped families would enjoy reading together on an autumn day and carry that experience home.

The "Eomma Book-dotteum" program supports reading among pregnant women and caregivers of young children. It is open to applicants from the time pregnancy is confirmed through six months after delivery. Participants receive a box of books delivered to their home — one title for the caregiver and two for the child.