1.1 Background Of The Study
The moment when conception has happened, a human embryo begins to develop into a baby. If there are no complications during pregnancy or the baby is delivered early, a full-term baby should be brought into the world after nine months of development within the mother's womb. According to Caplan & Caplan, (2020) a child is a distinct person starting from the moment of conception, complete with his or her own unique qualities. According to them, the nature of children is such that no two children, not even identical twins, are exactly the same or similar in everything. This is true despite the fact that they share the same genetic material. As a result, there are distinguishing characteristics that set each kid apart from the others. According to Nwagbara (2019), the complexity in children are the product of both natural causes and environmental influences. The phases of development that children go through may be broken down into the following categories: infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. The early years of a child's life, roughly between the ages of two and six, are crucial to their development. The physical, mental, and psychological development of children see a significant boost during this time period, when they are also in a state of perpetual transition. They are in the midst of going through big transformations and making significant development steps, particularly in the area of the acquisition and development of new linguistic skills. Reading material for children should, according to this school of thought, be connected in some way to the children's own spoken language, as well as to the children's interests and experiences, in order to foster intellectual development. The shift in emphasis on the intellectual development of children is a really positive trend (Anyanwu, 2020). This is because the mind of a child is essentially "blank slate," waiting to be filled with experiences. Educators are aware of this fact, and as a consequence, they actively look for the kinds of stimuli that will lead to the most positive outcomes for the students. According to Webber (1970), it is necessary to acknowledge that there is a possibility of improving children's intellect as a direct consequence of the kinds of experiences that are made available to them. According to Aiyedun (2020), the experiences that children may get from reading tale books are the kind of things that can contribute to their intellectual development. According to him, tales are a great way to gain and develop reading, writing, and thinking abilities, particularly considering how much they engage the mind. Understanding human behavior is facilitated by the telling of stories.