Reading a good book at bedtime and encouraging playtime with mom and dad, for the young ones, should always be on the top of a parent’s “to-do list;” however, a recent study has shown that both are a must for children’s success later in life.

“Reading Aloud, Play and Social-Emotional Development,” published in the journal of Pediatrics, fond that, “children whose parents read and playfully engaged with them got educational, social and emotional benefits; young children were less likely to act out aggressively or have attention-deficiency and hyperactivity; and they had an easier transition when entering school for the first time compared to children who do not experience regular reading and playtime with parents.”

The study incorporated data from the Video Interactive Project, which is a new initiative that concentrates on parent education, aiming to help low-income families improve upon their parenting skills in order to help boost their children’s future successes.

“We try to highlight the positive things in that interaction — maybe they feel a little silly, and then we show them on the tape how much their kid loves it when they do these things, how fun it is — it can be very motivating,” Adriana Weisleder, a contributing author of the study and assistant professor at Northwestern University, told The New York Times.

We are sure that you have play down pat, so here are four titles that you must add to your library that can help you with fun and learning at the same time, in turn, killing two birds with one stone.

• The Crayons’ Book of Color by Drew Daywalt & Oliver Jeffers

• The Wonderful Things You Will Be by Emily Winfield Martin

• The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

• Ten Magic Butterflies by Danica McKellar & Jennifer Bricking