Why reading matters for all ages

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Ah, books. How I love them. I love the feel, the smell, but most of all, I love the adventures within their pages. Because reading benefits our lives and moods, it is a habit I hope gets instilled in children at a young age. Let’s encourage them to read wholesome books that help them grow stronger and wiser.

Encourage kids to read

The messages within the stories we read leave impressions and make us think and evaluate. We learn as we read. What values do you want your children to emulate? Are there truths you want them to understand? What lessons can they learn?

Yes, children hear stories and learn visually through movies and television programs, but watching the story is passive. It may be relaxing and tell a story faster, however, I prefer envisioning the stories in my own imagination. Reading is active, you see.

Reading sharpens brain

According to “The Perfect Brain Food,” by Marc Peyser in the March 2019 Reader’s Digest, “The cheapest, easiest, and most time-tested way to sharpen your brain . . . is called reading.”  He cited that the benefits of reading persisted for five days after finishing the book and that reading also energizes the region of the mind responsible for motor activity because our brain gets a workout when we use our imagination. Poor readers and people with dyslexia reap benefits too because reading rewires the brain in ways that affect “the entire brain, not only the reading-centric temporal cortex.” So, since reading is good for us, the more time we spend reading, the more benefits we will reap. Encourage your children to pick up a book.

Reading for pleasure relaxes us, too, and allows us to travel somewhere else and escape for a time from daily worries or troubles. What we read and think about comes out of us in some fashion. That is why I care about what my children read. But where can you learn more about uplifting, wholesome books for kids?

But watching the story is passive. Reading is active.

Seek wholesome books

The Storyteller Squad is one place where tweens and teens and parents of tweens and teens can learn about clean books. Every Friday, a different book is reviewed. A variety of genres are covered so you can search reviews for your specific favorite. They post three times per week including blogs about motivation and writing tips for young people with writing aspirations. To learn more and to subscribe to their blog, click HERE. They also have a Facebook group where people can join for even more book suggestions. Simply search Storyteller Squad.

I am among the 12 writers contributing to this site. Yesterday, I posted about a time management system I use. On May 4, I blogged about incorporating books into family time and other ways to get more from your reading. In April, I reviewed The Kaleidoscope Girl, a story about a girl wrestling with an eating disorder.

I hope you will join us in encouraging young people to read more and to consider what is read because what we read matters. What we read becomes part of who we are. And of course, you know, each of us matters.

How do you encourage the young people in your life to read?

Photo by Fabiola Peñalba on Unsplash