There was a time when being a kid who loves books was considered as out of the ordinary. Apart from attending school and doing homework, it was expected that kids enjoy their carefree days by playing toys and games… and simply just be kids. Kids before thought that reading was “uncool” and was an activity reserved more for the adults in their household, like their big sister or brother or their parents.

These days, thanks to the recent influx of popular characters from both TV and film of beloved bookworms like Hermione Granger from the blockbuster Harry Potter franchise and Alex Dunphy from Modern Family, more and more kids are embracing reading and realizing that it’s an activity that’s more worthwhile than mere playtime. While those characters were fictional, they proved that reading can make an individual more interesting, and it’s true in real life too.

If you’re still not convinced just how valuable reading can be, read on for more and we’re sure that you’ll be reaching for a book afterward.

It improves your imagination and enhances your creativity.

We can’t deny that surfing online and watching movies and TV programs are a good way to pass our time. However, reading books are better tools to develop your imagination and creativity than TV, film, or the internet. How so? When you read, you always make an effort to understand what the author is saying and you’re prompted to create a vision in your head based on what you’ve read.

Just take for example this paragraph from The BFG by Roald Dahl:

“The witching hour, somebody had once whispered to her, was a special moment in the middle of the night when every child and every grown-up was in a deep, deep sleep, and all the dark things came out from hiding and had the world all to themselves.”

It advances your grammar and expands your vocabulary.

Sure, chatting with your classmates and pals in between classes helps in building your communication skills as you learn how to keep up with conversations and introduce topics that engages your friends in conversation. However, using the same words repeatedly and utilizing the same sentence structure can tend to put you, as well as your buddies, in a stagnant spot. It’s like you’re going around in circle, never moving forward.

When you read literature, you encounter unfamiliar words and more complicated sentence structures, and the more you read, the wider your grammar and vocabulary knowledge becomes. This way, you become a more efficient communicator because you’re using more than the basic, everyday lingo.

 It teaches you focus and discipline.

Reading for your classes and homework can be tough at times when all you want to do is see if you can get a record-high score in your favourite videogame. However, since you know it’s part of the school requirements, you read anyway. Reading out of pure leisure, on the other hand, takes discipline to accomplish especially if you feel you’d rather go out with your friends for frozen yoghurt. You have to set your own timelines to read a book from start to finish.

Even when you like how the book is turning out and you’re loving the characters, sometimes, you have to apply self-control to forego your usual activities and make sure you finish a book cover to cover.

It reduces stress.

Reading does not have to be a chore that’s forced upon you by your teacher or your parents like folding your laundry or doing your homework. If you allow yourself to enjoy reading by fully immersing yourself in the story and its characters, you may actually find yourself in a comfortable state where it’s like the activity becomes effortless on your part. Soon, you’ll look into reading literature as something to relax you, rather than stress you out.

Now that you’ve come to know how priceless reading is, it’s now time to devour books!

SOURCES:

https://www.care.com/c/stories/4023/101-of-the-best-kids-books-to-open-your-chil/

http://www.lifehack.org/515271/why-reading-important-for-children

10 Reasons Why Reading is Important for Kids

https://www.pearson.com/uk/learners/primary-parents/learn-at-home/help-your-child-to-enjoy-reading/why-is-reading-so-important.html

http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/news/reading-to-children-benefits-them-on-many-levels/article_be4850ca-dac9-11e7-91f4-f38c12f539f3.html